England ‘failing to invest in water networks to avoid future droughts’

theguardian.com:

England is failing to invest in the water networks needed to avoid a future of recurrent serious droughts, with current policies amounting to the government “keeping [its] fingers crossed”, the UK’s infrastructure chief has warned.

The current drought was a warning that water systems could not cope with the changing climate, with more hot dry spells interspersed with heavier rainfall, said Sir John Armitt, chair of the National Infrastructure Commission.

“Investment is better than keeping your fingers crossed, and than relying on emergency measures,” he warned.

Ministers could not prevent dry weather, but they could direct investment into infrastructure to cope with it, such as reservoirs and cutting wastage, he said. “The government should set out what degree of risk from drought they would see as reasonable, for people to manage and expect.”

Water bills may have to increase to pay for the investment needed, he warned. “If you want greater resilience to drought, then you have to increase water bills or general taxation [to pay for it],” he told the Guardian in an interview.

Drought was declared in eight of England’s 14 regions on Friday, after a meeting of the National Drought Group, made up of ministers, civil servants, water companies and conservation groups. Five water areas have so far put in place hosepipe bans, though farmers have called for more as ministers were briefed that farmers face the ruin of up to half their crops.

In several areas in the drought-stricken south of England, people have been forced to queue in the street as their water systems failed. In the village of Northend in Oxfordshire, people have been relying on tankers. In and near Guildford in Surrey, handouts of bottled water began at the weekend