Groundwater and reservoir levels continue to recede despite rain, officials warn

Groundwater and reservoir levels across England continue to decline despite the recent rainfall, officials have said, as they warned that drought conditions will likely continue through autumn.

The national drought group, which includes the Met Office, regulators, government, water companies and other organisations, convened on Monday as five regions of England remain in official drought, with more likely to declare drought status within weeks.

While unsettled, wet and windier weather has arrived with September, England is still facing a scarcity of water.

August’s rainfall was just 42% of its long-term average and the summer has been declared the hottest since records began in 1884, following one of the driest springs on record.

More widely, rainfall from January to August this year was 69% of the long-term average for those eight months, according to the Environment Agency.

The water shortfall has been defined as a “nationally significant incident” based on the number of areas affected and widespread damage that is being inflicted on the environment and agriculture.

Drought conditions have hit crop yields, affected the breeding patterns of some animals, harmed wetlands and river ecosystems, increased the wildfire risk and prompted several areas to impose hosepipe bans.

During the meeting on Monday, the national drought group heard that reservoirs fell by 1.4% last week.

They are now 56.1% full on average across England, compared with the average of 82.8% for this time of year.

The lowest reservoirs are the Pennines group, at 29% full, Yorkshire stocks, at 30.3%, and Ardingly in West Sussex, at 34.1%.

Some reservoirs that feed canals run by the Canal & River Trust, including sections of the Grand Union, Leeds & Liverpool, Oxford, Peak Forest and Macclesfield, are critically low, the group heard.

Approximately 20% of the Canal & River Trust network is closed because of low water levels, concentrated mainly but not exclusively across northern and central England, with around 400 miles affected. This compares with 15% in 2022.

Elsewhere, the meeting heard how the dry weather has seen an early harvest season with generally lower and poorer quality crop yields.

And at least 3,000 hectares of land protected for nature have recently been destroyed by wildfires, including 500 hectares burned across Dartmoor and the North Yorkshire Moors.

Lower water levels, and a lack of rainfall to top up spawning pools, are significantly impacting the breeding success of species such as natterjack toads and Atlantic salmon.

Garden animals – including hedgehogs and birds – are struggling with dehydration and a lack of insects to eat because of the dry soils.

Meanwhile, wetland birds, such as shoveler duck and curlew, are facing a decline because of a loss of wetland and open water habitat.

A drought is only over when groundwater, river and reservoir levels are fully replenished.

But experts warned it will take a wet autumn and winter to reverse the impacts of seven continuous months of below-average rainfall, with the current outlook showing that the rain expected across September, October and November may not be enough.

This means flooding during a drought is possible, including flash floods as dry soils struggle to soak up intense downpours.

Pressure on the finite resources has been growing in recent years amid competing demands from public use, businesses, agriculture and the environment as well as the growing impacts of climate change.

During the meeting, the national drought group praised the public for helping to reduce their own water use, which means less needs to be abstracted from local rivers and lakes, helping to protect the health of waterways and wildlife.

Alan Lovell, chairman of the Environment Agency, said: “While we have seen some recent rain, it is nowhere near enough to reverse the impact of the last seven months, which have been the driest since 1976.

“We are calling on everyone to continue to take simple steps to reduce their water use and are grateful to people for following the restrictions imposed by water companies.”

Dr Tony Juniper, chairman of Natural England, said: “Drought conditions are having a catastrophic effect on our flora and fauna, which lasts long after rain returns.

“As the impacts of climate change ramp up, we will experience more of these kinds of extremes.

“We need to take action now to make our landscapes more resilient, including through the creation of more wetlands to help cope with the effects of both drought and flood.”

The meeting also heard updates from the water companies and steps they are taking to conserve supplies.

Environment minister Emma Hardy said: “The water companies must continue to follow their drought plans to secure water supplies – I will hold them to account if they don’t.

“We face a growing water shortage in the next decade and are pushing ahead with urgent reforms under our plan for change, including nine new reservoirs to help secure supplies.”