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<p>The Government is working closely with other water regulators and the water industry
to improve the resilience of water supplies. The Government recognises continued action
is required and it is committed to a ‘twin track approach’ of reducing demand for
water and increasing supply in parallel.</p><p> </p><p>Water companies have a statutory
duty to provide clean and reliable water to customers under the Water Industry Act
1991. To fulfil this duty, there is a statutory requirement to maintain water resources
management plans, which balance water supply and demand at least twenty-five years
into the future.</p><p> </p><p>The Government, Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat issued
guidance to water companies in 2016 on how they should be planning to be resilient
to foreseeable risks, including taking appropriate action to respond to climate projections.
Water companies are currently revising their plans.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is
taking steps to improve water resources planning to ensure that there is better collaboration
between water companies and other water using sectors on their water supply resilience.
This includes the EA developing a National Framework for water resources, which will
identify high priority water users who are unable to meet their demand or are likely
to need to expand and set expectations on collaboration at a regional scale. The Government
has also consulted on legislative improvements to ensure that water companies’ plans
are informed by effective collaboration.</p><p> </p><p>The EA is also implementing
the abstraction plan published in 2017. This includes work to bring together the EA,
abstractors and catchment groups to develop local solutions to existing pressures
and to prepare for the future.</p><p> </p>
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