England is facing a water crisis. The UK government has just announced plans to fast-track two massive reservoir projects in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, warning that without them, we could run out of drinking water by the mid-2030s. But as a hydrologist who studies Britain’s often erratic weather patterns, I believe these reservoirs alone won’t solve our water problems.
No major reservoirs have been completed in England since 1992. But the rising population, housing developments and the construction of data centres which use large amounts of water as a coolant are putting intense pressure on our water supplies.
