Policy paper

12. Further evolution of water resources planning: National Framework for Water Resources 2025

Published 17 June 2025

Applies to England and Wales

Five regional groups help to co-ordinate and facilitate water resources planning for their regions and are responsible for developing and delivering regional plans. Detailed descriptions for each regional group were provided in the National Framework for Water Resources 2020 and in regional water resources plans which have been published since then.

We are working with government and regulators as well as regional water resources groups to look at the best options for delivering improvement. Options range from a ‘programme office’ function to a more formalised and strengthened national water resources planning function. Many of these aspects are being considered in Sir Jon Cunliffe’s review of the water industry. We do not wish to pre-empt the findings of that review or consideration of how the recommendations will be taken forward.

What we do set out are the improvements we have made to governance arrangements, and the steps we are taking towards the use of common planning scenarios, improved access to data and strengthened alignment with other planning processes; actions which are likely regardless of the recommendations made through the Cunliffe Review.

12.1 Governance

The Environment Agency commissioned a study to review governance arrangements for multi-sector water resources planning in England (and parts of Wales) and provide recommendations to strengthen engagement with non-PWS sectors and deliver benefits for water resources planning. This supporting technical document is available as an appendix.

In line with recommendations, we are making improvements to governance and national coordination, which will ensure the major sectors of water use are represented and help us better plan and deliver water resources resilience.

The importance of having a national overview and improving coordination, cooperation and improved efficiency is very clear. We want improved national co-ordination to help set strategy and direction, facilitate information flows, smooth reconciliation, and aid development of common standards and metrics to maintain consistency across regional groups and other sector organisations. 

The first National Framework for Water Resources established a 2-tier governance structure based on national and regional groups. We have expanded this to develop a 3-tier structure that is better able to support and encourage multi-sector participation by:

• revising the remits and membership of existing groups
• recognising the wide range of participants at different scales
• taking account of different organisational needs
• identifying the correct level for different organisations to connect
• strengthening links between participants

Figure 29: Governance structure for water resources planning and delivery (based on Mott McDonald report for the Environment Agency)

A range of national groups support the development of the national framework and coordinate the planning and delivery of water resources resilience. The remits of these groups have been expanded to improve oversight and accountability of the national framework and programme of work that supports it. This will better enable major projects and their deliverability and provide greater co-ordination and visibility across different sectors.

The National Framework Leadership Board (NFLB) is comprised of the chairs of regional groups, representatives from government and regulators and representatives from the major sectors of water use.

The NFLB advises regulators and regional groups on the future strategic direction of the national framework and regional planning. It measures the success of regional plans and identifies and aims to address themes arising from their delivery. This includes consistency of methods and metrics, adherence to timetables, multi-sector collaboration and removal of barriers, engagement and communications. The board provides a forum to share experiences of regional planning, commissions common pieces of work, and ensures cross-sector liaison.

The Senior Steering Group (SSG) brings together the chairs and senior managers of each regional group, senior managers from the water industry, representatives from regulators and government, representatives from the major sectors of water use, environmental organisations and influential advisors.

The SSG engages all participants in national water resources planning, providing a mechanism for stakeholders to support the development and implementation of the national framework and to engage with government, regulators, regional groups and customer bodies at a national level. It monitors progress in the delivery of regional plans and reviews the potential for solutions to support multi-sector demand.

The Regional Coordination Group (RCG) comprises the senior and technical managers of each regional group, representatives from government and regulators and representatives from the major sectors of water use.

The RCG coordinates water resources planning activity and engagement at a national level between participants, ensuring national representation for the major sectors of water use. This includes coordination across regional group programme plans, for instance the identification of handover points between parties, interim milestones and outputs, and interdependencies.

The RCG is also responsible for working across regional groups to plan for inter-regional transfers in the national interest, or informing intra-regional transfers between water company areas, plus informing recommendations for SROs. It ensures consistency with water company WRMPs and relevant sectoral plans and agrees common data and standards across regions and stakeholders.

A technical subgroup of the regional coordination group, the Modelling Advisory Group, provides a forum to share good practice, improve consistency of data, and ensure the compatibility of modelling approaches to ensure a robust evidence base for the national framework and regional planning.

