England continues in the grip of a water crisis now officially declared “nationally significant.” After seven months of below-average rainfall and repeated heatwaves, rivers, reservoirs and aquifers have dropped to critical levels.
Five regions are already in drought, with six more under prolonged dry weather warnings. (please check your area) Reservoirs are only 57.5% full, compared to a seasonal average of over 80%, and in places like Yorkshire and the Pennines, supplies have fallen to less than one-third capacity. Major rivers such as the Wye and the Great Ouse are recording their lowest flows on record.
Communities are already feeling the impact. Hosepipe bans and irrigation restrictions are widespread, with farmers facing crop losses and livestock feed shortages. Canals are being closed, chalk streams have run dry, and fish die-offs are increasing.
The Environment Agency has imposed over 1,100 restrictions preventing water abstraction when rivers are too low. Industrial users, too, are being forced to cut back.
Yet, paradoxically, England is also at growing risk of floods. Officials warn that extreme rainfall, when it does come, will often fall on parched ground, running straight into rivers and drains instead of replenishing supplies. That raises the likelihood of both drought and flooding being experienced at the same time with devastating consequences for homes, workplaces and infrastructure.
For working people, the stakes are high. Water shortages and floods threaten agriculture, logistics, manufacturing, energy generation and public services. They bring disruption, higher costs and additional pressures at work and at home. This is not an abstract environmental issue, it is about livelihoods, health and basic security.
Water companies, however, continue to fail the public.
Decades of underinvestment, coupled with privatisation driven dividends, have left the system fragile. Companies lose billions of litres of water every day through leaks, even while telling households to cut back on washing cars or watering gardens.
Emergency drought permits, 43 so far, mostly from Yorkshire Water, risk long-term damage to ecologically sensitive rivers. Ofwat’s £104 billion upgrade plan promises new reservoirs, upgraded pipes and a major cut in sewage overflows by 2030, but it comes decades late. The East of England, for instance, is enduring its driest spell since 1976 with little new infrastructure to show for years of warnings.
The government insists it will hold companies to account, but words are not enough. England needs urgent reform of the water industry to ensure investment goes into resilient systems rather than shareholder payouts.
That means expanding storage capacity, fixing leaks, building flood defences and planning for a climate where drought and flood are no longer seasonal opposites but simultaneous realities.
For Trade Unions like the WEU and communities across England, the message is clear!!
Water security must be treated with the same seriousness as energy security. Crisis management and sticking-plaster solutions are not enough. Working people cannot be expected to carry the costs of failure while private companies’ profit.
Stephen Morris, General Secretary of The Workers of England Union said
“It is time for accountability, long-term investment, and a water system that puts public need and environmental sustainability first.
Without decisive action, England will remain trapped in a cycle of hosepipe bans in summer and sandbags in autumn. Workers across England deserve better and we must demand it.”