Environment Agency has ‘no idea’ how much water is taken, says whistleblower

Exclusive: most extraction points for rivers and groundwater not metered, so government relies on users' honesty

The government has no idea" how much water is being taken from rivers and groundwater, according to an Environment Agency (EA) whistleblower, as swathes of England remain in drought despite recent heavy rainfall.

The whistleblower told the Guardian that the EA's regulation of water abstraction points for farms, small businesses and private water supplies was absolutely pointless" because most were not metered and the monitoring that did take place was unreliable.