Full Breakdown
Reform UK Calls for End to Annual Hosepipe Bans and Accelerated Reservoir Building
8/16/2026, 9:31:47 PM
Current Water-Supply Pressures
Recent data from the Environment Agency indicate that total reservoir levels across England have fallen to 66 %, down from 69 % the previous week. Combined with heatwaves and minimal rainfall in July, official drought declarations cover roughly 70 % of the country. In response, South West Water has imposed a hosepipe ban covering Devon, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, and parts of Dorset and Somerset, while United Utilities has ruled out any ban for Greater Manchester and the North West.
Reform UK’s Policy Proposals
Reform UK argues that the water crisis stems from policies of previous Labour and Conservative governments and from “mass immigration,” claiming that Britain receives enough rain for its largest reservoir to be filled 700 times over. The party proposes to:
- Scrap the government’s water-reduction target that aims to cut per-person water use by 20 % by 2038.
- Eliminate red-tape barriers that currently restrict the construction of new reservoirs.
- Expand the special national infrastructure planning regime to include reservoirs of 10-30 million cubic metres (10-30 000 megalitres), rather than the existing 30 000 megalitres threshold.
- Support desalination plants to augment freshwater supplies.
Reform UK notes that the last major reservoir, Carsington Water in Derbyshire, was completed in 1991 (opened 1992), and cites an Environment Agency warning of a potential 5 billion litres-per-day shortfall by 2055 without urgent action.
Official Responses
The party’s document frames the issue as a failure to plan and build infrastructure, positioning abundant rainfall as a “common-sense” solution. The Prime Minister, during a visit to drought-affected farmers in the South West, pledged £65 million in funding and announced new measures to help manage the summer’s dry weather, following an emergency “Cobra” meeting on heat, wildfires, and drought.
Upcoming Infrastructure Projects
In 2025, the government assumed control of planning for two new reservoirs in Lincolnshire and East Anglia. Anglian Water’s proposed Lincolnshire Reservoir aims to be operational by 2040, delivering up to 166 million litres of water daily to 500 000 homes. A partnership between Anglian Water and Cambridge Water proposes the Fens Reservoir, slated for completion in 2036, which would supply 87 million litres daily to 250 000 homes in the UK’s driest region.
These proposals and projects form the core of the current debate over how Britain should secure water supplies and whether annual hosepipe bans can be eliminated.
