Droughts are caused by natural variability in our climate, which leads to a long-term rainfall deficit known as droughts. In order to plan for these periods, Welsh Water, as well as all other UK water companies, produce a ‘Drought Plan’.

The Welsh Water Drought Plan outlines our strategy for managing operations through these periods that could result in significant shortages in water resource. Our drought plan provides a detailed description of the steps we would consider during a drought, on a zonal basis across our supply area, to ensure we maintain as high a level of service to our customers as possible. We make no apologies for the fact that our Drought Plan is complex, it shows that we have considered our operational solutions extensively.

Additionally Welsh Water takes the environment in which we operate seriously. There are around 90 Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) in Wales and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) cover over 10 per cent of the land area of Wales. As such we have provided a detailed environmental scoping report. We are dedicated to providing a thorough monitoring programme to ensure that we minimise the impact we will have on the environment, even through a drought.

Final Drought Plan

Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is currently awaiting Direction from the Welsh Assembly Government prior to publishing the Final Drought Plan.