Ministers must review every licence to remove water from rivers or canals, campaigners have said, as demand grows from new data centres and other developments. Approved licences allow businesses, landowners and public bodies to abstract more than 33 trillion litres of water each year – enough to fill Lake Windermere more than 107 times, according to River Action.
The licences are separate from those held by public water companies to supply drinking water. River Action said that while privately-owned water companies abstract around 5.3 trillion litres annually for public supply, commercial abstraction licences permit a further 33 trillion litres each year across thousands of operators.
Political excuses
James Wallace, CEO of River Action, said: "Let's be absolutely clear. Despite increased droughts, the UK isn't running out of rainwater. It's running out of political excuses. Rain falls, and is then polluted and wasted. While millions of households face hosepipe bans, the UK still has no credible plan for securing and managing water in a hotter, drier future, even as demand continues to grow from new homes, industry and the rapid expansion of data centres."
He added: "Around the world, competition for water is already intensifying, driving instability. Unless we act now, the UK will soon face increasingly difficult choices over who gets access to this precious resource. We cannot allow essential public water supplies, sustainable food production and healthy rivers to lose out to wasteful commercial users because the Government failed to plan ahead."
Golf courses and data centres
Licences are also held by sectors including around 435 golf courses, alongside fish farms and food and beverage manufacturers. Water demand is also expected to increase as the Government supports the expansion of AI and digital infrastructure, alongside population growth.
Wallace said: "This isn't about stopping essential industries from using water. It's about bringing industries into a water-efficient future where every drop is valued and an outdated abstraction system is brought into the 21st century. Every licence should be reviewed to ensure it remains environmentally sustainable, while the Government incentivises regenerative agriculture and water companies are made to urgently invest in fixing leaks, building reservoirs, restoring wetlands, recycling water and making homes, businesses and new developments genuinely water efficient."
Hosepipe bans "not a strategy"
"Hosepipe bans are not a strategic water efficiency strategy. The public cannot be expected to carry the burden of decades of political complacency, corporate corruption and underinvestment. Britain needs a fully funded National Water Resilience Plan before today's water shortages become tomorrow's national crisis," he said.
River Action, which analysed Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales abstraction licence data alongside published water company abstraction and leakage figures, suggested the largest commercial abstraction licence holders are within the areas served by the eight water companies currently imposing hosepipe bans.
