04 Jul 2018
As the great summer weather continues last week saw the first burst of alerts to the public to use less water from Scotland to Thames. This is in measure to try and curb the increased demand such weather provokes. ‘Droughts’ are notoriously slow to develop, and at the point when the seriousness is realised it […]
04 Jul 2018
This letter is Minister Rutley‘s (Interim Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) response to the Chief Executive Officer of Ofwat. Ofwat sent a letter to Minister Rutley setting out initial reactions to the National Infrastructure Commission’s ‘preparing for a drier future’ report on water. This included thoughts on how the sector needs to […]
02 May 2018
The National Infrastructure Commission has warned that households face a high risk of having their water cut off in times of severe drought, unless utilities halve leakage and build a new grid to transport supplies around the country. The report urges the government to ‘immediately’ start adopting a twin track approach to boost supplies while […]
01 Feb 2018
‘Ofwat has clarified the PR19 requirements for leakage. The regulator has confirmed that its approach to leakage performance commitments will take account of companies that might want to start their improvements ahead of the 2020-25 price control period. It has also explained that the approach to the threshold for enhanced outperformance payments is different for […]
10 Jan 2018
Guardian: Damian Carrington Environment editor ‘A year of unusually dry weather means parts of England are facing summer drought with groundwater and some reservoirs well below normal. A year of dry weather, only slightly alleviated by recent storms, has left much of south-east England facing drought this summer. Groundwater and some reservoir levels are well […]
10 May 2017
Unlike the immediacy of flooding events droughts by their very nature creep up slowly, and then once people realise, they are upon us. Three articles which provide food for thought. Water Briefing: Drought on the horizon for the UK? The widespread publication of reports in the national press and media flagging up the prospect of drought […]
21 Sep 2016
A new water industry report looking at the long-term resilience of public water supply says the UK faces a “significant and growing risk” from drought. The research report Water resources long term planning framework (2015-2065), released the same day that the nation recorded its warmest September day since 1911, says that an effective response to the […]
13 Sep 2016
Researchers at Cranfield University are looking at how the UK’s fruit and vegetable systems can be more resilient to water-related risks such as drought. Fresh fruit and vegetables are an important part of our diet, but they are mainly grown in the driest parts of the UK, such as East Anglia or the South East, […]
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