2012 UK Drought

[Coast]

This all involves common sense though so it will never make it through the House of Commons

Perhaps you just have to get them drunk enough?

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24037762-mp-arrested-over-commons-bar-brawl.do

[Cheshire Freeze]

Just been on EA website and despite only being a few miles away from the Midlands border, we're in Cheshire so we get are water sourced from N Wales and further north (NW Water). Crazy to think those just a few miles south of here may be struggling whilst we have all the water you could need

As much as it may pain some of you, maybe we all should be hoping for a wet spring/ summer?

Edited February 23, 2012 by CreweCold

[summer blizzard]

No major piping work nessesary, desalinization plants are the way forward.

[TonyH]

That's why the west midlands is not in the drought zone in spite of very low rainfall as it gets its water from Wales.

[johnholmes]

No major piping work nessesary, desalinization plants are the way forward.

not really a great deal of use for some parts of the East Midlands I would have thought considering their distance from the sea?

[shedhead]

Seen this kind of thing time and time again, nature always balances itself out and it will here. Just watch us have a wet Spring and Summer now... come June this will just be yet another non story.

[summer blizzard]

not really a great deal of use for some parts of the East Midlands I would have thought considering their distance from the sea?

Stick one on the East Anglian coast and have the water go into a large reserviour which can then feed the East Midlands.

[Cheshire Freeze]

Seen this kind of thing time and time again, nature always balances itself out and it will here. Just watch us have a wet Spring and Summer now... come June this will just be yet another non story.

Yes I'm thinking this......that Azores high will probably be nowhere to be seen come summer with a barrage of southerly tracking lows.

[The PIT]

Actually putting cables underground isn't quite as simple as it sounds.

Any I'm waiting for John Craven on country file to stand in the middle of a dry river bed and say the rivers will never flow again due to climate change like he did many years ago.

Back to pipelines wasn't one going to built after 76?

[Ben_Cambs]

The ensembles say it all really:

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/MT8_London_ens.png

Barely any rainfall over the next two weeks.

[TEITS]

Seen this kind of thing time and time again, nature always balances itself out and it will here. Just watch us have a wet Spring and Summer now... come June this will just be yet another non story.

Im always a believer of nature balancing itself out which is why i've been anticipating a very wet period for many months. However the reverse continues to happen and like I said i've only recieved 50% of my average winter rainfall.

I feel some are underestimating just how dry its been across some parts. When you have two consectitive winters that have been well below average, Spring 2011 only recording 10mm, driest 16 month period since records began, then even if May,June were very wet this wouldn't address the problem. What my region and other drought affected areas need is both Spring, Summer being well above average.

Look at this below. Note my region recorded less than 65% of the average last year.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/anomacts/2011/17/2011_17_Rainfall_Anomaly_1971-2000.gif

If you then take into account that Dec 2010 was very dry, Jan 2012 only 60% of the rainfall and so far this month i've recorded only 15mm, you can understand the problem.

[Coast]

Seen this kind of thing time and time again, nature always balances itself out and it will here. Just watch us have a wet Spring and Summer now... come June this will just be yet another non story.

But is human intervention by taking and using too much water now upsetting the balance of nature and not letting it regain its previous levels/equilibrium?

[picog]

That's why the west midlands is not in the drought zone in spite of very low rainfall as it gets its water from Wales.

Unless you live in the rural parts where we rely on our own underground water supplies. Several farms have run out of water in Shropshire and have needed new boreholes. I have a well, and it's no where near as full as it should be, so I need a wet spring/summer, though I don't want one.

[reef]

Im always a believer of nature balancing itself out which is why i've been anticipating a very wet period for many months. However the reverse continues to happen and like I said i've only recieved 50% of my average winter rainfall.

I feel some are underestimating just how dry its been across some parts. When you have two consectitive winters that have been well below average, Spring 2011 only recording 10mm, driest 16 month period since records began, then even if May,June were very wet this wouldn't address the problem. What my region and other drought affected areas need is both Spring, Summer being well above average.

