Water Voice severe drought survey report – October 2026

After the government declared severe drought in parts of England in October 2026, members of our Water Voice communities completed an additional survey to help us understand consumers’ reactions to the announcement.

This report presents the findings from the survey, including how concerned customers are and their views on who is responsible for ensuring ongoing drought events do not affect water supplies.

Key findings:

• over four-fifths (83%) of the community were concerned by the severe drought announcement, although more than half (51%) say they were unsurprised by it given the dry conditions experienced in some areas
• more than two-thirds (68%) of community members are worried about water shortages in their area now, rising to 87% over the next 10 years
• when it comes to protecting water supplies, community members place the greatest responsibility on water companies and the least on households. Over half (53%) ranked water companies as most responsible, while two-thirds (66%) viewed households as least responsible