The Guardian reported that the Environment Agency said that water companies are preparing for summer drought and people should save water. The government has asked water companies to take more measures to deal with water shortages. The Environment Agency also said that if there is no heavy rainfall in the near future, orders to ban non-essential water use such as watering flowers with hoses may be implemented soon.
Members of the National Drought Group (NDG) met on the 7th to discuss the response plan and said that there is no buffer in the water supply system at present, and water companies are seriously unprepared for drought. Many companies' plans are to pray for rain.
This spring is the driest since 1961. England experienced the driest March since 1961, and rainfall in April was only half of the normal level. The water level of reservoirs in northeast and northwest England has been significantly or abnormally low.
The National Farmers' Union (NFU) said that some crops have failed and livestock production may also be at risk: there is no shortage of pastures yet, but farmers pointed out that farmland needs sufficient rainfall to allow livestock to survive the summer. NFU vice-president David Axwood said: "Dry weather and the continued lack of effective rainfall have forced farmers in parts of the UK to irrigate crops much earlier than usual. The extreme weather patterns we have experienced over the past few years are affecting our ability to feed the country."
The last time the UK suffered a severe drought was in 2022, when crops failed and London and the southeast were almost out of water, with only weeks left before emergency measures were taken and a nationwide hose watering ban was implemented. Experts from the National Drought Group said this year's drought conditions are similar to those in 2022 but more severe.
However, current reservoir levels are lower than at the same time in 2022. Reservoirs in England are currently at 84% of their total capacity, compared to 90% at the end of April 2022. NDG has learned that many reservoirs in the north are filled much lower than they should be at this time of year, and Northern Water has begun to step up leak repair work before the summer. They have started taking water from rivers - months earlier than usual - and river flows are currently unusually low. NDG also learned that this year has seen an unexpectedly large-scale fish kill.
An NDG source said: "There is no room for maneuver at the moment. The Environment Agency and the water company are only saying 'hopefully it will rain'."
