Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the increasing demand for water provision because of climate change into the 2030s and beyond.

By 2050, England will need an additional 5,000 million litres of water per day due to the need to leave more water in the environment, climate change, population growth and to increase our resilience to drought. Combined with the challenges of ageing water infrastructure across England and new supply options taking years to come online, many areas may face a supply-demand deficit in years to come.

Approximately half of the shortfall between supply and demand needs to be met through reduction in water demand, the other half from new water resources. The Government have secured £104 billion in private sector investment over the next 5 years, to boost out water supply and manage demand. This will also drive major infrastructure projects – including nine new reservoirs.