The Environment Agency has published its drought framework for England setting out how the Agency will work with government, water companies and others to manage water resources during a drought.

As the environmental regulator for water, the Agency has overall responsibility for safeguarding the environment during drought and overseeing the actions water companies take to secure public water supplies.  It is the role of the Environment Agency to monitor, report and act to reduce the impact of drought on the natural environment.

The framework sets out:

• how drought affects different parts of England in different ways
• which organisations are involved in managing drought and how they work together
• how the Environment Agency and others make decisions and decide on actions to take
• how the Environment Agency monitors and measures the impacts of drought
• how the Environment Agency reports on drought and communicates with others

The Cabinet Office has identified drought as a civil emergency within the National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies (2015 edition). In England, the main organisations responsible for managing water resources during drought are:

• the Environment Agency; provides strategic oversight and responsible for monitoring, reporting, advising and acting to reduce the impact of a drought on the environment and water users
• water companies; responsible for managing water supply for customers and taking a range of measures to maintain supplies whilst minimising environmental impact
• government; responsible for policies relating to water resources.

The Environment Agency has drought plans in place for each of its 16 operational areas - however, unlike water company drought plans, there is no legislative requirement for the Agency to consult on and publish its plans.

Public water systems face higher demand due to population growth and higher per person use

Commenting on the impacts of climate change and an increased likelihood for hotter, drier summers, the framework says that although public water supplies are now much more resilient to dry weather conditions than in the past, population growth and increased per person water use is placing a higher water demand on water supply systems.

The framework points out that over the past 40 years, England has experienced a number of droughts. The most recent notable droughts were in 1975 to 1976, 1989 to 1992, 1995 to 1996, 2004 to 2006 and 2010 to 2012. The most severe drought in living memory occurred from May 1975 to August 1976.

Most recently, from September 2010 to March 2012 many parts of England experienced the driest 18 months for over 100 years. The effect of two dry winters led to low groundwater levels across the majority of England, apart from the north-west, with many sites recording their lowest levels on record.

Reservoir stocks were also low across much of south and central England, with a number at their lowest recorded levels for the time of year, with potentially significant effects on households and businesses.

This drought resulted in 7 water companies in south and east England imposing temporary use bans on 20 million people in April 2012. This drought ended abruptly in summer 2012 with the wettest April to September on record, resulting in widespread flooding. Run-off from agricultural land and effluent from storm overflows on beaches led to low bathing water quality. Increased run-off of pesticides and fertilisers also led to poor raw water quality and water companies found it difficult to meet drinking water standards.

Click here to download the Drought Framework for England