EA convenes drought group as UK faces more dry weather

The Environment Agency (EA) convened a meeting of the National Drought Group on Tuesday (July 26) as the UK faced more dry weather following last week’s record-breaking heatwave.

The regulator said although nowhere in the England is currently considered to be “in drought”, most of the country has moved into “prolonged dry status” meaning it is now taking precautionary measures to ensure water levels are maintained.

The EA said these include working with water companies to enact the early stages of their drought plans by asking the public to use water considerately and avoid unnecessary consumption. The agency said this will help to avoid more drastic measures such as temporary use bans – more commonly known as hosepipe bans.

Harvey Bradshaw, EA executive director and chair of the National Drought Group, said: “We are working very closely with water companies, farmers and other water users to manage the current situation. Today’s meeting was an important step in agreeing joint actions to protect our water resources with further dry weather forecasted for August, including ever-closer working to monitor and manage water supplies and the environment.

“Environment Agency teams are doing brilliant work across the country monitoring river levels and responding to environmental incidents, as well as enacting the early stages of our drought plans in many parts of England to protect people’s access to water and preserve the environment.”

The EA said recent “abnormally high temperatures” have exacerbated the low rainfall seen so far this year in many parts of England, particularly in the South East, and the Met Office is now forecasting more dry weather in August.

The National Drought Group comprises the EA, Ofwat, UK and Welsh government, water companies, Water UK, Waterwise, MOSL, CCW, DWI, the National Farmers Union and environmental protection groups including the Angling Trust and Rivers Trust.

Water UK’s director of policy Stuart Colville urged the public to heed national water efficiency campaign messages from Water’s Worth Saving to minimise the need for any restrictions later in the summer.

He said: “As we continue to see extremely high demand, we are urging everyone to carefully consider the amount they are using given the unprecedented conditions. The water industry is running a national water saving campaign called Water’s Worth Saving that provides the public with helpful hints and tips on how to do their bit with water use in the home and garden.”

The request to conserve water comes after water companies saw a large spike in demand during last week’s heatwave. Anglian Water told Utility Week usage in its region reached 1.6 billion litres on the hottest day – 37% higher than usual summer levels and the most the company has ever supplied on a single day.

Welsh Water saw also record consumption with an extra 1,000 megalitres supplied to customers one day last week. The company said rainfall earlier in the year had been low with March to May only seeing 60% of the long term average rainfall.

Thames meanwhile said demand was 25% above average for the time of year in some of its areas. Daily supplies outside of London peaked at 778 megalitres, which was the highest level in 27 years.

Yorkshire experienced its highest daily demand in 15 years, with 1,573 megalitres supplied on 19 July compared to typical mid-summer demand of 1,300 megalitres. It added that reservoir levels are around 20% lower than expected at this time of year and it is enacting its drought plans but with no temporary use bans anticipated.

Wessex Water said it also experienced a surge in demand, although peak daily usage was higher in three out of the last four years.

North of the border, Scottish Water had to pump up to an extra 150 megalitres of water into the supply to keep up with demand and has sent 25 tankers of fresh water to the Isle of Arran to meet demand from holidaymakers on the island.