2012 UK Drought

[picog]

Village, do you not understand that most water in populated areas comes from underground? That's precisely why there is a problem. Just because Essex has had normal rainfall does not mean that the remainder of the UK has.

[Jimmyh]

Village, i am not totally sure where your sources come from as parts of essex are as dry as the Sahara desert so not all places are doing as well as you suggest. Certainly parts of Maldon are extremly short on water!!!!

I think what needs to be remembered one rain deluge over one week will not make amends for the lack of rainfall. Before the deluge in April March was exceptionally dry and if you think about it the whole of the winter was dry really.

[Village]

_{Village, i am not totally sure where your sources come from as parts of essex are as dry as the Sahara desert so not all places are doing as well as you suggest. Certainly parts of Maldon are extremly short on water!!!!}

_{I think what needs to be remembered one rain deluge over one week will not make amends for the lack of rainfall. Before the deluge in April March was exceptionally dry and if you think about it the whole of the winter was dry really.}

_Jimmy,

_{My sources are good, they come from the official sites, like this one:}

_{http://www.karcher.co.uk/uk/about_karcher/Karcher_UK_news/Hosepipe_Ban.htm}

_{This clearly shows that where I live in Essex (which includes Maldon) where you state that they are extremely short is not the case....you can see that Essex and Suffolk water is not included in the drought restrictions because our water supplies are not extremely low. We have no hosepipe ban.}

_{Take a look at the map.}

[johnholmes]

_Jimmy,

_{My sources are good, they come from the official sites, like this one:}

_{http://www.karcher.c...osepipe_Ban.htm}

_{This clearly shows that where I live in Essex (which includes Maldon) where you state that they are extremely short is not the case....you can see that Essex and Suffolk water is not included in the drought restrictions because our water supplies are not extremely low. We have no hosepipe ban.}

_{Take a look at the map.}

_Jimmy,

_{My sources are good, they come from the official sites, like this one:}

_{http://www.karcher.c...osepipe_Ban.htm}

_{This clearly shows that where I live in Essex (which includes Maldon) where you state that they are extremely short is not the case....you can see that Essex and Suffolk water is not included in the drought restrictions because our water supplies are not extremely low. We have no hosepipe ban.}

_{Take a look at the map.}

can we have it in larger print for some of us please?

[gottolovethisweather]

Watched that one last night and again it highlighted the fact that the aquifers deep down, where the majority of our drinking water is taken from, are at their lowest for many years, possibly more so than 1976!

Intriguingly though when that statistic is quoted, they never mention the UK's population, more especially in the drought region. Also, how much of the land as a percentage was covered in infrastructure back in 1976. This is surely the real issue and it is a global issue. As David Attenborough once quoted, "if we continue to damage our ecosystems, we damage ourselves", sad but true!

At least some rain will help as it is surely better than having none at all and in some parts of our world even that is not an option.

Regards

gottolovethisweather

Edited May 3, 2012 by gottolovethisweather

[Village]

Yeah, sorry, dont know how my post became such small scale....here it is again for you.

_Jimmy,

_{My sources are good, they come from the official sites, like this one:}

_{http://www.karcher.c...osepipe_Ban.htm}

_{This clearly shows that where I live in Essex (which includes Maldon) where you state that they are extremely short is not the case....you can see that Essex and Suffolk water is not included in the drought restrictions because our water supplies are not extremely low. We have no hosepipe ban.}

_{Take a look at the map.}

[johnholmes]

thanks for that

[Coast]

Download in .pdf format from the Environment Agency dated March 5th 2012 covering drought prospects for spring and summer 2012 here: http://publications....312BWDT-E-E.pdf

They have the following areas under drought as of that date:

They also say within the document:

1.2 Reservoirs

The December rainfall helped to boost storage and the levels in the majority of public

supply reservoirs are where we would expect for this time of year. However we are

concerned about several reservoirs in eastern and south east England. These include:

• Bewl and Darwell reservoirs in Kent

• Ardingly reservoir in Sussex

• Pitsford reservoir in Northamptonshire

• Rutland Water reservoir in Rutland

Draycote Reservoir in Warwickshire is also below normal for the time of year. Severn

Trent Water are implementing a recovery plan. This includes measures to move water

around their network to assist reservoir refill. There are several other small reservoirs in

eastern and south east England that are at very low storage levels and the water

companies are taking action to reduce how much they take from them so that supplies

are managed overall.

