Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of the 2022 drought on the Queen Mary, Queen Mother and Wraysbury reservoirs.

In 2022 the Environment Agency declared a drought in south east England. This resulted in lower than average flows in the River Thames, reducing the volumes that could be abstracted and stored in reservoirs in London, including the Queen Mary, Queen Mother and Wraysbury reservoirs.

Thames Water has said London’s total reservoir storage fell to around 58%, compared to a normal seasonal average of 75%, as a result of this reduced abstraction and higher than normal demand associated with the prolonged dry weather. The reservoirs were subsequently filled when the drought ended, recovering to normal levels over the autumn and winter period.