"Tudor Hughes" wrote in message
...



If this is a drought then I'm from Cherrapunji.

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, Surrey.


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Let's clarify the situation. I have to admit it did surprise me when Kent
and Sussex were included in the drought order. Most of the UK is under
normal conditions as far as rainfall and water supply is concerned. By area,
a tiny part of the country is however running into serious trouble. The area
most at risk is North Cambridgeshire and East Northamptonshire. Just north
of Cambridge last June, they had had less than 10% of the normal rainfall in
the preceding 6 months. Late summer and early autumn brought that figure up
to about 50% for the whole year. Here in Northamptonshire we had about 60%
of our normal annual rainfall in 2011. This situation has now existed for
over 18 months, and there is no sign that things are going to improve in the
near future.

The Anglian Water region (Beds Herts & Bucks, Northants, Cambs, Lincs,
Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex) is supplied mainly from bore holes, with rivers
being used as necessary. With the extremely low level of ground water,
serious concern is being expressed as to the continued viability of
extracting water from them. Out in the Fens of Cambridgeshire and
Lincolnshire there are an increasing number of road and rail failures due to
subsidence of the under lying ground due to shrinkage. Also, most rivers are
running low in the region, most notably the Nene which rises in West
Northamptonshire, and is used to supply most of the first 5 counties I
listed above. Continued extraction from the rivers will have a massive
impact on the local environment. Just to exemplify this, the Billing Brook
that runs across the bottom of my estate, rising from a spring about half a
mile away, and is a major tributary of the River Nene, would normally be
flowing about 2 feet deep at this time of year. Right now you can walk
across it without getting the top of your shoes wet. And an area just above
the bank of this stream which would normally be inches deep in spring water
is rock hard dry.

Last year, Northampton had 377mm of rain. We can normally expect well over
600mm. So far this year (almost 3 months of the so called wet season) we
have had 81mm, less than 15% of the expected annual total.


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From the Anglian Water web site:

The Anglian Water Region

* The area we cover is 27,500 square kilometres.
* This is 20 per cent of the land area of England and Wales, which makes us
geographically the largest water and sewage company in the country.
* The area covered is the driest in the UK, with only two thirds of the
national average rainfall each year (approximately 600mm).
* Despite this, Anglian Water has not issued a hose pipe ban since 1990.
* This is the fastest growing region in the country, with an estimated
million more homes being built in the next 25 years, and a predicted 34 per
cent growth in households by 2033, which is higher than the predicted
national rate.
* Our region has over 3,300 Km of rivers and the UK’s only wetland national
park – the Norfolk Broads.

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The penultimate statement is the one that's causing the most concern, and
has prompted Anglian Water to take action to start conserving water NOW! And
the third last is now false! No, I am sorry, but a drought most certainly
does exist, although in a small area of the country, and it's not going to
improve in the near future.

jim, Northampton