Abstract
In the upcoming years, as the population is growing and ageing, as lifestyle changes create the need for more water and as fewer people live in each household, the UK water sector will have to deal with challenges in the provision of adequate water services. Unless critical action is taken, every area in the UK may face a supply-demand gap by the 2080s. Extreme weather events and variations that alter drought and flood frequency add to these pressures and there is therefore a need to develop evidence-based drought scenarios models for water management purposes. However, little evidence is available about householders’ response to drought and there are few if any studies that have synthesised this evidence. In response, this paper discusses the current empirical literature on the factors driving domestic water consumption under both ‘normal’ and drought conditions. The paper identifies the limited availability of evidence on the many different and evolving factors affecting domestic consumption under both ‘normal’ and drought conditions and stresses the need for the inclusion of inter and intra household factors as well as water use practices in future demand forecasting models. The paper then presents ‘Water Cultures’ as an integrative modelling framework to combine the limited evidence that is available on the interactions of social norms, practices and material cultures. This enables the paper both to capture both the uncertainty and heterogeneity of individual and/or household level variation and also outline the research gaps that need to be addressed.
Highlights
Climate change is expected to affect regions around the world, possibly causing floods and droughts of increased frequency and magnitude as well as changes in water use behaviours (Olmstead 2013)
In South East England, a region already suffering water stress due to population growth and changing water use habits, summer precipitation is projected to decrease from an average of less than 25 wet days (Met Office 2017) by 9% by the 2080s (Jenkins et al 2010)
Residential customers typically use the most water of any sector (De Oreo et al 2016) control of domestic demand is a priority in the United Kingdom (UK)
Summary
Climate change is expected to affect regions around the world, possibly causing floods and droughts of increased frequency and magnitude as well as changes in water use behaviours (Olmstead 2013). In response to this acute situation, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA 2008) have set targets for reducing daily domestic demand from 150 to 130 l per person before 2030 To achieve these targets, an understanding of the factors affecting water consumption at the household and societal levels is required (Browne et al 2013; Parker and Wilby 2013). An understanding of the factors affecting water consumption at the household and societal levels is required (Browne et al 2013; Parker and Wilby 2013) This understanding can be embedded in future demand projection models that can be used to assess the costs and benefits of potential intervention scenarios under a range of climatic and hydrological conditions (Prudhomme et al 2015). Reviewed which, when applied to the review of modelling methods, identifies gaps in the evidence base and suggests key directions for future work
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