Mismanagement escalated the risk of water rationing amid rising demand and supply shortages, a minister has said
The UK has been pushed to the brink of water rationing due to “years of mismanagement” of resources and insufficient infrastructure, the country’s environment minister has warned.
In an interview with The i Paper published on Monday, Steve Reed said the country was faced with adopting measures often seen in drought-hit Mediterranean nations.
”The public, by and large, were not aware that at the time of the last general election, this country was looking at water rationing within ten years,” Reed said, speaking one year after Labour’s election win. He warned that rebuilding the UK’s essential systems, including water infrastructure, “cannot be done over just five years.”
The strain on supply has increased due to growing demand from new industries such as battery factories and data centers, which require large volumes of water to cool their systems. “They can’t operate without vast amounts of water,” he said.
Reed added that without intervention, the UK faced rationing and water being turned off at certain times of the day.
The warning follows a record-breaking June heatwave in the UK, and as temperatures are expected to exceed 30C (86F) in parts of the country again this week.
The government has secured £104 billion (around $136 billion) for infrastructure upgrades over the next five years following a spending review by regulator Ofwat. The funds will be used to build reservoirs and reduce leakage, Reed said.
However, he warned that despite growing public demand for action, restoring the country’s water system would take more than five years.
Other countries facing similar challenges have adopted a range of water-saving measures. Spain has restricted household water access to a few hours per day during droughts, while Australia enforces tiered water bans during dry spells. Singapore recycles up to 40% of its water through advanced purification, and South Korea uses smart meters to monitor usage and leaks.
