Guidance: Water resources planning guideline

For water companies in England and Wales to use for developing their water resources management plan. Also relevant to those producing regional plans.

If you are a water company in England or Wales, you must prepare and maintain a water resources management plan (WRMP). Your WRMP sets out how you intend to achieve a secure supply of water for your customers and a protected and enhanced environment.

The duty to prepare and maintain a WRMP is set out in sections 37A to 37D of the Water Industry Act 1991 . You must prepare a plan at least every 5 years and review it annually.

Updated references to the UKWIR (2026) report 'Improving approaches to demand forecasting' which has now been published.

Added a link in section 4.1.1 to the Environment Agency's position statement on nature-based solutions for sustainable water resources.

The Water Resources Planning guideline has been updated to include changes to process, approaches and updated links to associated guidance, research and documents. A public consultation was run in Autumn 2025 on proposed updates to the guidance. Responses to the consultation have now been considered and changes made to the updated guidance.

Following receipt of water company draft water resources management plans and policy changes we have updated our guidance. We consulted water companies on the proposed changes earlier in 2023.

Added version clarification to the water resources planning guideline. This version, published 4 April 2022, reflects version 10 of the water resources planning guideline (updated December 2021) PDF document.

Updates made to all sections to provide clarification and reflect changes in legislation.

Added in section 1.7, Further guidance: email address to request copies of the supplementary guidance.