The UK Environment Agency has added an unusual step—deleting old emails and photographs—to its list of water-saving measures as the country grapples with what officials call a “nationally significant” drought. The guidance was published after the National Drought Group met on 11 August, with the agency arguing that trimming data storage can marginally reduce the water consumed by data centres that cool servers. Five English regions, including Yorkshire and the West Midlands, are officially in drought, while six more face prolonged dry conditions following the driest six-month spell to July since 1976 and a fourth summer heatwave. Reservoir levels have fallen to an average of 67.7 %, and hosepipe bans remain in force across parts of northern and southern England. The agency’s director of water, Helen Wakeham, said everyday actions such as “turning off a tap or deleting old emails” can ease pressure on rivers and wildlife. A study by Oxford University estimates that a modest one-megawatt data centre can use about 26 million litres of water each year for cooling, highlighting the digital sector’s growing footprint. Traditional advice—fixing leaks, installing rainwater butts and taking shorter showers—still dominates the government’s drought response. However, some analysts questioned whether pruning inboxes will have a measurable effect, noting that the move underscores broader concerns about the resource demands of cloud computing and artificial-intelligence workloads.