"Water companies and the government are drawing up emergency plans for a drought next year more extreme than we have seen in decades. Executives at one major water company told the Guardian they were extremely concerned about the prospect of a winter with lower than average rainfall, which the Met Office's long-term forecast says is likely. They said if this happened, the water shortfall would mean taking drastic water use curtailment measures going beyond hosepipe bans."
"While much of England went into drought this summer, with hosepipe bans across large swathes of the country, things were not as bad as they could have been because it had been a rainy autumn and winter the year before. This meant reservoirs were full and that groundwater storage of water under the soil was charged up. But months of record dry weather meant a lot of that water was used, and it has not been replaced, despite roughly average September and October rainfall."
Emergency planning is underway for a potentially more extreme drought next year driven by forecasts of lower-than-average winter rainfall. Reservoir storage is well below typical levels at 63.3% versus a 76% average, with some reservoirs below 30%. Groundwater remains depleted and recharges far more slowly than reservoirs. Recent months of record dry weather used substantial stored water and replenishment has been limited despite average autumn rainfall. Local water restriction orders are being sought to limit certain business uses, and a second dry winter would escalate drought management measures and pressures on rivers and abstractions.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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