First Minister warns water shortages ‘could become more likely’

The First Minister has warned water shortages “could become more likely and potentially more widespread” as dry conditions in Scotland look set to continue.

Humza Yousaf chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government’s resilience room on Thursday as the dry weather is forecast to continue, with the meeting coming just days after people were urged to ration water amid low reservoir levels.

Mr Yousaf warned: “While there is no immediate risk to public water supplies, water levels are much lower than usual for the time of year, particularly in parts of north and southern Scotland.

“With little significant rain forecast, shortages could become more likely and potentially more widespread.”

The resilience meeting was also attended by Deputy First Minister Shona Robison, Home Affairs Minister Angela Constance, as well those from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), Scottish Water and the Met Office.

Sepa has said in the north of Scotland, the Loch Maree area has been put on the highest water scarcity alert level, and the Ness area had been put to a moderate warning.

The Esk area in Dumfriesshire was also put on a moderate alert.

So far it has been the driest spring in north Scotland since 2018, the Met Office said.

Last Friday, Scottish Water warned average reservoir levels north of the border were at 85%, some 4% lower than average for this time of year and 6% lower than this time last year.

They said the amount of water they had to put into the network had been increased by 100 million litres a day, the same as filling up 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools or 1.2 million baths.

And every Scot is using more water than the average Briton, with each person north of the border going through 180 litres of water per person a day compared to the rest of the UK who use around 145 litres each a day.

Kes Juskowiak, of Scottish water, asked customers to “consider how they use water and to protect this precious water”.

And on Thursday, after the reliance meeting, Mr Yousaf said that “everyone needs to use water responsibly” and he urged business and people to “follow the guidance provided by Sepa and Scottish Water on the measures that need to be taken”.

He added: “The Scottish Government has reopened the emergency scheme to provide bottled water to any homes on private water supplies that need it. Householders should contact their local council if required.

“Businesses extracting water directly from the environment are also being urged to put their water scarcity plans into action now to reduce pressure on the environment.

“The Scottish Government and partners are monitoring the situation closely and considering appropriate measures to mitigate potential future impacts.”