Butt Heads and Beavers?

The UK has a higher annual rainfall than the rest of Europe. In spite of this, parts of Southern England and Wales are now facing emergency water measures. (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/06/britain-drought-measures-hosepipe-bans-beavers-warer-butts). The Brits appear to take water for granted, something that will have to change with climate change. What can be done, in addition to the traditional ritual of the hosepipe ban? For a start, the privatised Water Companies can direct more of their profits to curing the 25% of their supply they lose in leaks from aging intrastructure. Personal wasteage of water (via prolonged showering or leaving taps running), can be easily reduced. The average UK citizen, uses 150 litres of water per day. This compares with 128 litres per day in France. Only Bulgarians, Greeks and Italians have higher daily water usages than the Brits (they are generally a bit hotter). Beavers can also be reintroduced to create wetlands that hold more water as well as reducing flooding risks. Farming can also be made more sustainable with people choosing different crops and/or building small reservoirs on their land. Perhaps the easiest thing to do is for government to supply the funding for local councils to encourage households to incorporate (where possible) butts to collect rainwater. The rainwater can then be used to water gardens. It would, however, also be a good idea to making garden plantings more appropriate to the drier conditions.