12.1.1 Improved coordination

There is a clear need for regional groups to work collaboratively beyond company boundaries to optimise water supply solutions, engage other sectors in water resources planning, enhance resilience during drought, and to deliver environmental improvement. We want to enhance the efficiency of decision-making and regional group collaboration, improve cross-regional activities like reconciliation, communications, development of common standards and approaches, and ensure a link to national stakeholder groups.

A stronger element of coordination will help to improve efficiency and effectiveness of approach. Greater coordination between regional groups and other organisations will enable the delivery of timely, aligned regional plans.

12.2 Interface with other plans and strategies

We want to see more effective coordination and alignment of the various plans for water with greater collaboration and integration across plans where possible, without losing the necessary detailed assessments of best value options that each planning process brings. This will allow investment decisions to be based on their whole value to the water system.

 12.2.1 Catchment planning

Improving water resources resilience requires a cohesive approach that integrates national, regional, and local planning efforts. At the local level, catchment planning is crucial to manage pressures on water supplies, address unsustainable abstraction and protect the environment.

Working together to adopt a catchment-based approach, local stakeholders can understand and mitigate risks, plan for future water needs, and implement joint solutions. This is particularly important for sectors such as agriculture and horticulture. The Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) has a pivotal role in local catchment planning by aiding collaboration among various stakeholders, including government and regulators, NGOs, businesses, and local communities. The establishment of Catchment Partnerships through CaBA or other Water Abstractor Groups (WAGs), which bring together farmers and other water users to identify and prioritise local resource options, supports a collaborative approach.

Regional water resources groups are ideally positioned to promote WAGs and CaBA Catchment Partnerships. Catchment focussed groups help with the incorporation of catchment options into regional plans that support water supply resilience. Expanding local water resources planning also provides greater opportunities for multi-sector collaboration, enabling the development of innovative solutions such as water rights sharing or trading and shared proposals for resource options.

Healthy catchments hold more water in soils, rivers and wetlands, support groundwater recharge, filter pollutants, and provide essential habitats. By considering the whole of the catchment, including its natural resources, ecosystems, and human activities, integrated catchment management delivers wider benefits such as improved water quality, enhanced biodiversity, reduced flood risk, and increased environmental resilience to severe weather events (heatwaves, droughts, floods).

Given the increasing demands on water combined with the increasing need to protect the environment, an integrated catchment approach will be key to managing these pressures in a joined-up way. We expect regional groups to take a catchment approach by incorporating integrated catchment management options in their regional plans and engaging with catchment partnerships and WAGs to look for collaborative solutions.

CaBA partnerships are instrumental in developing and implementing integrated catchment management plans that address water quality, water resources, and flood risk management. These partnerships leverage local funding, knowledge and expertise to identify and prioritise actions that deliver multiple benefits for the environment and society. By promoting data sharing, capacity building, and community engagement, CaBA can enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of local water resources planning.

There are over 100 catchment partnerships that operate within a network that identifies and shares best practices in catchment planning. This ‘bottom-up’ approach strengthens coordination which will help to improve efficiency and effectiveness of approach to catchment planning.

Regional groups have a crucial role to play in supporting integrated catchment management. By bringing together stakeholders from different sectors at different scales, they can align regional and local planning efforts to ensure that integrated catchment options are effectively implemented. They can provide technical assistance, expertise, and promote best practices by sharing knowledge and experiences from successful projects. Regional groups can also aid with monitoring and evaluation of integrated catchment initiatives, to allow for adaptive management and help ensure that they deliver intended benefits. Regional groups will be more successful in multi-sector collaboration if they continue engage with and support their catchment partnerships.

12.2.2  Spatial development planning

We need to embrace opportunities for better join up between spatial planning (for example local authority local plans and strategic development strategies), investment in water infrastructure and timely delivery. We have a critical role in supporting and facilitating the delivery of growth ambitions by ensuring that the infrastructure and environmental capacity is in place for the protection and enhancement of the environment. Our expertise is invaluable in finding the opportunities to achieve sustainable growth while minimising the impact on the environment and maximising opportunities for nature recovery. Local Nature Recovery Strategies are an important evidence base that will put nature at the heart of development plans. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill aims to introduce a system of ‘strategic planning’ across England with universal coverage of spatial development strategies, to boost growth by looking across multiple planning authorities for the most sustainable areas to build and ensuring join-up between development needs and required infrastructure. This scale of spatial planning in particular lends itself to effective catchment-scale alignment of growth and water infrastructure planning.