At the beginning of February storage in public supply reservoirs in northern and

western England was where we would expect it to be for the time of year, reflecting the

wetter conditions in these areas

and:

1.3 Groundwater

In our last prospects report, published in December 2011, we reported that

groundwater levels had fallen throughout the summer and autumn. Groundwater levels

are now notably or exceptionally low for the time of year across most of England due to

the dry weather over the autumn that has continued into winter. We would typically only

see notably low levels 8 percent of the time and exceptionally low levels 5 percent of

the time. The only area where groundwater is at normal levels is in north west England

and in south Wales.

Levels in the limestone aquifers of the Cotswolds benefited from the rainfall in

December and January, however the lowest end of January levels on record were

recorded for limestone near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire.

Levels in the chalk in Lincolnshire are generally below normal for the time of year.

Elsewhere in eastern England levels are generally notably low, or in north Norfolk, now

exceptionally low. Further south in the Chilterns, parts of the North and South Downsand

on Salisbury Plain, levels in many aquifers are exceptionally low. Record end of

January minimum levels were set in the Chilterns, North Downs in Kent and in the

South Downs in Hampshire.

Groundwater levels in the Midlands sandstones are exceptionally low for the time of

year in the Staffordshire Trent valley and in the Shropshire Severn valley,

Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Levels in the sandstone in Devon are

exceptionally low and have been the lowest on record at some wells.

Figure 5.0 shows that groundwater levels are at a lower starting position at the end of

February compared to the same time of year in 1976.

Extract from the publication showing status of reservoirs as of 28th February:

[johnholmes]

thanks for that Coast-a reliable document I would have thought and somewhat at variance from 1 or 2 posters ideas?

[Eskimo]

I totally believe there's a drought, but I'm getting peeved off at the ridiculous government advice lately, the latest being, "Flush your toilets with bath water" why are we paying so much for water when we can't even use it? You wouldn't be asked to pay for a product or service that you don't have, so why should this be any different? I'm only 19 and if I'm honest I don't know a lot about the ins and outs of the water companies, but what I do know is that they are the biggest criminals to our infrastructure, losing millions of gallons of water per day through unfixed leaks, but never mind...just let the customer pick up the cost.

[Village]

That Environment agency data is three months out of date by the way. Its no good looking at data which ended last February to make arguments for the situation now as it is in May three months afterwards. In between times we have had the wettest April on record and so the rainfall totals for the last nine months are normal to above normal in my region of Essex.

Again, backed up with the fact that I have no water restrictions where i am.

[IanM]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/9192776/Why-hosepipes-arent-banned-in-the-driest-place-in-Britain.html

This seems to answer the question of why you have no hosepipe ban - a large reservoir and naturally high aquifer levels for one of the smallest water suppliers in the country, who also happen to be in one of the areas with least rainfall in the UK, seems it's not what comes out of the sky that's allowed you to keep banging the same tune out on your drum for the last few posts...

[Coast]

That Environment agency data is three months out of date by the way. Its no good looking at data which ended last February to make arguments for the situation now as it is in May three months afterwards. In between times we have had the wettest April on record and so the rainfall totals for the last nine months are normal to above normal in my region of Essex.

Again, backed up with the fact that I have no water restrictions where i am.

Please feel free to back up your own argument with more up to date and relevant actual data.........

[johnholmes]

That Environment agency data is three months out of date by the way. Its no good looking at data which ended last February to make arguments for the situation now as it is in May three months afterwards. In between times we have had the wettest April on record and so the rainfall totals for the last nine months are normal to above normal in my region of Essex.

Again, backed up with the fact that I have no water restrictions where i am.

Village-a request?

