Parts of six southern English counties were placed in ‘severe drought’ on Thursday 15 October, the highest drought category, the Press Association reported. The areas affected are Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex. The announcement followed a meeting of the national drought group.
According to the report, the South East and South West of England have just had their driest April to September in more than a century. Yorkshire was declared in drought the previous week, and the report says all of England is now in drought apart from the North West and North East, which are in ‘prolonged dry weather’ status.
Reservoirs Well Below Normal
The Environment Agency (EA) expects reservoirs to be about 75% full at this time of year. The Press Association says Ardingly Reservoir in West Sussex stands at 19% of capacity and supplies about 95,000 properties served by South East Water. Wimbleball Reservoir in Somerset is 16% full and supplies South West Water and Wessex Water customers in parts of Devon, Somerset and Dorset. The EA also has concerns about several smaller reservoirs supplying homes in Devon and Cornwall.
Water companies must now monitor reservoir and river levels daily and increase water quality monitoring, according to the report. The EA will step up compliance checks on businesses that abstract water and, where trade-offs are unavoidable, prioritise public water supplies over environmental rules so that reservoirs can hold more water. The report adds that the Environment Agency has granted South East Water a drought permit to cut daily releases from Ardingly to the River Ouse by 3 million litres. According to the Government’s weekly drought summary, that permit was issued on 29 September, and a separate permit allowing South West Water to reduce the compensation flow at Wimbleball was issued on 2 October.
What Officials Said
Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said the drought is at a level not seen ‘for decades’, urged people to use water wisely and pointed to plans for nine new major reservoirs. EA chief executive Philip Duffy said record summer heat and severe drought have put water resources under ‘immense pressure’, and that recovery depends on rainfall and on how much water is used. The Government says customer supplies will remain uninterrupted and that its strengthened Water Bill will bring water companies under greater public control.
Why It Matters
The Environment Agency says a severe-drought declaration does not automatically bring restrictions and is not a civil emergency, but that it signals exceptional action is needed to protect public supplies, including giving them priority over some environmental rules where trade-offs are unavoidable. With reservoirs this far below seasonal norms, the agency says some areas need 120% of typical rainfall over the next six months to recover, so the autumn and winter rains matter more than usual. The Government has pointed to its Water Bill and plans for nine new major reservoirs as the longer-term response.
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