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Drought has reduced the amount of water available to consumers in England and
Wales by 5 per cent over the past four years. A review of “reliable” water
reserves in rivers, reservoirs and aquifers, coordinated by the Environment
Agency and published this week, has found that water companies can draw a
maximum of 18.5 billion litres each day—one billion litres less than in
1994, when the last assessment was carried out. The deficit is equivalent to the
water needs of London. Hardest hit is northwest England, which has 16 per cent
less assured water.