With new reservoirs reportedly needed urgently, a letter to The Guardian suggests that the Burnham government could empower mayors and combined authorities to build water infrastructure. This approach would shift the responsibility away from private companies.
Historically, local councils and their engineers were responsible for building reservoirs, aqueducts, and local water-storage infrastructure. For example, one town built five new reservoirs and took over others within 40 years of its incorporation as a borough in 1868. By 1897, 610 urban councils operated their own water undertakings.
Another suggestion in the letter proposes incorporating communal water storage into new housing estates during construction. This could include using cooling water from planned data centres to centrally heat houses, rather than it being wasted.