For your area we accept you are right but PLEASE stop telling the rest of England that you are correct and anyone else be it posters on here or the Environment Agency are talking twaddle.

The argument about what needs to be done is another matter.

Edited May 5, 2012 by johnholmes

[Aaron]

I couldn't care less what the situation is in Essex at all. Essex is one county.

[HighPressure]

As predicted the position in the south for reservoirs is a rapidly improving one, the often quoted Bewl Water should be @65% by Tuesday with 70+% looking easily achievable. Thames London reservoirs stand at 98% while their Farmoor reservoir in Oxford is 97%.

Ground water levels are still low but improving and they will continue to do due to the lag in rainfall and water reaching the water table.

Yes it's not a fantastic position, but given some of the levels I have seen particularly in the 90s when wholesale restrictions were not put in place I see no reason for them to be in operation now?

[shedhead]

As predicted the position in the south for reservoirs is a rapidly improving one, the often quoted Bewl Water should be @65% by Tuesday with 70+% looking easily achievable. Thames London reservoirs stand at 98% while their Farmoor reservoir in Oxford is 97%.

Ground water levels are still low but improving and they will continue to do due to the lag in rainfall and water reaching the water table.

Yes it's not a fantastic position, but given some of the levels I have seen particularly in the 90s when wholesale restrictions were not put in place I see no reason for them to be in operation now?

Spot on imo, apart from the massive level of embarrassment involved were they to lift them now, but that said I'll be very surprised if they are still in place come July 1st. I said weeks ago that once it starts raining we should pretty quickly get back to a position where bans and/or restrictions are not needed, all the talk then of 6-12 months of wet weather being required to redress the balance was absolute twaddle, as is their current insistance that the ban/restrictions remain in place. Given the overall level of intelligent within this forum, I'm frankly baffled by how many members have fallen for this enormous pile of BS.

Edited May 7, 2012 by shedhead

[Nick L]

Spot on imo, apart from the massive level of embarrassment involved were they to lift them now, but that said I'll be very surprised if they are still in place come July 1st. I said weeks ago that once it starts raining we should pretty quickly get back to a position where bans and/or restrictions are not needed, all the talk then of 6-12 months of wet weather being required to redress the balance was absolute twaddle, as is their current insistance that the ban/restrictions remain in place. Given the overall level of intelligent within this forum, I'm frankly baffled by how many members have fallen for this enormous pile of BS.

Ok, I'll respect your opinion. But all the "drought bashing" argument has been backed up with very little fact indeed. I do accept that the water companies are a joke in that they won't invest in fixing their leaks and building more reservoirs etc. But what of these generally accepted facts do you say is BS:

- We've had an exceptionally dry 18-24 months

- Reservoirs and rivers were very to exceptionally low until the last couple of weeks

- The water table is still very low

- If it wasn't for the past few weeks rainfall, we would be facing a very tricky summer

It would be nice for those of a more controversial opinion to add a few facts into their argument, that's all I'm asking.

[HighPressure]

It would be nice for those of a more controversial opinion to add a few facts into their argument, that's all I'm asking.

What facts are you looking for?

What about after the 1989 water shortages, Thames Water promised it would not impose restrictions again in the next 10 years as they had learnt from their mistakes? They stuck to that promise through thick and thin denying all calls from within to impose restrictions, not because they were not needed but because it would effect their K factor and share price. I don't have a data bank memory but I do remember very low river and ground water levels leading up to 1995 which also had a dry summer. We suffered to get surface reservoirs up in the Spring to anywhere near the Levels London are showing now, we probably only made about 80% which is bad. The Thames was was suffering from very low flows which just added to the problem meaning we were taking everything she had to give to the extent we had tilted house boats.

We had problems getting water into the works due to low head levels of storage reservoirs by about July as we were below 50% in them and as I said before they don't meet demand below 50%. Despite all this we had no restrictions in place?

I don't have a in-depth knowledge of all water companies, but I can say without a problem that Thames are trying it on. The issue with low Boreholes levels in Kent could have been solved with a project to up rate transfer from West London but it was never done. The simple fact is that due to shortfalls in the system Thames could start on 100% full and good ground water levels and still end up in trouble if there is a sustained dry summer period.

