England faces huge future water shortages and needs a "continued and sustained effort" to reduce demand, including more hosepipe bans and 'smart' water meters, warns the Environment Agency.
The watchdog says that without dramatic action, England, which uses 14 billion litres of water a day, will have a daily shortage of more than six billion litres by 2055.
It says more homes will need meters reporting how much water is used in real time and in future prices may need to rise when supplies are tight.
The warning came with droughts already declared in Yorkshire and the north-west of England this year following what the Met Office says is the warmest and driest Spring in more than half a century.
The EA made the warning in its five yearly National Framework for Water Resources report. It said 5 billion litres would be needed to supply the public and a further 1 billion for agriculture and energy users.
