River flows have dropped to their lowest levels in 50 years, hundreds of fish have died and reservoirs are drying out, figures show
John Vidal guardian.co.uk 14 Jul 10;
The last six months have been the second driest recorded in the UK in 96 years, with river flows in some areas at their lowest levels in 50 years and much of northern England and western Scotland now "exceptionally" water-stressed.
Provisional June figures released today by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, a publicly funded leading research establishment, also show reservoir levels falling rapidly in north-west England and Wales. However, underground water levels in most major aquifers in Eastern, Central and Southern England are at normal levels, suggesting restrictions on water use will not be needed over most of Britain. A hosepipe ban has been imposed on 6.5m people in the north-west.
The regional drought, which has hit the normally wet, western areas of Britain unusually hard, is now causing "significant" environmental and ecological stress, says the centre which monitors river flows, underground water levels and soil moisture. North-west England in particular, has received nearly 40% less rain than normal this year, with only 1929 on record as being drier. Without an extremely wet November 2009, the situation would have been far worse, suggests the centre.
Also in northern England, almost half of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, the longest in Britain, is scheduled to close from 2 August from Gargrave in the Yorkshire Dales and Wigan. The move follows a drop in the levels of seven moor-top reservoirs which feed the stretch. British Waterways said levels were just under 30% of capacity instead of the usual July figure of 80%.
The drop in river levels has led to many hundreds of fish deaths. Hundreds have already died and specialists working with water companies and the Environment Agency in Wales, Scotland and the Lake District have rescued thousands more in the Taff, Terne, Tywi and Ely rivers, among others.
"In some places we've had to deal with some pretty serious environmental consequences such as fish-kill incidents linked to poor water quality and low flows," said an Environment Agency Wales spokesman.
