Environment Agency sets out water company drought guidelines

The Environment Agency (EA) has set out a set of guidelines for the water companies and the sector to follow in the event of a drought.

The EA’s drought framework for England uses a colour coding system to determine the severity of a developing drought situation, and sets out the escalation process the water companies should follow at each stage.

The stages are: green (normal), yellow (developing drought), amber (drought), and red (severe drought).

During a yellow, developing drought stage, the agency will increase the number of abstraction cessation conditions in force for the time of year, as well as encouraging voluntary restrictions on abstraction and limiting the navigation of canals and rivers. Water companies will be expected to heighten the use of water efficiency messages to their customers.

In the amber drought stage, the EA will enforce drought permits and orders to protect public water supply and the environment; impose localised spray irrigation restrictions for agriculture; and the agency’s chief executive will chair special meetings of the National Drought Group. Water companies are likely to consider restrictions on non-essential domestic and commercial water use during this phase.

In the red severe drought stage, the government may activate the Cabinet Office Briefing Room (Cobra) to provide additional crisis leadership, while the EA will step up its work with abstractors and stakeholders and continue the enforcement of drought permits and orders.

Over the past 40 years, the most recent notable droughts were in 1975-6, 1989-92, 1995-6, 2004-6 and 2010-12. The most severe drought in living memory occurred from May 1975 to August 1976.

Most recently, from September 2010 to March 2012 many parts of England experienced the driest 18 months for more than 100 years, and seven water companies in south and east England imposed temporary use bans on 20 million people in April 2012.

This article first appeared on WWT-online.