A few months ago the doom and gloom merchants were predicting droughts
for Summer 2004 if rainfall totals weren't 20% above average by the
end of January, etc.

Okay, so it's not the end of Janauary yet, but how are we doing now on
a local basis, ie north, south, east, west England, Wales, Scotland,
etc?

Are reservoir levels back up to what they should be, and if so where
are/aren't they?


Ta

rgb-man wrote:
A few months ago the doom and gloom merchants were predicting droughts
for Summer 2004 if rainfall totals weren't 20% above average by the
end of January, etc.

Okay, so it's not the end of Janauary yet, but how are we doing now on
a local basis, ie north, south, east, west England, Wales, Scotland,
etc?

Are reservoir levels back up to what they should be, and if so where
are/aren't they?


Ta

On the Environment Agency site, the latest water resouce report is for Nov '03:

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk...sion=1&lang=_e

Keep going back for updates....

--
cupra (remove nospam please to mail)

"rgb-man" wrote in message
...
A few months ago the doom and gloom merchants were predicting droughts
for Summer 2004 if rainfall totals weren't 20% above average by the
end of January, etc.

Okay, so it's not the end of Janauary yet, but how are we doing now on
a local basis, ie north, south, east, west England, Wales, Scotland,
etc?

Are reservoir levels back up to what they should be, and if so where
are/aren't they?


Ta

A report on Radio Sheffield this evening suggested that reservoirs in the
area were back to capacity. Those in the Yorkshire Water area that is.
Ladybower, which is Severn Trent, is still way down.
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson seemed to suggest that this was as a result
of water saving measures introduced after the last drought.
Nothing to do with the recent rain then.......
--
David Mitchell.
70m amsl. Langtoft. E. Yorks.

Okay, so it's not the end of Janauary yet, but how are we doing now on
a local basis, ie north, south, east, west England, Wales, Scotland,
etc?

Are reservoir levels back up to what they should be, and if so where
are/aren't they?

I was told on Sunday that our local reservoir, which reached an all-time low
last summer/autumn, is now almost overflowing again.

Anne
in Moray

rgb-man wrote:

Are reservoir levels back up to what they should be, and if so where
are/aren't they?

I hear that reservoirs that serve Staffordshire are back to normal
levels again.

I suspect that flooding might become a problem in the next few days if
rain continues - the ground here is totally saturated and water is
draining directly into the streams and rivers. Every time it rains the
puddles are getting slightly bigger.

Jonathan
Canterbury

Interesting stories from the newswires today...

12:04 14Jan2004 Norway, Sweden water reservoirs decline further

OSLO, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Norwegian and Swedish water reservoirs fell last week, continuing a
declining trend but with hydropower basins above levels seen in the same week of 2003, authorities
said on Wednesday.
Norway's water reservoirs dropped 2.3 percentage point versus the previous week to an average of
52.7 percent full, extending a decline that began in late September, Statistics Norway (SSB) said.
Norway's reservoirs averaged 43.5 percent full in the same week a year ago, SSB said.
Swedish reservoirs fell 2.5 percentage point to an average of 43.9 percent full last week,
Nordic power bourse Nord Pool said.
Sweden's reservoirs averaged 37.9 percent full in the same week last year, the exchange said.
Hydropower accounts for more than half of all electricity consumed in the region.

Wednesday, 14 January 2004 12:00:28RTRS [nL14649277] {C}ENDS

----

08:58 14Jan2004 Swiss water levels off 13 points yr/yr at 54.5 pct

FRANKFURT, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Swiss water reservoir levels dropped 3.1 percentage points to an
average 54.5 percent of total capacity last week, 13 percentage points below those in the same 2003
week, Swiss state energy authority BFE said on Wednesday.
Reservoir levels in the week ended Dec 12 fell to 4,656 gigawatt hours (GWh), data from BFE
showed.
BFE logs each given week on the following Monday and publishes the details a few days later.
Its data give evidence of the status of Alpine pumped storage reservoirs, where managers have
had to grapple with an unusually dry four-months period.
Traders in the regional wholesale power markets say a wet winter with heavy snowfall is needed
to boost water supplies for power generators in the hydro-reliant country.
Pumped storage facilities and river-based plants in Switzerland produce more than half of all
electricity, which in wet years is enough to help supply neighbouring countries, analysts say.
In dry years, Switzerland can turn into a net importer, which can contribute to tight
pan-European power supply if winters are extremely cold and demand high.

Wednesday, 14 January 2004 08:58:15RTRS [nL14209624] {C}ENDS

The message
from "Anne Burgess" contains these words:

Okay, so it's not the end of Janauary yet, but how are we doing now on
a local basis, ie north, south, east, west England, Wales, Scotland,
etc?

