Water companies in England are facing significant challenges due to deepening drought conditions and abstraction limits, which are threatening housing targets and causing environmental damage. The Environment Agency has banned South East Water from abstracting more water from the Greywell chalk aquifer, a decision the company is appealing. This situation is further complicated by crumbling infrastructure and a failure by South East Water to build a promised pipeline from Surrey Hills to Basingstoke, which regulators initially disallowed funding for.
The lack of sufficient water is so critical that some councils, including Basingstoke and Deane, Natural England, and the Environment Agency, cannot approve local plans because there isn't enough water to support government growth demands. Water cycle studies indicate that demands from new housing may exceed sustainable supply limits, with Environment Agency mapping showing no additional river water available for new homes or industry across roughly a third of the country, even under normal flow conditions. This has led to environmental damage, including the pushing of alkaline fens towards ecological collapse near Basingstoke.
Despite the severity, some proposed solutions, such as a credit scheme where developers pay to offset water increases, have not been implemented. In areas like Tonbridge and Malling, South East Water states there's insufficient supply for the 19,000 homes demanded by 2042. The Environment Agency initially refused plans for new homes in Cambridgeshire due to water scarcity but later lifted objections contingent on water efficiency measures. However, even there, chalk streams are being artificially filled due to over-extraction, and residents face hosepipe bans.
Southern Water is also seeking a Drought Order and Non-Essential Use Ban in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to protect water supplies and the environment, despite repairing over 4,000 leaks since January. In Scotland, SEPA has extended temporary abstraction restrictions on licensed water abstraction after several rivers reached "Significant Water Scarcity" levels. This ongoing water scarcity highlights a systemic issue where the water sector has not kept pace with modern demand and increased housebuilding over the last 20 years, making it difficult to meet current and future needs for both society and the environment.
A government spokesperson acknowledged the issue, stating that a water delivery task force is in place to ensure housing targets are not constrained by water capacity, alongside efforts to improve water efficiency and invest in new infrastructure like reservoirs.
