# English water companies update National Drought Group on resilience measures > Company executives outlined steps to protect customer supplies while reservoir levels remain low. - Canonical URL: https://newsverum.com/en/news/england-water-companies-drought-response-update-2026 - Publisher: Newsverum - Section: Environment - Country: United Kingdom - Published: 2026-10-21T00:44:00+00:00 - Updated: 2026-10-21T00:44:00+00:00 - Event / data period: 2026-10-20 - Other editions: [Türkçe](https://newsverum.com/tr/news/england-water-companies-drought-response-update-2026.md), [العربية](https://newsverum.com/ar/news/england-water-companies-drought-response-update-2026.md), [Français](https://newsverum.com/fr/news/england-water-companies-drought-response-update-2026.md), [Español](https://newsverum.com/es/news/england-water-companies-drought-response-update-2026.md), [Deutsch](https://newsverum.com/de/news/england-water-companies-drought-response-update-2026.md), [Português](https://newsverum.com/pt/news/england-water-companies-drought-response-update-2026.md) On 20 October, Defra said water-company executives had briefed the National Drought Group the previous day. Measures include releasing less reservoir water into rivers, reducing pressure overnight where appropriate, accelerating leak detection and transferring water within networks. The government instructed companies and the Environment Agency to monitor reservoirs and rivers daily. The Environment Agency said rainfall of at least 120% of average over the next six months would be needed for the area to be considered out of drought by early spring. This is a threshold, not a forecast. Defra said customer supplies had not been interrupted; two drought permits had been granted while other steps remained under preparation or consideration. ## Data ### England drought resilience update Water companies’ reported steps to protect supply Methodology: Date and event follow the published source. | date | label | description | status | |---|---|---|---| | 2026-10-20 | Reported development | Date stated by the source | occurred | Sources: · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/england-water-companies-drought-response-update-2026/data/source-event?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/england-water-companies-drought-response-update-2026/data/source-event?lang=en&format=csv) ## Sources - [Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs]() (Source checked: 2026-10-21; Published: 2026-10-20) --- Cite the canonical URL above. [Editorial standards and corrections](https://newsverum.com/en/editorial)