Water company WRMP24 demand forecasts take account of the growth set out in local authority plans. This includes housing forecasts, alongside longer-term population projections. Increasing housing ambition and significant, uncertain growth in some non-household sectors may mean demand increases beyond the levels planned. It is crucial that current and future water resources needs and availability are fully considered at an early stage through local development planning processes and that they plan effectively for both domestic and non-domestic growth. There needs to be greater understanding and accuracy of water needs, which, when mapped against water availability, can help inform where sustainable growth is planned, and new resources are developed. This will mean development can be planned, designed and built in a way that protects and enhances the environment whilst supporting sustainable development, including through increasing water resources and wastewater treatment services. It is vital that these are considered during the spatial planning process.

We believe that there should be provisions to cater for local development planning for water stressed catchments. This could include an enhanced demand management framework that allows further interventions in specific places such as where growth is higher than forecast, delivery falls behind schedule, or environmental sensitivities prove to be more acute than previously thought. This could include retrofitting programmes, prioritised smart meter installations and higher water efficiency standards in new buildings. Water credit schemes can also help support short term supply gaps (see section 6.2.5).

12.2.3 Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs)

Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs) are now a statutory duty for water companies under Section 79 of the Environment Act 2021. These long-term plans will lay out how a water and sewerage company plans to extend, improve, and maintain a robust and resilient drainage and wastewater system. We would like to see more partnership and collaboration between organisations especially where water resource planning and wastewater and drainage planning can be brought together within water industry planning activities. We would like to see regional groups and water companies look at how pressures such as climate change, population increase, environmental needs and land use change impact on both clean and wastewater management.

We are committed to working together with the regional groups and the water industry to understand where common datasets and scenario planning can be used for regional water resource planning, Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs) and DWMPs. This will help water companies and other risk management authorities to use long term adaptive planning for water and flooding and coastal change and better coordinated planning for water and wastewater investments.

We expect regional groups and water companies to consider options that can provide multiple benefits. For example, options which help with storage of water, providing water resource benefit, can also help reduce and delay surface water hitting the sewerage system, providing drainage and wastewater benefit too. Nature based solutions often have multiple benefits including slowing run-off, increasing infiltration and storage capacity, and improving soil structure, all of which can provide benefit within water resources, water quality and flood risk management.

12.2.4 Water level management planning

We recognise the importance of water level management and its interface with water resources planning. We have set out our thoughts on water for peatlands in Section 5. We also want to work closely with organisations such as Internal Drainage Boards to look at how their role could evolve to support more effective water resources management, particularly in delivering local resource options.

 12.2.5 Strategic flood risk management planning

Strategic flood risk management planning plays an essential role in informing the choices made to manage flood risk in places and catchments. In enhancing our resilience to future flooding and coastal change the plans seek opportunities to enable a greener and cleaner future. At a national level this is set out in the national flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy for England (FCERM strategy) and locally in flood risk plans and strategies, such as flood risk management plans, local flood risk management strategies, drainage and wastewater management plans and shoreline management plans.

Strategic flood risk management planning helps to:

• bolster the resilience of people and places to flooding and coastal change
• enable people and places to anticipate future climate impacts and put plans and actions in place to adapt to increased flooding and coastal change
• bring partners together to set the strategic direction for flood risk management and identify common priorities for places
• inform flood risk capital investment programmes and identify interventions, including identifying opportunities for new FCERM projects
• align wider investment plans and work programmes between partners including with infrastructure providers
• identify innovative solutions, for example nature-based solutions, integrated water management as well as developing longer term, adaptive approaches

12.2.6 Water company drought plans

Every 5 years, water companies develop operational drought plans that need to align with their overarching strategic 25-year water resources management plans. The actions that a water company plans to take in a drought also need to consider and align, where possible, with the plans of their regional water resources groups. This means water company drought plans should show how they align with the drought plans of neighbouring water companies, and how they can collaborate with other sectors, to help manage a drought more effectively. The regional water resources groups are beginning to play a greater role in drought management. See section 12.5.  

