To start the week, here is a quick-fire question and answer quiz. Q. How many data centres have been built in the UK this century? A. 450. Q. How many inshore wind farms have been built in the UK this century. A. Over a thousand. Q. How many miles of new motorway have been built this century. A. Over a hundred. Q. How many new reservoirs have been built in the UK over the same period? A. None. Nada. Zilch.

In fact, not a single reservoir – vital for the prevention of water shortages and the management of river flows – has been built in the United Kingdom (total area: 94,000 square miles) since 1992. Meanwhile, since 2000, approximately 20 new, large dams or reservoirs have been built in Germany, and in France there are more than 100 water storage projects under construction.

I use this litany of comparative statistics in case anyone is wondering why millions of households in the UK have hosepipe bans in force. The management of one of the nation’s most precious assets has simply not been a priority for more than three decades, which roughly coincides with the time that our water supply has been privatised, and the requirement to pay........

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