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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 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 and to fulfil
this duty there is a statutory requirement to plan to balance water supply and demand
at least twenty-five years in to the future. The Government, the Environment Agency
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 change projections and population growth.</p><p> </p><p>The Government
and regulators have challenged the companies when reviewing their draft plans and
have made clear that companies should set challenging customer consumption figures,
reduce leakage at least 15% by 2025 and by half by 2050 and bring forward supply schemes
where necessary. Water companies have been revising their plans and they will finalise
them this year.</p><p> </p><p>The Government knows that reducing water demand alone
will not be enough; the country requires a mix of new large and small water supply
solutions. In the case of large infrastructure, the Government’s National Policy Statement
for water resources infrastructure, currently undergoing parliamentary scrutiny, will
streamline the process of gaining planning permission for nationally significant infrastructure
projects that are needed to improve the long term resilience of water supplies.</p><p>
</p><p>Looking further ahead the Government will launch a call for evidence on setting
an ambitious target for <em>per capita</em> consumption by mid-May 2019. This will
be a national, non-binding target that will be used to judge the effectiveness of
the Government’s actions and those of the water industry in reducing water use. The
Government will also examine the wider policy options required to support the target.</p><p>
</p><p>The Government is also taking steps to improve water companies’ statutory planning
process, to ensure that there is better collaboration between water companies and
other water using sectors. This includes the Environment Agency developing a National
Framework for water resources and consulting on legislative improvements.</p>
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