Water companies should act earlier and proactively to protect vulnerable chalk streams, according to the results of an Environment Agency (EA) consultation on drought measures.
Environmental protection and chalk stream preservation emerged as a major consideration of more than half the respondents, who said the current guidelines for the protection of chalk streams were not robust enough.
As part of measures by EA and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to ensure sufficient water supply for the population, the consultation examined responses to drought and what improvements could be made.
The EA said it will amend drought plan guidance to emphasise the need for water companies to engage with customers as early as possible if a drought develops; to suggest they act earlier if the water environment is showing signs of stress, even if supplies are healthy; and to urge them to make drought plans more flexible and adaptable to conditions as they emerge, which should feed into a multi-sector action plan coordinated by the National Drought Group (NDG).
It encouraged water companies to take a proactive and multisector approach to reduce the impact their operations may have on the environment through the NDG.
The agency said it is working with companies on local action plans to engage more effectively with customers to link water demand to the impact on the local environment.
Respondents called for more proactive and preemptive measures to act sooner when implementing hosepipe bans.
More than half the respondents said water companies should communicate earlier and engage more proactively with customers during early drought conditions to reduce customer use.
Further, respondents suggested companies should work alongside other organisations to improve how customers received water efficiency messages.
Water resource management featured prominently in the Environment Bill, which failed to complete its passage into law before the recent suspension of parliament and is expected to be re-introduced this year. The bill includes regional plans for long-term water resource management as well as amendments to the abstraction licence process to further protect vulnerable water supplies.
The EA is expected to publish a paper next month on its national water resource plan. Meanwhile, water efficiency managers and trade body Water UK have called for a government-led initiative to reduce household water consumption with the introduction of a water labelling scheme.