Head Office
Press Office - 1-Sep-2006 - The Environment Agency supports
Thames Water's decision at this time to withdraw its application
to Defra for a drought order for London. However, we expect
Thames Water to keep this under constant review and to
reapply if the rain doesn't come.
The application for a drought order
to the Minister is to authorise further restrictions.
Current hosepipe bans are still in place.
Robert Runcie, the Environment Agency’s
Thames Regional Director, said: "We think Thames
Water has made the right decision at this time. The drought
isn't over - but the close to average rainfall in July
and August and people saving water has left London’s water
supply in a far better position.
"However, the drought is still
serious. Groundwater reserves remain well below normal
across much of the Thames Valley following the last two
dry winters. If we have a dry autumn and winter we could
be in a difficult position again next year and Thames
Water may need to reapply.
"We congratulate the public in
reducing their water use - there has been a decrease of
about 10% in Thames region - but we all need to carry
on saving water to help reduce the risk to water supplies
and the environment."
In its latest national Drought Prospects
Report released today, the Environment Agency called on
all water companies in the south east of England to continue
to monitor the situation closely and:
Maintain restrictions on water use until
resources have recovered fully;
Continue to ask people to save water this summer and autumn;
Explain to customers that the drought is not over yet;
Keep under active review the need to implement additional
restrictions on water use allowed by drought orders -
if the rest of the summer and autumn are dry, these may
still prove necessary in some places;
Make sure that leakage is kept under control through the
autumn and the winter;
Review the need for drought permits
to allow additional abstraction of water to fill reservoirs
this winter, and prepare applications in good time.
The report shows the picture for public
water supply in the south east has improved and standpipes
or rota cuts are now unlikely this year. However, all
of the water companies are concerned about the impact
of another dry winter.
