Ramage
Well-Known Member
I received this today:
South east of England is in drought.
You will have heard that the South east of England is now in drought. If this continues it may have impacts upon boating on the Thames this summer and I wanted to warn you about this.
Why are we in drought?
Ten of the past 17 months (from October 2010 to February 2012) have seen below average rainfall in the south east with only 80 per cent of average rainfall over that period. The Berkshire Downs and Upper Thames catchments are experiencing their second driest 16 month period (Oct 10 to Jan 12) on record (since early 1920s).
We have seen a continual decline in water resources and many reservoirs are much lower than normal for the time of year. We have decided we are in drought for these reasons.
What are the impacts of drought?
We have not yet seen any significant drought impacts on the environment during the winter. However, as the situation continues into spring and summer we can expect to see low flows develop with attendant environmental impacts.
If the drought continues, more water companies may need to apply for drought permits allowing them to abstract more water from the Thames for public water supplies leaving less residual flow. Water companies could start to introduce water use restrictions for businesses and households, such as hosepipe bans.
What are we doing about it?
We have a drought plan for south east, which sets out how we will manage water resources during a drought. Environmental indicators within the plan determine the actions we need to do to balance the water needs of the environment and public water supply.
Waterways has its own drought plan which sets out the actions we need to take as flows in the River Thames decline.
We*plan to establish a Waterways Working Group (WWG) drought sub-group, to help jointly review the plan, and decide the best approaches to manage and communicate our actions.
Actions we might expect include the staunching weirs to reduce leakage and introducing voluntary or even mandatory restrictions on the timing of lock passage.
The introduction of such restrictions is unlikely in the immediate future but will be determined by weather conditions over the months ahead. However, boaters should be aware of the potential for delays during the summer months.* Although headwater levels at locks will be maintained as normal, as flows decline so the gradient of the river drops, reducing tail water levels. We advise boaters to be particularly careful to ensure their craft is moored in sufficient depth of water, especially in locations just downstream of weirs.*
We will do our best to manage the river so that while it provides essential public water supplies, navigation along the Thames remains possible. However, if we do have to introduce waiting times at locks, we will not be offering refunds on craft licences.
We will keep you updated as the situation develops.
Andrew Graham
Drought lead for Waterways.
*
South east of England is in drought.
You will have heard that the South east of England is now in drought. If this continues it may have impacts upon boating on the Thames this summer and I wanted to warn you about this.
Why are we in drought?
Ten of the past 17 months (from October 2010 to February 2012) have seen below average rainfall in the south east with only 80 per cent of average rainfall over that period. The Berkshire Downs and Upper Thames catchments are experiencing their second driest 16 month period (Oct 10 to Jan 12) on record (since early 1920s).
We have seen a continual decline in water resources and many reservoirs are much lower than normal for the time of year. We have decided we are in drought for these reasons.
What are the impacts of drought?
We have not yet seen any significant drought impacts on the environment during the winter. However, as the situation continues into spring and summer we can expect to see low flows develop with attendant environmental impacts.
If the drought continues, more water companies may need to apply for drought permits allowing them to abstract more water from the Thames for public water supplies leaving less residual flow. Water companies could start to introduce water use restrictions for businesses and households, such as hosepipe bans.
What are we doing about it?
We have a drought plan for south east, which sets out how we will manage water resources during a drought. Environmental indicators within the plan determine the actions we need to do to balance the water needs of the environment and public water supply.
Waterways has its own drought plan which sets out the actions we need to take as flows in the River Thames decline.
We*plan to establish a Waterways Working Group (WWG) drought sub-group, to help jointly review the plan, and decide the best approaches to manage and communicate our actions.
Actions we might expect include the staunching weirs to reduce leakage and introducing voluntary or even mandatory restrictions on the timing of lock passage.
The introduction of such restrictions is unlikely in the immediate future but will be determined by weather conditions over the months ahead. However, boaters should be aware of the potential for delays during the summer months.* Although headwater levels at locks will be maintained as normal, as flows decline so the gradient of the river drops, reducing tail water levels. We advise boaters to be particularly careful to ensure their craft is moored in sufficient depth of water, especially in locations just downstream of weirs.*
We will do our best to manage the river so that while it provides essential public water supplies, navigation along the Thames remains possible. However, if we do have to introduce waiting times at locks, we will not be offering refunds on craft licences.
We will keep you updated as the situation develops.
Andrew Graham
Drought lead for Waterways.
*