Look at this below. Note my region recorded less than 65% of the average last year.

http://www.metoffice...y_1971-2000.gif

If you then take into account that Dec 2010 was very dry, Jan 2012 only 60% of the rainfall and so far this month i've recorded only 15mm, you can understand the problem.

Bear in mind those charts are an extrapolation from official sites around the country aswell, so some areas have recieved even less than shown there.

This is certainly turning out to be a prolonged and severe dry spell. We've only had 8.6mm of rainfall so far this month 68.4mm for the whole winter. 19 out of the last 24 months have had rainfall below or extremely below average and the last 12 months have had only 309.6mm (53%).

[Terminal Moraine]

Bear in mind those charts are an extrapolation from official sites around the country aswell, so some areas have recieved even less than shown there.

This is certainly turning out to be a prolonged and severe dry spell. We've only had 8.6mm of rainfall so far this month 68.4mm for the whole winter. 19 out of the last 24 months have had rainfall below or extremely below average and the last 12 months have had only 309.6mm (53%).

That is exceptionally dry by any standard and is pushing at the boundary of what Manley considered the lower limit ( regarding the percentage of average ) for a 12 month period in Britain.

It's been a dry period here too but I've recorded just a few mm less this winter than you have in the whole of the last 12 months.

[Andy Bown]

I'm not able to post any stats this evening for the winter in this area, however a few local brooks and streams are at levels lower than I have ever seen them - one of which is virtually dry and I walk past it once a fortnight when out working and have done so for the last nearing 20 years! What's more surprising is that particular stream is only a mile (if that) downstream from the edge of Salisbury Plain which would lead to the expectation of it keeping running!

[reef]

That is exceptionally dry by any standard and is pushing at the boundary of what Manley considered the lower limit ( regarding the percentage of average ) for a 12 month period in Britain.

It's been a dry period here too but I've recorded just a few mm less this winter than you have in the whole of the last 12 months.

I imagine it'll be the lowest percentage-wise for a rolling 12 month period that Ill ever record, as beating March and April last year will be a big ask (10.8mm between them). Though anything's possible of course!

Someone was saying to me the other day how we havent had any proper 'rainy' days for quite a while. Its certainly shown in the statistics: only 15 days in the last 12 months have managed a rainfall total of 5mm or more and only 10 days with 10mm or more in the last 2 years!

Its so different from Summer 2007 which saw more than the entire 12 months of 2011 and 2008 which saw 975.2mm in total. It would seem to be the case that these things balance out.

[HighPressure]

Having worked for 20yrs in the Water industry, 15 of those directly involved with the control and supply of London's water including overseeing the refill of London's storage reservoirs. The summer of 76 is etched in folk law within the industry, and a lot of lessons were learnt. However today most of the infrastructure remains as it was not only in 1976 but many years before.

There has never been a winter when not enough water was available to fill reservoirs and although areas that rely on direct groundwater abstraction may have issues in drought conditions there is no technical reason for it.

The only reason for any water restrictions is simply down to money not spent on the system for a 1 in 10 or 1 in 20 yr event.

Edited February 25, 2012 by HighPressure

[johnholmes]

an interesting comment from someone who works in the water industry

[Cheese Rice]

Yes it has been a very dry Feb, we have managed a mere 15mm so far this month. Can't see much in the way of rain for the foreseeable but due to the relatively large rainfall totals in Jan- 57.7mm and Dec- 63.8mm I think this area will be be fine.

[Aaron]

4.5mm of rain today, very good

[picog]

4.5mm of rain today, very good

Did you ever think in 2007 that you'd be writing that in 2012!

[Coast]

MILLIONS of pounds will be needed to repair scores of roads cracking up due to the drought in and around Peterborough.

That’s the claim of a council chief spearheading a bid for Government funding to repair roads that are being affected by the ground drying up - including many in rural areas like Newborough, Northborough and Thorney. In 2011 the area had seen one of the driest years for a century, while it has also suffered below average rainfall for the past 18 months. As well as causing a headache for farmers and water providers, the drought is now affecting road surfaces with a lack of moisture in the soil, particularly in peat soil, causing the soil beneath the road to shrink and giant cracks to appear in the Tarmac above.

