England's rivers ‘under threat' as water extraction surges to record levels
The amount of water being sucked from England's rivers has surged to record levels, with potentially disastrous consequences for people and wildlife, it can be revealed.
An investigation into licensing data by Watershed Investigations and the Guardian found that the volume of water taken from rivers and lakes for industrial or public consumption has jumped 76% in two decades: 11.6m cubic metres (410 cu ft) were abstracted in the five years to 2023, up from 6.6m in the early 2000s.
Abstraction – the removal of water from rivers, lakes, underground aquifers or tidal waters – is permitted for farming, industry or public supply. Anyone using more than 20 cubic metres a day needs a licence from the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales, setting limits on how much water they can take. Similar rules apply in Scotland.
River abstraction now accounts for 61% of all water taken from the environment, up from under 40% at the turn of the century. Groundwater use has also risen sharply, up 53% since 2018. Meanwhile, use of tidal water has plummeted, falling from almost half of total abstraction to just over a quarter.
'Our rivers are under threat,' said Nick Measham, the chief executive of the conservation charity WildFish. 'We are putting extra demands on water resources when the rivers are running dry. When it does rain after persistent dry periods, we often return our water polluted, which means that river habitats for animals and plants are in serious trouble.'
Some of the increases are the result of existing activities being licensed for the first time. Some water use is classed as non-consumptive because it is returned shortly after, such as in navigation, hydropower or power station cooling, but campaigners say this is not harmless as water is lost in the process, and what is returned is often polluted.
The maximum volume of water licensed to be taken from rivers and lakes has increased by 6% over the past decade, from 25.5bn to 27bn cubic metres. Meanwhile, caps on groundwater and tidal abstraction have fallen 4% and 42% respectively since 2013.
The Environment Agency, which issues the licences, has long warned that without intervention an extra 5bn litres a day will be needed for public water supply by 2055, plus another 1bn litres for industry and farming.
Initially, 80% of this shortfall will need to be made up by making people use less and by fixing leaks – water companies still lose about 19% of the water they supply, or roughly 3bn litres a day, through leaky pipes.
Experts say this could have been avoided if investment in new infrastructure had come sooner. 'We should have been building reservoirs 10 years ago,' said one industry source, blaming successive governments for 'a lack of appetite' for it.
Due to the lack of storage, during droughts water companies plan to draw even more water from rivers – precisely when they are most vulnerable.
Measham said: 'There has been a woeful lack of forward thinking to cope with demand. Depleted and polluted, rivers that were once abundant in fish, invertebrates, mammals and birds turn into a line of fetid pools that eventually dry out completely.'
On the River Itchen, the impact is already showing. In 2022 and 2024, returning adult salmon numbers hit the lowest and third lowest levels ever recorded – just 133 and 187 fish respectively. If another drought hits, the river and its endangered salmon could be pushed to the edge.
'The cost is to the rivers, they are paying the price, and fish are paying the price,' said WildFish's Janina Gray.
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The water sector is clear about the urgency of the problem. A Water UK spokesperson said: 'The threat to our water security is not a distant risk, it's a looming challenge. After not building a single reservoir in over 30 years, we've finally been given initial approval for 10, plus seven water recycling schemes. These projects will help reduce pressure on abstraction.'
Some parts of the country are seeing extreme increases in water use. In the Midlands, abstraction has soared 132% in a decade, from 1.6bn to 3.6bn cubic metres, now rivalling that in the north-west. Meanwhile, the southern region has seen a 26% drop. In Wales, Powys alone holds 42% of all authorised abstraction volumes, with water supply and energy as the main drivers. Conwy, Ceredigion and Gwynedd follow.
The Environment Agency says about 15% of rivers and lakes and 27% of groundwater bodies have abstraction rates that damage the environment and that by the 2050s summer river flows in England could fall by up to 33%.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said the nation's water resources were 'under huge and steadily increasing pressure'. They said: By harnessing the latest technology and intelligence, upgrades to the licensing system will allow us to focus inspections on the highest-risk abstractions and provide real-time information to water users.
'New powers under the Water Special Measures Act mean we can enforce licensing more effectively and ensure water companies are held accountable when they fall short of expected standards.'
This week the government published its national framework for water resources, in which it set out plans for reform. A Defra spokesperson said: 'Rapid population growth, crumbling infrastructure and climate change mean we need a major water overhaul. The government has secured £104bn in private investment for nine new reservoirs and new pipes, and is modernising the abstraction system to protect the environment.'
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