Drought summit as rivers in England dry up

Image: Some have suggested Britain could face a summer of drought as bad as 1976

The Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman is hosting a drought summit later as parts of England struggle with groundwater levels lower than in 1976.

She has invited water companies, farmers and wildlife groups to discuss the situation in south-east England, East Anglia and the east Midlands.

The River Kennet in Wiltshire has dried up completely west of Marlborough.

The Angling Trust's chief executive Mark Lloyd said "it's a pile of stones you can walk across in ordinary shoes".

Many rivers in south-east England have also dried up.

Trevor Bishop, head of water resources at the Environment Agency (EA), said it was "planning for the worst" and warned that water restrictions could be introduced unless heavy and prolonged rain falls before April.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) called Monday's summit to discuss what measures are being implemented to tackle drought and decide what actions need to be taken to mitigate against its impact in the future.

Mrs Spelman said: "All of our activity is going to be carefully coordinated so that we are able to minimise the effects of unpredictable water availability and support people in doing the right thing in taking sensible measures to save water."

The wildlife charity WWF has accused the government of dragging its heels.

WWF's freshwater spokesperson, Rose Timlett, said: "This is a drought we've seen coming. Rivers such as the Kennett, which runs through Wiltshire and Berkshire, have been dry since September 2011.

"Back then everyone agreed we would be in a serious drought situation if we had another dry winter, but not much has been done about it."

She said the government's White Paper, which was published in December, had some good ideas, such as licences to remove water, but these proposals might not be implemented for years.

Water Bill
When the White Paper was published Defra said it planned to publish a draft Water Bill "in early 2012" and introduce the bill "as soon as Parliamentary time allows".

Earlier this month the government published a Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Bill which proposed ways of funding major infrastructure projects like the Thames Tunnel.

But Defra said it still intended to publish a draft Water Bill "in the coming months".

Ms Timlett said: "Ultimately the government needs to accelerate these changes and grasp the nettle by fully supporting the case for water metering.

"We'd also like to see the government taking a much stronger lead to encourage people at home to do all they can to cut water waste and help wildlife through this drought," she added.

Richard Aylard, sustainability director for Thames Water, said London and the Thames Valley had received below-average rainfall for 18 of the last 23 months.

The amount of water in the River Lee, which runs through Hertfordshire and north east London, was only 24% of its usual level while the Kennet was only 31% of average levels.

Southern Water has applied for a drought permit to enable it to restock Bewl Water reservoir in Kent, which is only 41% full.

If the Environment Agency grants the permit it would allow the company to take more water from the River Medway.

Last year the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, suggested in his column in the Daily Telegraph that canals and aqueducts be built to carry water from the north of England, which tends to be wetter.

He was the latest in a series of politicians and policy-makers who has suggested such a scheme.

- BBC News