Authorities declared a severe drought across six areas of England on Thursday as critically low reservoir levels threatened public water supplies. The restrictions affect parts of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex, where urgent measures are underway to secure drinking water.
Environment Secretary Angela Eagle convened the national drought group to address the crisis. Officials described the dry conditions as a level of drought not experienced for decades, and Eagle urged the public to consider how they use water over the coming weeks.
Despite the official declaration, Eagle has not yet approved requests from three regional water companies to extend mandatory restrictions to commercial users. South East Water, South West Water and Southern Water want to impose non-essential user bans on businesses such as golf clubs, private schools and commercial car washes.
Water Minister Emma Hardy indicated on Thursday that local ecosystems could suffer during the prolonged dry spell. She instructed the Environment Agency to prioritise protecting public taps in areas facing severe shortages where trade-offs between environmental rules and water supplies become unavoidable.
Reservoir levels across the affected regions have dropped. The Ardingly reservoir, which serves approximately 95,000 properties in Haywards Heath and Uckfield, sits at just 19% capacity. Storage at the Wimbleball reservoir has fallen to 16%.
The Environment Agency said reservoir storage across the country typically sits at roughly 75% for this time of year. There are concerns surrounding smaller South West Water facilities, including the Drift and Stithians reservoirs supplying 56,000 households in Cornwall, while the Tottiford and Venford group serving 47,000 homes in Devon is also severely depleted.
Commercial water abstractors face increased compliance checks to ensure they do not exceed their permitted limits. Philip Duffy, the chief executive of the Environment Agency, stated that companies must act immediately to follow drought plans.
Duffy asked residents to reduce their personal consumption to keep more water in local rivers. He said this conservation effort will help farmers, wildlife and the surrounding environment.
