Drought resilience: Lords committee explores water resource planning

The House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee continues its inquiry into drought preparedness in England by exploring the role of water resource planning for drought resilience, including assessing the robustness of currents plans and modelling for future supply and demand.

The session will take place on Wednesday 26 November from 10am. It can be followed live or afterwards on Parliament TV or in person in the Palace of Westminster (committee room 4).

Giving evidence from 10am will be:

• Rob Lawson,

Chair of Water Resources Technical Panel, CIWEM;

• Professor Jim Hall,

Professor of Climate and Environmental Risk, University of Oxford;

• Dr Chris Counsell,

Technical Director, HR Wallingford.

Questions from the committee will cover the following areas:

• The resilience of the current water system to drought;
  
  
• proposals for nine new reservoirs;
  
  
• other approaches to increasing public water supply;
  
  
• action required and barriers to reducing water leakages;
  
  
• future sources of water demand and data sharing;
  
  
• challenges for water companies in delivering public water supply and protecting the environment.