12.3 Common planning scenarios and improved access to data

Multi-sector planning relies on specialist knowledge and data being shared across sectors. Making the data we have available more visible, transparent, and straightforward to access will allow:

• common planning scenarios to be applied across sectors, leading to efficiency and consistency of approach
• a route for water resources planning and environmental investigation outputs to be visible to relevant sectors, which would otherwise be unavailable

Our Water Hub is a digital engagement platform designed to make the data, information and reports the Environment Agency hold related to water more easily accessible.

The Water Hub will help answer the questions people have without them having to pursue Freedom of Information requests (FOIs) or Environmental Information Regulation requests (EIRs). This will ensure data users can focus time on key areas of strategy and delivery and support collaborative water resources planning and the protection and enhancement of the environment. By making it simpler to signpost to information, we will improve the interactions we have with our partners and stakeholders.

The National Framework presents more complex problems that require ambitious water resource modelling that cannot yet be represented on our Water Hub. To improve transparency, accessibility and user experience, we will be showcasing outputs of the modelling in an interactive dashboard that all stakeholders can access.​ This will provide the ability to interact with and visualise data and modelling scenarios​, download input and output data, figures, or maps​, and explore a range of future scenarios.

We are also looking at an approach to improve water company submission of WRMP data in the future, including increased efficiencies in data assessment and sharing through web interface and automatic validation and insights. This is based on the Environment Agency National Water Resources Supply Demand Model, developed under the National Framework 2020.

Outputs from the tool have already been used to quantify the water future water needs for England in the National Framework 2025. The approach will build on this to automate extraction, collation, processing, and quality assurance of WRMP data. This will ensure a consistent and reproducible methodology, reduction of human error, and allows for automatic updates when new data becomes available.

Further work is ongoing with the water industry and other regulators to identify and agree common planning scenarios to deliver greater consistency and efficiency in water resources planning. These could also be used for wider water planning with the water industry. There is strong support for this, with key opportunities for common scenarios identified on climate change, government demand policies, growth and environmental needs. We are looking to formalise and agree these during 2025 to enable the industry to adopt these in their next statutory water resources plans. Any common scenarios established will be included within the water resources planning guideline.

For data external to the Environment Agency, the CaBA data hub provides a curated catalogue of data, maps and applications that support collaborative catchment management planning, including water resources planning. The data is presented to enable partnerships to identify issues and opportunities for collaborative action.

12.4 Funding regional multi-sector planning

Multi-sector regional plans will help to ensure that water is available for housing developments, food security, the technology sector, hydrogen generation, and industry, to secure economic stability and growth. To deliver these plans and enable the wider inclusive work that supports them, regional groups need a sustainable source of funding.

Water companies have, so far, provided the majority of funding for regional water resources groups, to enable regional groups to work across WRMPs and identify strategic resource options (SROs) to help meet future public water supply (PWS) demand. Water company Price Review constraints put in place to ensure that water company funding provides benefits for water company customers means that water companies cannot fund planning for other major water users like agriculture and the energy sector from customer charges. These sectors face many of the same challenges as water companies but are less equipped to plan for and manage water resources. To improve resilience and secure future water supplies across these sectors, planning and delivery of resource options is needed, which requires funding.

Some progress has been made for the agriculture sector. An package of around £2 million funded by Defra’s Farming and Countryside Programme and the Ministry of Housing has enabled water resources planning activity to be enhanced and Local Resource Option studies to be applied to the agriculture sector in 2024/25 and in 2025/6. Some of this funding has been used to increase the capacity of regional water resources groups to engage in this work and to fund the Water for Food Group to help support the establishment of WAGs through third party agreement.

Supporting the growth of WAGs has enabled water resources planning and drought planning for agriculture to advance, it is not enough to provide for multi-sector water resources resilience that will meet societal need and government ambition. 

