Water crisis grows as drought declared in eastern counties

The Government said Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, parts of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, and western Norfolk were suffering from drought, after England experienced the driest spring on record.

In addition, parts of the South West, South East, Midlands and Wales are experiencing near-drought conditions, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

And the growing crisis prompted calls for Government action to better manage water resources in the UK, with the demands coming as fears were raised of imminent hosepipe bans in Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire.

Severn Trent Water warned customers they may face water restrictions unless rainfall levels return to normal soon, although other water companies are not predicting the need for such moves

A growing number of farmers are facing restrictions after another month of scarce rainfall in swathes of eastern England this May left some areas experiencing “intense” drought conditions.

In its latest monthly summary on UK rainfall, river and water levels, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) said that a substantial proportion of eastern England saw less than a fifth of the normal levels of rainfall in May.

Some parts of Kent received just 4mm of rain during the last month.

While northern parts of the UK experienced “plentiful” rain last month – with Scotland recording its wettest May on record – most of it did not reach central and eastern England, compounding the previous two dry months, CEH said.

England had its driest spring in records going back 100 years, while England and Wales together had their second driest March to May in the record books.

The figures from CEH showed Cambridge received just half the previous minimum rainfall it had ever had in spring in records dating back to 1848.

The summary from CEH said intense spring drought conditions also characterised parts of Yorkshire, the East Midlands and Sussex and Kent, and that the “very arid spring” extended a deficiency in rainfall that can be traced back to December 2009.

And despite rainfall in much of the country this weekend, the Environment Agency is warning expected dry weather next week would add further pressure on water resources and the drought may spread into central England and further east.

The Environment Agency has already asked nearly 100 farmers to stop abstracting water in drought-stricken areas, while 200 farmers in Suffolk face restrictions by the end of June.

Farmers in England’s “bread basket” have said they fear it will be only a matter of weeks before drought conditions are extended across the whole of East Anglia.

The East Anglian branch of the National Farmers Union (NFU) said the region’s cereal producers have been badly hit, and in some cases fruit and vegetable growers were also struggling.

In addition, livestock farmers are facing shortages of grazing and are having to use up their winter resources far too early.

With large parts of England facing drought, Friends of the Earth called for action to protect water resources.

Policy and campaigns director Craig Bennett said: “Despite growing water use and the prospect of drier summers successive Governments have failed to tackle the problem – leaving large parts of the nation facing the prospect of being left high and dry.”

Shadow Environment Secretary Mary Creagh said people were concerned about the country’s water situation and its impact on food production.

“The Government have dropped their plans for a Water Bill in this parliament, which means further delays in the changes we need to make to use water more efficiently,” she said.

“The Government needs to get a grip and reassure people that they have robust plans in place to deal with the drought.”