Are reservoir levels back up to what they should be, and if so where
are/aren't they?

I was told on Sunday that our local reservoir, which reached an all-time low
last summer/autumn, is now almost overflowing again.

Anne
in Moray

We are still suffering water shortage problems up here in Sutherland.
Receeding water levels stranded the water intake on our reservoir on dry
land at the beginning of September and a pump was hired in to pump the
water from the loch directly into the water treatment plant. Just
before Christmas they (Scottish Water) flew in one of their old pumps by
helicopter to save the hire cost on the existing pump - some brilliant
accounting there!!! Guess what, after 5 days the replacement pump
broke down and water is currently being brought in to the treatment
plant by tanker from Tain (16 miles away) on a 24/7 basis. The water
level in the loch (320 hectares) is still about a metre below the point
at which the direct supply to the treatment plant will resume. A rough
calculation shows that this will require 3.2 billion litres of
additional water.

Despite the forecasts of the last three months, rainfall has been
sparse and with much of the rain in September, October and November
being required to bring the soil back up to capacity, it is only in the
last month that there has been sufficient run-off to allow the levels
in the loch to start to rise. We need at least 6 weeks of well above
average rainfall before the loch is likely to approach a level where
gravity feed to the treatment plant will commence.

Our rainfall for the period 1st. Sept. 2003 - 31st. December 2003 was a
paltry 158mm., about 50% of average.

Phil.
From the Kyle of Sutherland - 175 feet AMSL [NH 616916]
(40 miles north of Inverness)

"David Mitchell" wrote in message
...
"rgb-man" wrote in message
...
A few months ago the doom and gloom merchants were predicting droughts
for Summer 2004 if rainfall totals weren't 20% above average by the
end of January, etc.

Okay, so it's not the end of Janauary yet, but how are we doing now on
a local basis, ie north, south, east, west England, Wales, Scotland,
etc?

Are reservoir levels back up to what they should be, and if so where
are/aren't they?


Ta

A report on Radio Sheffield this evening suggested that reservoirs in the
area were back to capacity. Those in the Yorkshire Water area that is.
Ladybower, which is Severn Trent, is still way down.
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson seemed to suggest that this was as a result
of water saving measures introduced after the last drought.
Nothing to do with the recent rain then.......
--
David Mitchell.
70m amsl. Langtoft. E. Yorks.

Having driven past Ladybower/Derwent yesterday, I can confirm that they are
still pretty low for this time of year. Much higher than they were a couple
of months ago though, you could see the ruins of the usually submerged
villages!

- Michael

I think it's got more to do with mismanagement by the water companies than
severe drought. The level of the water on the marshes on the
Isle-of-Sheppey is very high. Last summer it never got that low either.
I've lived here for nearly four years and have seen the water levels much
lower than they were last year.

Shaun Pudwell.
Warden Bay, Isle-of-Sheppey, North Kent.
2M ASL.

"MichaelJP" wrote in message
...
"David Mitchell" wrote in message
...
"rgb-man" wrote in message
...
A few months ago the doom and gloom merchants were predicting droughts
for Summer 2004 if rainfall totals weren't 20% above average by the
end of January, etc.

Okay, so it's not the end of Janauary yet, but how are we doing now on
a local basis, ie north, south, east, west England, Wales, Scotland,
etc?

Are reservoir levels back up to what they should be, and if so where
are/aren't they?


Ta

A report on Radio Sheffield this evening suggested that reservoirs in
the
area were back to capacity. Those in the Yorkshire Water area that is.
Ladybower, which is Severn Trent, is still way down.
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson seemed to suggest that this was as a
result
of water saving measures introduced after the last drought.
Nothing to do with the recent rain then.......
--
David Mitchell.
70m amsl. Langtoft. E. Yorks.

Having driven past Ladybower/Derwent yesterday, I can confirm that they
are
still pretty low for this time of year. Much higher than they were a
couple
of months ago though, you could see the ruins of the usually submerged
villages!

- Michael

rgb-man wrote:
A few months ago the doom and gloom merchants were predicting droughts
for Summer 2004 if rainfall totals weren't 20% above average by the
end of January, etc.

Okay, so it's not the end of Janauary yet, but how are we doing now on
a local basis, ie north, south, east, west England, Wales, Scotland,
etc?

Are reservoir levels back up to what they should be, and if so where
are/aren't they?


Ta


There's more to it than just reservoirs. We also need sustained steady
rainfall to replenish the underground aquifers. In some areas of the UK
a significant proportion of potable water used comes from groundwater.

The latest hydrological summary is for November
(http://www.nwl.ac.uk/ih/nrfa/monthly...1/summary.html)
which describes the situation.

John