MASS immigration means areas of Britain face running out of drinking water in just ten years, ministers have warned.
Fears over shortages have forced Environment Secretary Steve Reed to seize control of the planning system and force through two new giant reservoirs.
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The emergency projects in East Anglia and Lincolnshire have been declared “nationally significant”, stripping local authorities of the power to stop them.
New laws will also fast-track all future reservoirs, cutting red tape, as Britain races to keep the taps on.
The Government admitted rapid population growth, crumbling infrastructure and climate pressure are all pushing the country towards a water supply crisis.
Water Minister Emma Hardy said: “Britain is running out of drinking water.
“In fact, because of years of underinvestment under the Conservatives, areas of the country will run out of drinking water by the middle of the next decade.
“We are taking these unprecedented steps to get reservoirs built and secure our drinking water supplies for the decades to come.”
Net migration has halved over the past year to 431,000 — but only after hitting a record 906,000 in 2023.
The Lincolnshire reservoir, south of Sleaford, will pump out 166million litres a day, enough for 500,000 homes or 664million cups of tea.
And the Fens reservoir, near Chatteris and March, Cambs, will supply 87million litres to 250,000 homes in Britain’s driest region.
Both projects are entering consultation. Lincolnshire’s is expected to be completed by 2040 and Cambridgeshire’s by 2036.
Thousands of homes in areas such as Cambridge and north Sussex are blocked from being built owing to water shortages.
And a dry spring has already depleted reservoirs. Haweswater in Cumbria is so low the outline of a village flooded to create it in 1939 has been revealed.
The two new reservoirs are part of a wider plan to create nine new sites, supplying an extra 670million litres of water a day across England.
Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins accused Labour of trying to cover up its immigration failures with panic measures.
‘Panicked announcement’
She said: “With Labour’s shambolic farming policy and failure to grip immigration, it’s no wonder they’re making a panicked announcement about water supplies running low.”
She also criticised ministers for using rising population as an excuse to “concrete over the green belt”.
A Labour source said: “Atkins seems to have a lapse in her memory. It was the last Conservative Government that let immigration levels skyrocket to record levels and failed to build any reservoirs.
“While she is busy forgetting her own record in the Home Office, Labour is focused on cutting immigration and building the first reservoirs in three decades.”
PM Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to bring down net migration but has refused to set a target number.
His comments came as Labour unveiled rules that will double the time migrants must wait to settle in Britain, scrap care worker visas for overseas recruits and raise the bar for skilled jobs to degree level.
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