The National Drought Group (NDG) met on 15 July as a drought is declared in the West and East Midlands. Dry weather continues to impact water resources across England requiring water companies to take action to manage demand with the public being urged to use water wisely.
While drought conditions continue across much of the UK, Scottish Water chief executive says the average Scot uses 40% more water than people in Yorkshire, partly due to mistaken belief water is abundant in Scotland.
Photo: Jonathan Bean
Deterioration in conditions
Since the NDG last met on 5 June, the situation has deteriorated, with further areas, including the West and East Midlands, now officially in drought and recently three more areas moved into prolonged dry weather status (Lincs and Northants, East Anglia, and Thames area). A hosepipe ban is set to be introduced from 22nd July by Thames Water following a period of prolonged dry weather in the area.
Across England, rainfall was 20% less than long term average for June. June was also the hottest on record for England, with two heatwaves driving unusually high demand for water. Reservoir levels continue to fall, with overall storage across England at 75.6% and at 53.8% in Yorkshire necessitating a Temporary Use Ban (TUB).
The National Drought Group heard that without further substantial rain, some water companies may need to implement further drought measures, including more Temporary Use Bans (TUBs) to conserve supplies.
Water companies have been in preliminary discussions with the Environment Agency (EA) about drought permits, the Guardian said. These permits allow water companies, in exceptional circumstances, to extract more water from the environment than they would usually be allowed to. The EA tries to avoid granting these permits because it can severely damage rivers and other aquatic environments, particularly when river flows are already low.
Water Minister Emma Hardy said: “I have asked the National Drought Group to step up its response to ensure we are successfully managing the impacts of ongoing dry weather. Water companies must now take action to follow their drought plans – I will hold them to account if they delay.
We face a growing water shortage in the next decade. That’s why we are pushing ahead with urgent water reforms under our Plan for Change, which includes £104 billion of private investment to build nine reservoirs and new pipes to cut leaks.”
Hosepipe bans
Southern Water has become the fourth English utility to issue a hosepipe ban, taking the number of people hit by such restrictions to about 8.5 million, with England’s reservoirs at lowest level or a decade.
The latest ban, which comes into force for about 1 million residents across large swathes of Hampshire and all of the Isle of Wight, comes after Yorkshire, Thames and South East Water announced similar measures.
The Southern Water areas with restrictions are mostly supplied by rare chalk streams, the River Test and the River Itchen, which the company said were at “critically low levels” – down 24% on normal flows for this time of year, the Guardian reported.
One in seven people in England are now prohibited from using hosepipes to fill paddling pools, water gardens or wash cars after some areas faced the driest spring on record.
Scotland’s rivers rated at either “exceptionally” or “notably” low
In an interview with the Guardian, Alex Plant, the chief executive of Scottish Water, said that Scottish Water, which supplies nearly all Scotland’s homes and businesses, faced spending up to £50bn by 2050 to adapt the country’s water and sewage networks for the impacts of the climate crisis.
Scotland was on the brink of severe water shortages earlier this year after the driest spring since 1964 – an event Plant said was a taste of the extreme weather that will occur far more often in future.
In mid-May, a significant majority of Scotland’s rivers were rated at either “exceptionally” or “notably” low, while reservoirs were at 77% capacity – 13% below the normal level for spring.