England must harvest rainfall and take action on water usage, Lords warn

Without urgent intervention England faces water shortages of 5bn litres a day by 2055, peers tell government

Rainwater harvesting, the use of grey water in homes and an urgent campaign to reduce water usage across society are vital to prevent water shortages of 5bn litres a day by 2055, the government has been told.

Without intervention, England will face severe water shortages in the coming decades, as climate change-induced weather patterns, population growth and the expansion of industries such as water-intensive datacentres put excessive demand on supplies and endanger life, according to a House of Lords report published on Thursday.

Changes to building regulations to require new homes to achieve a maximum water usage of 105 litres a person a day and accelerated grey water reuse.

Nature-based solutions such as restoring peat bogs and reconnecting rivers to their natural flood plains to enhance water retention.

An urgent awareness campaign for the whole of society to reduce water usage.

A full environmental and economic assessment of drought to weigh the cost of inaction against the value of resilience.

The rolling out of nature-based solutions more widely in urban and rural settings.