Current water status

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Current situation

 

Last updated - 14 July 2011

 

Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, parts of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, and western Norfolk remain in drought. Anglian Water and Cambridge Water who provide public water supply in this area have said that there is no threat to the public water supply as they have enough water to get through the summer.

 

The recent above-average rainfall in June and the continued cooler and showery weather in July has helped stabilise the water resources position. However, the recent rain has not ended the drought and both the environment and farmers are still being affected.

 

There are a number of rivers that are exceptionally low for the time of year. This includes the river Dove in central England, the river Don in north east England, and the river Coln in the Thames Valley.

 

A number of fish have died in channels that form part of the Maud Foster internal drainage area near Boston in Lincolnshire. The river Tarrant (a tributary of the river Stour) in Dorset has dried up trapping fish in pools of water. We rescued a number of brown trout and pike this week and moved them downstream to the river Stour. This river does dry up but this year it has happened earlier than we would expect.

 

An early indication of the possible long term impacts of the dry weather has been detected in Pevensey Levels, Sussex where we have found low numbers of elvers (young eels) migrating from the sea to freshwater.

 

The recent wet weather has improved the position for public water supplies. All water companies now say that they do not expect to have to introduce any restrictions on their customers this year. However water companies will need to assess what actions they need to take to prepare for the winter in case the it is dry and cold.

Drought management briefing

 

We have activated our drought plans and produce a regular drought management brief to keep everyone informed about the latest situation. View the detail by opening the link below:

 

Drought management briefing - 14 July 2011 (PDF, 32KB)

environment-agency.gov.uk