National Drought Group – Chairman’s Statement – September 2018

Environment Agency ‘The NDG convened on Thursday 20 September to assess the present situation and review the action being taken to reduce the risk of drought in 2019.  Published 20 September The National Drought Group (NDG), chaired by Environment Agency Chief Executive Sir James Bevan, brings together government departments, water companies, environmental groups and others to coordinate action to maintain water supplies and manage the other risks associated with drought. The Current Situation and Prospects: The National Drought Group noted that despite recent rainfall and cooler weather, a significant number of reservoirs in the area around Manchester, Sheffield and Stoke-on-Trent are very low. United Utilities, Yorkshire Water and Severn Trent Water are all taking action to reduce water taken from these sources. It is unlikely that restrictions on customers will be used this autumn. Recent heavy rainfall across Cumbria has improved the water resources situation for some reservoirs operated by United Utilities. However, there is continuing localised drought risk in some areas of the Pennines, Yorkshire, Manchester, Sheffield, Stoke and parts of central England. Click here to read more 

High Temperatures and high demand lead to environment lows for our rivers  James Champkin, Campaigns Officer, Angling Trust Blog   So it’s official, Summer 2018 was the hottest ever recorded in England. It was also one of the driest summers in living memory, and our rivers withered in the heat. Flows on major rivers dwindled to levels lower than many local anglers had ever witnessed. As a result, many angling clubs closed their stretches of river to angling for several weeks in order to protect vulnerable species such as barbel, who have high dissolved oxygen requirements. Furthermore, the Environment Agency had to make emergency fish rescues around the country as fish became trapped in shrinking pools.  But is all this simply driven by extreme weather? Well, the simple answer is no. Most river flows are now an interaction between rainfall and the quantity of water being abstracted for public water supply, irrigation, and a variety of other human requirements. The semi-urban, chalk-fed rivers of the northern Home Counties are particularly vulnerable, and the majority of these are severely over-abstracted. In 2017, many of these rivers had dried up completely by April; a time when they should have been flowing at their most vigorous. The situation was alleviated somewhat earlier this year due to high rainfall in March and April, recharging the aquifers sufficiently to avoid disaster. This summer, it has been surface-fed water courses that have suffered most.   We need to briefly consider the demand-supply curve. Demand for public water supply is at its greatest during hot, dry weather, when supply is at its lowest and rivers cannot withstand heavy abstraction. This demand is mainly driven by leisure activities and consumption is highest over summer weekends, with parents filling paddling pools and watering their browning lawns. So, is this solely the fault of public behaviour? No.  Click here to read more

James Champkin, Campaigns Officer, Angling Trust Blog Follow @james_champkin and @AnglingTrust   The opinions expressed in this blog are the author’s and not necessarily those of the wider Link membership