Our fight in face of drought and flood

The nation has witnessed some of the worst flooding in recent years this autumn, which came only months after water companies were forced to impose hosepipe bans as supplies were left at the lowest levels for a generation.

Yorkshire Water’s chief executive, Richard Flint, issued a stark warning yesterday that the demands on the industry are being heightened by the economic crisis as financially stricken householders struggle to pay bills.

Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Mr Flint said: “Flood and drought are the key issues in front of the industry. It’s about how to cope with it today, but also about how to cope with flood and drought tomorrow.

“If we’re thinking about tomorrow we have to think about some of the causes behind flood and drought, which are a mixture of climatic changes, population growth and also the different ways of living we have today.

“Also [we need to be] looking at the economic circumstances and the degree of austerity which characterises the country, and the effect that has on the ability of customers to pay their bills.

“Affordability for customers is going to remain very much central, at the very heart of the industry as we move forward.”

Hundreds of homes and businesses were swamped in Yorkshire last month in the wake of the most intense September storm in the UK for 30 years.

As many as 300 properties were affected across the region by flooding and the rising waters from rivers including the Swale, Ure and Nidd as well as the Wharfe, Ouse, Derwent, Aire and Dearne.

York was the worst hit part of the region, and 50 of the city’s properties were flooded with a further 30 premises affected by surface water and over-spilling sewers.

The River Ouse in York peaked at about 16.5ft above normal summer levels – the second highest level since records began and only beaten by the flooding disaster in 2000.

Seven water companies across southern and eastern England had brought in hosepipe bans earlier in the year after two unusually dry winters left some groundwater supplies and rivers as low as in the drought year of 1976.

But the restrictions were followed by record rainfall across the UK in April and more downpours in May and the beginning of June, leading to flooding in some areas.

Yorkshire Water is having to explore new technology to improve its systems and respond to the challenges of climate change and population growth. It is predicted that Yorkshire’s population alone will grow by as many as a million by 2030.

The company currently collects, treats and supplies 1.24 billion litres of water to its five million customers every day.

Yorkshire Water had to use an extensive underground network of water pipes to ensure supplies were unaffected in East Yorkshire during the recent drought.

At one stage, the company was using its underground grid to move in excess of 20 million litres of treated drinking water from North Yorkshire to East Yorkshire to allow ground water supplies to recuperate.