That’s the key message infrastructure consultants have given the government as the nation prepares for a drought that threatens to disrupt the nation. Failure to act now would leave Britain facing a future of queuing for emergency bottled water “off the back of lorries”. The government was warned four years ago by the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) that significant new investment would need to be made in the country’s water supply equipment by the 2030s. Although some improvements have been made by the water companies, almost 3 billion liters of water are still lost daily. Plugging those leaks will require an investment of around £20 billion, Sir John Armitt, the commission’s chairman, told the Observer this weekend. Failure to invest now would mean, he added, that more than twice as much would have to be spent on delivering bottled water to UK residents by lorry as increasingly frequent droughts grip the country. “You have to pay for it, one way or another,” he said. “That could be investing in new reservoirs or transporting water across the country, as well as stopping leaks.” Water metering is seen by industry as the best tool for reducing water use – the UK has the highest usage in Europe. It is estimated that only around half of households in England and Wales have water meters installed, but these customers use 33 liters a day less than the national average of 141 liters a day. West Reservoir in north London, just before the two hottest days of the year. Photo: Tolga Akmen/EPA The NIC’s call was backed by the Rivers Trust, which was one of the key players in the emergency meeting of the National Drought Task Force called by the government last week as dry conditions spread across England. Mark Lloyd of the Rivers Trust said action needed to be taken well before the end of the decade. “There needs to be a nationally coordinated publicity campaign to reduce water use and universal water metering,” he said. “Low flows in rivers are devastating to wildlife and ultimately we need to take much more care of this incredibly valuable resource.” Mark Owen of the Angling Trust said the rubber band bans should be extended across the country after Southern Water became the first company to bring in a ban on Friday, for the Isle of Wight and Hampshire. “We need to see these bans proactively implemented in many more places,” Owen said. He criticized the government’s lack of planning for extreme weather events. “There is no strategic, coherent, joint approach. The reaction is always knee-jerk. What happens when we get to that stage – when it’s very dry and hot – is that suddenly usage increases as people fill swimming pools and water their gardens.” Tom Bradshaw, vice president of the National Farmers Union, said more investment in irrigation water, farm reservoirs and a better plan to manage water resources was needed. “The lack of rain means crops such as sugar beet and maize are showing signs of stress, while there are challenges for farmers who need to irrigate vegetables and potatoes. The dry weather has also severely hampered grass growth, which could affect winter feed supplies.” Critics say the government has had plenty of warning but appears to have taken no action. “What we’re seeing now is that climate impacts in terms of more extreme weather events are occurring more frequently and on a larger scale than expected,” said Martin Baxter of the Institute for Environmental Management and Assessment. “We really have to become more resilient to what we know is on the way.” A group of government bodies has said major plans are in the works to improve water storage and transport across England and Wales. A £500m program called Rapid – Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development – ​​was set up jointly in 2019 by Ofwat, the Environment Agency (EA) and the Drinking Water Inspectorate. “We are now exploring different schemes with the aim of implementing the most promising ones within a few years,” said Paul Hickey, chief executive of Rapid. Among the projects being considered are a series of new reservoirs that could be built in different parts of the country and plans that would allow engineers to transport water from the north of England, where there is no pressure, to the south. These will include using the River Severn and the Grand Union Canal as conduits for fresh water to relieve the situation in the south of England, which has been hit hardest by the drought. These schemes will cost billions of pounds, however, and are unlikely to be implemented in the next decade. July was the driest month on record since 1911, with just 24% of the amount of rain expected in an average July, according to Met Office figures. All areas of the country are affected, but particularly in the south and east conditions are critical – with rainfall this July just 14% of the July average over the decade to 2020. The Department for Environment Food and Agricultural Affairs has rejected the call for mandatory water metering. A spokesperson told the Observer: “Water companies have a duty to ensure supply. This is why we continue to challenge those with poor leakage records and work to ensure they bring in new infrastructure such as reservoirs and water transfers. We are also taking measures to support water efficiency in homes.”