This winter, Britain got soaked.

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Much of England saw rainfall that was more than 40% above average, but the reality is that we are still at risk of drought. Reservoirs in several areas of the nation haven’t recovered to normal levels and parts of the country are still recovering from the drought of 2025.

With the Environment Agency already warning of a high drought risk for summer 2026, a dry spring could place significant strain on already stressed resources, and business leaders should take notice.

Water has long been viewed by businesses as background infrastructure that is dependable, affordable and hardly worth a line in the risk register.

This assumption is becoming increasingly difficult to defend. Water supply belongs in the same conversation as energy prices and supply chain resilience where this a risk around the certainty of supply – which translates into an operational risk that can cause production disruptions, increase overheads and catch unprepared enterprises off guard.

The regions most exposed currently sit across the South East, East of England and parts of the Midlands, where reservoir levels and stress indicators are already flashing amber. For businesses operating in those areas, the margin for a dry spring is thinner than most realise.

However, there is a huge amount that businesses can do to prepare themselves for any challenges that lie ahead. Auditing water use, finding inefficiencies and mapping out which activities are most susceptible to supply disruption are all doable actions that don't require a significant financial commitment – simply the recognition that we should treat water with the same seriousness as energy or personnel expenditures.

The question isn’t what will it cost to act, but what could it cost not to act? What would the impact of supply disruption be to your business? Businesses can take steps to invest in water-efficiency technology, negotiate better contracts and review supplier relationships - including who their water retailer is and what they can offer.

Alongside this, government and the water industry must deliver against plans to better inform water consumers about the risk to water security and provide incentives and support to reduce water usage and leaks.

For years, infrastructure investment has lagged behind increasing demand for water, but it’s going to take time to build the new reservoirs needed to counteract population growth and climate change, and to ramp up investment in water pipes to reduce leaks.

Britain is heading into a water scarcity crisis but if the risk of drought is taken seriously and everyone plays their part in taking a more proactive approach to managing the fragile supply-demand balance then we can avoid it causing major disruption.

Businesses that are best placed to respond will be those that start planning and adapting now, rather than waiting to be caught out.

_____________Craig Dallison is the CEO of Everflow

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