The chief executive of the Environment Agency issued a grim warning to BBC Countryfile viewers as he said Britain was running out of water. The programme was told a 'perfect storm' of climate change, rising populations and leaking pipes would lead to water supplies running out in some areas by 2050.
House building is already being delayed by concerns over water shortages. Wildlife in some areas is already being impacted by reduced water supplies. The last reservoir was built in Derbyshire in 1991 and another is planned in Hampshire, but the programme said more were needed.
Presenter Tom Heap said: "As far back as the long hot summer of 1976 we've experience shortages of our water supplies and now a perfect storm of growing populations, climate change and leaking pipes means we could risk running out of water across the UK. In England alone by 2050 there's a chance that 1 in 4 chance will have water supplies cut off because of drought."
Read more: The five 'dangerous' garden plants devaluing your home
Sir James Bevan told the popular BBC programme that hotter and drier summers meant the country needed to find a lot more water. "We would estimate that by 2050 we would need another 4billion litres of water every day - the equivalent of one additional reservoir every week.
"We need to reduce the amount of water that we use. We need to reduce leakage and personal consumption and increase supplies for the future. It is absolutely fundamental that we don't just have enough water for people and businesses but we have enough water for wildlife itself."
"We have grown used to a constant supply of water," added Heap. "But coming water shortages are a very real scenario we all need to use less of it and find ways to bolster our supply or our environment and way of life will be threatened."
Sign up to Planet Bristol for weekly environmental news and information from across the city
