Drought Plan

A drought is a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall. Droughts aren’t caused by a few dry weeks, and they can’t be solved by a few wet ones. We need regular rainfall throughout the year to make sure we always have enough water. 

The government offer advice on how to stay safe during a drought.

How we manage your water supply during a drought

During a drought, we might ask you to follow certain restrictions to save water. Depending upon the severity of the drought, this is likely to include a variety of different measures. These can include campaigns to encourage our customers to use less water, temporary use bans to restrict non-essential domestic and commercial use of water, working even harder to fix leaks and reducing water pressure in our pipes.

Our Drought Plan

All water companies in England and Wales are required by the Government to produce a Drought Plan. Our Drought Plan sets out the actions we would expect to take in the event of a drought to maintain essential supplies of water while also protecting the environment.

Note: The appendices relating to the detailed Environmental Assessment Reports (EARs) for drought permit options across our Water Resource Zones are not available online. These reports contain detailed site-specific operational information, maps and grid references as by its nature the environmental impact assessment work has to be detailed and site specific. They can be reviewed in our offices on request.