And they still want to build on flood plains!

Do you know, when I was a child in the 50s, we were always being told to conserve water. "Never wash your hands under a running tap" was one of the slogans. Being quite bright, and beginning to suspect that adults didn't always know what they were talking about, I very quickly proved to myself that you can was your hands under a slowly running tap and not use enough water to wash them in the conventional way. Put thie plug in, run the tap just enough to wet/rinse your hands, wash them, rinse them and see how much water is in the sink: if it's a normal-sized handbasin, about one-and-a-half to two inches, not enough to get one hand under.

It's easy to reduce your water usage if you use your brain. Try personal hygeine 1950s-style: take a bath (better, a shower) once a week and wash thoroughly with sinkful of water the rest of the time. You're allowed to sit in the bath to wash your feet; a bowl is handy for this (after you've done the easy bits).

Steve