The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) is calling for early action on drought as the government's National Drought Group meet today to discuss (and possibly implement) drought plans for the UK.

Yesterday CIWEM published its Policy Position Statement on Drought Management in the UK which discusses the causes of drought in the UK – and how we can learn from and plan for drought.

CIWEM is asking that the policy position statement is especially considered by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), the Environment Agency (EA) with Natural England, DEFRA and the devolved nations governments when they review and update individual water company drought plan guidelines, drought management strategy and climate related risks declarations.

CIWEM is calling for a number of improvements to drought planning, communications, and research, including:

Rapid response to drought permit requests

Regulatory improvements to allow more agility in responding to drought by reducing the lead period in England and Wales required for drought permit / order applications (Scottish legislation already allows emergency powers to be used for short term licences to be applied for within a two-week lead time).

Equity and transparency between water purposes

It is recognised that there are prioritisation decisions that need to be made as droughts become increasingly severe. This requires assessing conflicting needs – for instance between public water supply, the environment, and water for livestock, agriculture, and emergency services.

The continuation of comprehensive drought planning

All those with an interest in the water environment – water companies, government bodies, regulators, other abstractors and businesses that rely on water – should maintain drought contingency plans. These should be updated as circumstances dictate, even during a drought if planned actions turn out not to be the most effective solution, or as a new option comes to light.

Temporary Use Bans as necessary tools

Temporary bans on the use of water, mainly for garden watering purposes, should be seen as an important drought management tool, and not as a systemic failure. Water companies should not be penalised financially for appropriate use of these restrictions.

Demand management as mitigation

Effective and innovative demand management options must be identified to postpone the need for more stringent drought measures (like drought permits and orders) and reduce the effect on the environment as far as possible.

CIWEM is also calling for action in other areas, including communication, clarity across time and stakeholders, the ongoing maintenance of long-term monitoring programmes and datasets of the water environment and the need for further scientific research on seasonal forecasting, drought monitoring and developing long term projections of the impacts of climate change on water resources

Despite its reputation for wet weather, the UK is facing a growing and overlooked threat – drought. CIWEM is warning that with rainfall levels in 2025 tracking some of the driest years in recent memory, water resources are already below normal heading into the warmer months, and the risk to public supply, agriculture and nature is rising fast.

“People think of drought as a southern European problem, but it seems to be hitting the UK more quickly nowadays, and we need to be ready,” according to Alastair Chisholm, Policy Director at CIWEM. “The system we had in 2022 was too slow to respond; by the time action was taken, damage was already done. We need to stop treating drought management like an emergency failure. It’s a planned response, and it’s time government and water companies clearly explain to the public why early action is essential.”

Click here to download CIWEM’s Policy Position Statement