Proposed changes to the water company drought plan guideline

Overview

The Environment Agency are consulting on the guideline that water companies in England must follow when they start preparing their 2027 drought plans.

As the main regulator for water company drought plans, we review this statutory guideline every 5 years. We have updated the guideline to ensure that all technical information is up to date and lessons learnt from recent research and experience of drought have been incorporated.

Water companies must produce drought plans every 5 years. These are operational plans. A drought plan shows what actions a water company will take to ensure a secure supply of water and protect the environment during dry weather and drought.

A note on chalk streams

We expect water companies’ drought plans to show how they will do more to protect the environment. We received a number of responses to our 2019 consultation of the drought plan guideline asking for better protection for chalk streams. For this guideline update, we have included further information on the use of environmental triggers for environmentally sensitive sites and in particular providing the examples of chalk and greensand rivers.

You will have an opportunity to feedback on your water company’s use of environmental triggers when water companies consult on their draft drought plans 2025.

Why your views matter

We welcome your views on the proposed changes to the water company drought plan guideline.

We have also reviewed the supplementary technical guidance that we share with water companies. These documents are not part of the consultation. Please contact us If you would like a copy of these documents sent to you. You can do this by emailing water-company-plan@environment-agency.gov.uk.

The documents are as follows:

• environmental assessment for water company drought planning
• drought permits and orders
• hydrological guidance for the assessment of an Exceptional Shortage of Rain (ESoR)
• position note on compensation-only reservoirs in dry weather
• checklist for water companies