WWF React To Water UK’s Report On The Need For Further Protection Against Droughts

Rose O’Neill , Freshwater Programme Manager at WWF-UK has reacted to today’s Water UK report demonstrating the need for increased protection against growing drought risk with the following statement:

“In the future, pressure on our rivers and water supplies is only going to rise. We need to act now to ensure that we have enough water for people and nature in years to come.

Abstraction licences ensure that rivers don’t dry up as demand for water increases.

“Yet the system is out-of-date, unsustainable and not fit for purpose. Only 1 in 5 licences offer anything by way of environmental protection, and some licences allow abstraction of water that, in future, may not even be there. Abstraction licensing urgently needs reform and Defra must bring forward its long-awaited plans by tabling a new Water Bill.”