England could face drinking water shortages within a decade unless new reservoirs are built, a minister has claimed.
The warning comes as the government announced it was speeding up the planning process for two reservoir projects.
But overriding local objections can be unpopular and the reservoirs could still be more than a decade away from opening.
Household consumption of water may also need to fall to secure supplies amid rising temperatures and a growing population, scientists warn.
Extra demand from new houses, data centres and other sectors could further squeeze supplies, but no major reservoirs have been completed in England since 1992, shortly after the water sector was privatised.
Last year the government and water companies announced proposals to build nine new reservoirs by 2050.
Together they have the potential to provide 670 million litres of extra water per day, they say.
That's in addition to the Havant Thicket reservoir project in Hampshire, which is already under way and is expected to be completed by 2031.
The government also says that it intends to pass legislation to automatically make the other seven proposed reservoirs "nationally significant", so the final decision would be taken by national government.
"Reservoir projects are very complex infrastructure projects that are slow to take forward, and so anything that can be done to streamline that process can be a positive thing," said David Porter, senior vice president of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).
Additional reporting by Justin Rowlatt, Esme Stallard and Miho Tanaka; map by Christine Jeavans