Andy Tatt, network group manager for Peterborough City Council, said that rural roads in fenland areas were worst affected. He said: “The problem is worse in the rural Fenland areas to the north of Peterborough, particularly near Thorney. “It comes down to the fact that Fenland roads are built on peat which dries out quickly. “Peterborough is built on clay which retains moisture better so the city isn’t as badly affected. “We have got warning signs up in the affected areas but I would urge motorists to take care.â€

Peterborough City Council along with other drought-hit authorities Lincolnshire County Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, Norfolk County Council and Suffolk County Council have decided to submit a joint bid to the Department for Transport to resurface all of the affected roads. In Lincolnshire there are around 150 locations including roads in Holbeach, Spalding and Bourne that are causing considerable concern. Lincolnshire County Council’s executive member for highways and transportation, Councillor William Webb is leading the bid. He said: “Working within much reduced budgets there is no money specifically available to address this problem, which is why we are making a direct bid to the Department for Transport. “It’s early days yet and we can’t put a figure on how much is needed or estimate how much we will get. “However, if we were given £10 million tomorrow that would not be enough to repair all the damaged roads across the region. We will just have to take as much as the Department for Transport will allocate.â€

What causes cracks in roads?

THE current problem of road surfaces beginning to crack is being caused by the recent drought. As soil underneath roads begins to dry out the Tarmac above it starts to split and cracks appear. In some cases lengthy cracks have been spotted on roads in the Peterborough area. The problem is different to potholes, which form when cracks allow snow and rainwater to seep into the underlying gravel. This water freezes and expands. Some of the dirt and gravel is pushed out leaving a hole when the water melts.

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/local/drought_cracking_up_roads_in_peterborough_multi_million_pound_bid_for_cash_for_repairs_1_3567448

[shedhead]

Having worked for 20yrs in the Water industry, 15 of those directly involved with the control and supply of London's water including overseeing the refill of London's storage reservoirs. The summer of 76 is etched in folk law within the industry, and a lot of lessons were learnt. However today most of the infrastructure remains as it was not only in 1976 but many years before.

There has never been a winter when not enough water was available to fill reservoirs and although areas that rely on direct groundwater abstraction may have issues in drought conditions there is no technical reason for it.

The only reason for any water restrictions is simply down to money not spent on the system for a 1 in 10 or 1 in 20 yr event.

Completely agree HP. Leakage levels are as bad now as at any other time across the last 20yrs, with far too much money having been spent propping up the share price rather than working on the infrastructure. We are now about to reap the ill wind of this brainless policy.

[HighPressure]

Completely agree HP. Leakage levels are as bad now as at any other time across the last 20yrs, with far too much money having been spent propping up the share price rather than working on the infrastructure. We are now about to reap the ill wind of this brainless policy.

Although I no longer work for Thames, they were forced into doing quite a bit of leakage reduction which did knock about 10% off daily demand. The winter drought conditions will definitely effect areas which rely on groundwater as the season for replenishment of the aquifers is just about coming to an end.

The situation with somewhere like London where @70% of the water comes from the river is not as clear cut. They still have time to recover storage reservoir levels, a lot will depend on how March and April go for rainfall? They will want levels as close to 100% as they can get by the end of April, then try and keep those high at least until July before they will drop back. The reason for high levels is not simply one of storage, it has as much to do with hydraulics then anything else as the system is majority gravity fed. Eg 70% full means you only put 70% of max head on the intakes of your works which reduces max out and the situation will get worse with every 1% drop with 50%-60% being critical. Not to mention the fact that lower levels means more problems with things like algae that reduce throughput even more.

From a engineering perspective its all quite fixable it just costs a lot of money to do, and no corporate body will spend money if it doesn't have too. It will simple wait until the cr*p hits the fan and then do the minimum it has to.

Edited February 29, 2012 by HighPressure