Funding is needed for regional groups to plan for and facilitate the delivery of resource options for sectors outside of the water industry, to improve resilience and secure future water supplies. This includes:

• engagement and representation – engagement with and appropriate representation of non-PWS sectors in regional groups, including existing abstractor groups and aiding establishment of new local multi-sector abstractor groups
• environmental investigations – improving confidence in the amount of water needed to ensure that abstraction is environmentally sustainable across sectors and that the levels of investment needed to achieve this are robustly justified
• developing a methodology for planning and options – assessment of deficits and development of resource options to inform sector-based local and catchment-scale plans and deliver demand and supply-side solutions

Regional group funding will unlock multi-sector planning, to the benefit of economic stability and growth, clean energy and technology, and the environment. This includes:

• growth and economy (market) – a secure supply of water underpins every home and business in England. Ensuring the supply is resilient will allow water to be available for new housing developments, domestic food security, business and industry
• clean energy and technology – with new water using technologies developing at speed, such as data centres or hydrogen power generation, a resilient supply of water is key to our Net Zero commitments. The planning and delivery of efficient solutions now will avoid more expensive reactive costs in the future
• environment – multi-sector solutions are needed now in response to high levels of water stress, to prevent additional environmental degradation and relieve pressure on supplies and resilience. Regional oversight and links to integrated water management, such as through catchment planning, will bolster long-term water resources planning and help drive sustainable abstraction

The Environment Agency commissioned an independent study to identify and review potential ways to sustainably fund non-public water supply (non-PWS) water resources planning activity in regional groups (this supporting technical report is available as an appendix). The review recommended the following three main options for further consideration. 

1. Abstraction licence charges scheme

The Environment Agency uses charges raised from licensing abstractions of water from the environment to deliver water resources management services and key outcomes for the environment and society. Some repurposing of the charging scheme could allow funding to be allocated towards ensuring appropriate multi-sector participation in regional planning. This may involve reprioritisation of investment areas so that abstraction charges do not need to significantly increase to accommodate an additional use; instead, being partially reallocated towards multi-sector planning.

2. Long-term funding through central government

Central government funding is a potential solution given that the economy, the environment and society as a whole benefit greatly from the sustainable management of water resources, along with the importance of the agricultural sector for food security and energy sector for clean energy. However, this option may not be stable or sustainable in the long-term due to changing policies and priorities within government.

3. Water company price review

The Price Review allows for funding to be provided for the majority of current spending on regional planning process, being that it is for PWS outcomes. The option could be sustainable in the long-term, and regional multi-sector planning would form a modest component of the overall revenue raised. Questions would need to be answered as to whether money raised by water companies through customer charges could pay for the benefit of different sectors. There may also be restrictions in how water company revenue could be used by other sectors.

To find the right funding solution, government, regulators, the water industry and other water users will need to work together to overcome policy, legal and consultative challenges.

Until a full funding solution is found, regional groups will have to tailor their work to what funding is currently available and to where the most value may be added. They will need to prioritise efforts across catchments, sectors or technical areas.

12.5 Regional groups’ role in drought planning and management

Strong collaboration during drought is critical to successfully mitigate impacts on the environment and all society. The benefits of collaborating between and within sectors have been demonstrated during previous droughts – at a regional level by activities of WRSE and WRE, and at a national level through the National Drought Group. We know climate change will likely increase the frequency and severity of droughts, so it is even more important to strengthen the collaboration around drought at the regional level, to maximise its benefits.

We have therefore set an expectation for regional groups to develop a drought statement of intent. This statement will clearly explain the role each regional group will take in both drought planning and management. It will set out:

• the activities the regional group will undertake and collaborate on
• what it won’t do
• how the regional group will work with member organisations and neighbouring organisations or regional groups
• how it will link with existing drought governance and drought plans
• its role with other sectors

The key benefits of improved regional collaboration are:

• coordinating interaction and communication across the region, and across sectors
• facilitating discussion and exploration of collaborative opportunities to share resources
• consistent approach for implementing water use restrictions (by water companies)

As every region is different, with different characteristics and challenges, we know each group may approach its involvement in drought differently. Initially, regional water resources groups should focus on building collaboration and alignment in how droughts are planned for and managed in their region. In the future, this may lead towards regional groups being encouraged to develop a drought plan.

Next: 13. Next steps