THE South East has only a 50-50 chance of avoiding a hot and dry summer that would make standpipes and water rationing near-certainties, the Environment Agency said yesterday.
Only careful conservation of water will save the region from the first standpipes in 30 years, yet people — especially in London — continue to run their taps as if there were an endless supply, said David King, director of water management for the Environment Agency.
“The message isn’t getting through. People have the perception that there is a lot of water, yet we have less water per person than parts of the Sudan or the southern Mediterranean,” he said.
Assessing the chances of a hot or average summer after talks with the Met Office, he said: “It’s 50-50, really. With a hot and dry summer there is a real risk of standpipes being introduced in parts of southeast England.”
He added: “The levels of groundwater are very low and in some areas they are the lowest on record. The levels of some of the sites in the Thames Valley are exceptionally low. They are certainly below the level recorded in April 1976.”
Less rain has fallen in the past 18 months than in the same period before the 1976 drought and is comparable with the lack of rain that caused the 1932-34 drought, the worst in the past century. David Stephenson, a climatologist at the University of Reading, said: “A succession of two dry winters in a row in the South East means the groundwater is very low, the water capacity has gone down. This is particularly bad, as extended dry periods like this are quite rare. The problem with drought is that it creeps up. By the time it happens, it is too late — droughts are evil in that way.”
Groundwater supplies are already dropping from their record low levels, despite hosepipe bans — and now a drought order — imposed by seven water companies. continued....
