Steps agreed to manage drought

The National Drought Group (NDG) has met and agreed further action to manage the current drought and to reduce the risk of drought next year.

The group is made up of of senior decision-makers from the Environment Agency, government, water companies and key representative groups under the chairmanship of Sir James Bevan, EA Chief Executive. Water Minister Steve Double was also in attendance.

The group agreed further steps to manage the current drought, to start work now to reduce the risk of drought next year, and to accelerate measures to ensure long-term water security.

This has been the driest summer for fifty years and the driest ever recorded for Southern England. River and groundwater levels are low, as are reservoir levels. There has also been a large increase in demand for water and significant environmental impacts, with rivers and ponds drying out and wildlife including fish dying.

A lot of the country is now in drought status including: Devon & Cornwall/Isles of Scilly; Solent and South Downs; Thames; Hertfordshire and North London; Kent and South London; East Anglia; Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire; East Midlands; and Yorkshire. Other areas are classed as being in ‘prolonged dry weather’ including Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire; Wessex; and the North East.

There is currently no threat to essential water supplies, meaning that there is enough water for all essential household and business needs. However, water supplies to need to be managed carefully to ensure there is enough water for the public, farmers and industry, as well as nature and wildlife.

Water companies have agreed to continue to implement their drought plans proactively; seek to maintain or where necessary increase water availability; reduce water loss by stepping up work to fix leaks; help their customers use less water; and take other measures to ensure there is enough water for essential supplies.

Six companies (Southern Water, South East Water, Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, South West Water and Welsh Water) have already implemented or announced hosepipe bans.

EA Chief Executive Sir James Bevan said: "Water pressures on wildlife and the environment remain high and despite recent rainfall and the pause in the hot dry weather, we must continue to manage water wisely.

"Both for the coming year and, with the impact of climate change, for the coming decade, a complete gear change is needed for how water companies and all water users, from farmers to households, think about how they use water and understand its fundamental value.

"This summer should be a wake-up call for how the nation prepares for weather extremes and how we make the very best use of our water resources. Our National Framework for Water Resources sets out clearly what we are doing in the face of a new normal for water and we are determined to drive that forward."

Water Minister Steve Double said: "We know essential water supplies are safe - but more work must be done to ensure that we push forward investment to cut leaks and better prepare for prolonged dry weather for this year, next year and the coming decade.

"Water companies need to be putting the needs of their bill payers front and centre of their plans - which means redoubling efforts to cut leakage and protect our natural environment."

The Environment Agency will be managing water supplies by: monitoring and predicting river flows and groundwater levels, increasing the number of checks in important locations; managing water users’ abstraction licences to balance the needs of water companies, other abstractors and the natural environment; carrying out irrigation patrols and other compliance checks to ensure abstractors are complying with licence restrictions; and responding to incidents caused by low river flows and high temperatures, including fish rescues and wildfires. It will also be operating its water transfer schemes to maintain river flows and groundwater levels to support wildlife and facilitate abstraction by water companies for public supply and supporting farmers and growers, including by helping them continue to access water while balancing their needs with that of the public water supply, other abstractors and the environment; and by providing advice and guidance; actively managing river levels and conserving water on the Thames and other rivers for which the EA is the navigation authority on behalf of river users and abstractors.

The public is being urged to use water wisely.

The Group has agreed that sufficient rainfall over the autumn and winter will replenish rivers, lakes, groundwaters and reservoirs to normal levels by the spring. However planning should begin now to manage any water shortfalls that might arise in 2023 in the event of a dry autumn and/or winter.

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