Perilous Times and
Climate Change
20 February 2012 Last updated at 10:16 ET
Continuing Drought hits parts of England hard
The government fears more parts of the country will be hit by
drought
The Telegraph UK
Much of southern and eastern England is officially in a state of
drought, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Defra) has announced.
The announcement came as Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman
hosted a drought summit.
In parts of south-east England groundwater levels are lower than
in the infamously dry summer of 1976.
Ms Spelman said after the summit: "Ensuring we have enough water
this summer is vitally important."
She said: "Drought is already an issue this year with the South
East, Anglia and other parts of the UK now officially in drought,
and more areas are likely to be affected as we continue to
experience a prolonged period of very low rainfall.
"It is not just the responsibility of government, water companies
and businesses to act against drought. We are asking for the help
of everyone by urging them to use less water and to start now."
Water companies, farmers and wildlife groups were invited to
discuss the situation at the summit.
Thames Water's sustainability director Richard Aylard said: "There
is a high chance we will need restrictions at some stage this
summer unless either we get a lot of rain or fantastic
co-operation from customers using less water."
Saving water
He urged people to turn off taps while cleaning their teeth, take
shorter showers, fix leaks and only wash laundry with a full load.
The South East joins parts of eastern England which have been in a
drought situation since last summer.
The situation contrasts markedly with Scotland where reservoirs
are between 93% and 97% full.
Ms Spelman said she wanted water companies to look at the
possibility of connecting pipe networks so they could transfer
water from wetter parts of the country.
Severn Trent's water director, Andy Smith, said: "I would agree
that we should be looking at interconnecting the networks between
the various water companies.
"What has happened quite understandably is each water company has
tended to focus on its own area.
"And we believe that there will be opportunities with relatively
small levels of investment to make inter-connections between
different organisations to try and get the water from the north
and the west where it's relatively wet down to the south and the
east."