Edited May 7, 2012 by HighPressure

[shedhead]

Ok, I'll respect your opinion. But all the "drought bashing" argument has been backed up with very little fact indeed. I do accept that the water companies are a joke in that they won't invest in fixing their leaks and building more reservoirs etc. But what of these generally accepted facts do you say is BS:

- We've had an exceptionally dry 18-24 months

- Reservoirs and rivers were very to exceptionally low until the last couple of weeks

- The water table is still very low

- If it wasn't for the past few weeks rainfall, we would be facing a very tricky summer

It would be nice for those of a more controversial opinion to add a few facts into their argument, that's all I'm asking.

With respect Nick, you appear to be confusing drought with a lack of 'available' water. I'm not suggesting there has not been a deficit of rainfall, but even in the driest area there has been more than enough rain to mean bans/restrictions are not required. The reason these bans/restrictions are in place and the powers that be are able to call 'drought' is enormous losses through leakage, massive under investment in infrastructure (the monies used to pay directors and shareholders instead) and cronic, bordering on criminal mis-management. The thing that is now driving this problem is fear, those in the know are very well aware that there is plenty enough water available, but they also know that the state of their system and another very dry spell will have them panicking once again... so they are simply taking this opportunity to replenish with bans/restrictions in place, for as long as they can get away with it. To anyone paying their water bills on time, this is also a reprehensible course of action for them to be taking.

Edited May 8, 2012 by shedhead

[chionomaniac]

It seems to me that we are getting away from the topic title in this thread. Are we still technically in a drought?

The virtues or mismanagement of water by the water companies does deserve investigation and warrant discussion - but perhaps is more suited to a serious discussion thread.

So, can anyone tell me, are we still technically in drought conditions after all the recent rainfall?

[Summer Sun]

It seems to me that we are getting away from the topic title in this thread. Are we still technically in a drought?

The virtues or mismanagement of water by the water companies does deserve investigation and warrant discussion - but perhaps is more suited to a serious discussion thread.

So, can anyone tell me, are we still technically in drought conditions after all the recent rainfall?

Yes we are in a drought and are likely to be for a while yet

Current drought situation

Despite the amount of rain received throughout April, East Anglia, the south east of England, south and east Yorkshire, the south west of England and the Midlands remain in drought.

Recent rainfall has eased the situation for farmers, gardeners and wildlife, and has increased water levels in a number of public water supply and farm reservoirs. After two years of exceptionally dry weather, the continuous rain in April will have started to restore water levels below ground and has given us a better start to the summer than anticipated. But it will take more time and more rain to undo the effects of two dry winters on groundwater stores.

It has been the wettest April on record for England and Wales. River flows have responded and are currently normal or higher for the time of year. Soil moisture deficits have decreased or remain similar to last week and we have started to see some initial increases in groundwater levels at some sites located in the limestone and more responsive chalk aquifers but levels remain low for the time of year.

http://www.environme...ught/31749.aspx

[johnholmes]

http://www.environme...ught/31749.aspx

an interesting read giving the situation on river levels, soil moisture deficits etc-fact rather than personal comment-my kind of information!

[The PIT]

Interesting read. I like the presumption that the ground will continue to dry out. No guarentee of that of course and if we have a cool wet summer levels will likley to recover as long as it isn't all heavy thundery rain. Locally The Don has been at normal levels for some weeks now and is now at the higher end of normal. The Sheaf is now responding rapidly again to rainfall showing that it's capture is now pretty well saturated. Something it wasn't doing over the winter period. I noticed that as tend to have a look at it each time I walk over the bridge to work. Normally when you have 15mm or more it rises quite quickly during the winter it didn't.

[Coast]

Water firms say the drought is the worst they have had to face since the summer of 1976. However, the Mail revealed yesterday that they will not accept tougher targets on reducing leaks unless they can charge customers more. Industry regulator Ofwat is asking the water companies to reduce leakages by just 1.5 per cent by 2015.

http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1uSYB9nb8