02/05/2012 Inside Out East

provide water for Northampton and Daventry. What a levels are down on

what they should be despite the rain we have had. We need at least

six months of above average rainfall for us to come out of

trout status. We are being told that if we get just one more dry

winter there could be devastating consequences, especially for our

wildlife and farming. How are we coping with the drought?

Despite the recent rain fall the last six months have been the

driest in more than 90 years. The Environment Agency says that most

of eastern England is now officially suffering a drought. How

is that affecting us? I have been is that affecting us? I have been

finding out. We are on the the finding out. We are on the the

10,500 acre used an estate. It is owned by the Duke of Grafton.

Andrew Blenkiron is the estate manager at Euston. He says the

drought is starting to hit. This is the stream we take a lot of the

water. Normally at this time of the Year you'd expect the water to be

up here. We have only been able to pool one-third of the water that we

usually do. How much do you normally take out in one year.

million gallons. Last winter we only pulled out one-third of that.

It has had a massive impact and we have had to reduce our cropping

accordingly. That impact can be seen around the estate. What have

you got here? We have got maize seed that we're going to plant in

the field behind us. This takes one-third less water. This would

have been a field of potatoes? would. The drought has cost us

�6,000 alone on this field. Across the total area we are down �100,000

this year. It is not just farmers feeling the strain. The drought is

also taking its toll on our wildlife. Over the last month fish

rescues have become a familiar sight in places like Welland in

Cambridgeshire. Despite the recent rain water levels are at their

River deben in Suffolk are still lower than they should be. This is

the River Colne near Colchester. How worried are you about the

river? It's is looking extremely low at the moment. You can see all

this exposed gravel. At this time of year, coming out of winter, I

would expect this to still be under water. Is of a similar picture

across the county? Yes, we have made a survey across the country

and have seen the same picture repeated over and over again. Even

some of the headwaters have dried up completely. Water companies are

allowed to take water from rivers like this, but the about of

abstraction is strictly controlled and then drought conditions the

about a greatly reduced. With levels solo, so early in the

year, what are your worries? this river we have a major water

problem. When water levels drop they are exposed. -- water voles

are exposed. These are gravels are brilliant for

invertebrates and fish fry. We want these sorts of gravels. But if they

are already this exposed what would be like in the summer? There are

five water companies in our region. Two have hosepipe bans. This has

resulted in bizarre anomalies. St Osyeth in Essex is officially the

driest place in the country, but the local cricket club is still

free to water its perch. We are run by a small water company. Because

they look after a small area or this is exempt from restrictions.

You can water to your heart's content? That is correct. We have

been told there is no prospect of a hosepipe ban. Other clubs must be

green with envy? Virtually all the clubs we will be playing this

summer will have their hosepipes turned off. They will all be very

envious of the situations year. region's largest water company is

Anglian Water. Its customers have been hit with a hosepipe ban. I

wanted to find out why. We are constantly told these are

exceptional situations, that is why you have introduced a hosepipe ban.

I put it to you there is nothing exceptional. We have tried every 20

years. This demonstrates that you as a company have not been prepared.

I disagree. This is exceptional weather. We have had the driest 18

months for over 100 years in this region. It is important to

understand that this is the first hosepipe ban but and then what are

has imposed the 20 years. This reservoir is brimming full, so why

are hosepipe ban? This is an exceptional reservoir. It has been

get full. We have been able to abstract water from the river over

the winter. This is the exception. It would all be well and good would

it not that your company was wasting 230 million litres of water

per day in leaks. It is a bit rich to restrict customers when you're

wasting so much what a yourselves. No leakage is a good thing. You're

have missed your target. We missed our target once last year. That was

due to exceptional winter weather last year. We met our target this

year. It is well below the target that be have been set. What if

drought start occurring more regular be? What are the

implications? Hosepipe bans are inconvenient. Are far more serious

impact could be farmers struggling to grow food. I have come to a

research centre in Cambridge. They are spearheading research into new

types of plant that could cope with less water. The climate is going to

get hotter and drier. We know this will happen. In order to cope in

those conditions we need to have a wide variety of different types of

crops. What do you have here? have been a recreating wheat. We

have been it creating it from the wild ancestors of the species, and

crossing it with other species. The earlier flowering varieties have

been doing much better in drought conditions. All of these plants

have been growing at the same time. These ones are growing much faster.

This has been able to get its yield in before the drought comes along.

In certain circumstances early flowering plants are the key.

are potentially much better at coping with drought. Exactly. It

could be that farmers will be growing these in the field. With

farmers already struggling, the new crops could be seen in our fields

sooner than we think. If the drought continues the

Environment Agency has told us we need one-third more than average

rainfall to top up the underground aquifers which will allow us to

pump water over the next year. People are starting to get very

concerned about 2013 already. Later we will have a detailed

weather forecast. And I will be finding out what lessons we can

learn from southern Europe. I have been to Spain where they are

going through the worst drought for 70 years. I will be asking if our

Government should consider some of the radical ideas about the way

water is used over here. You will not be surprised when I

tell you that we had above average rainfall in April. What is

happening with a water supplies? Complaining about the rain in this

country is a national pastime, yet we still have this drought. What is

The Lake District is England's wettest place and looking below the

word drought is the last thing that comes to mind. There is rain rich

land. There are reservoirs with billions of litres of water. How

come so much of England is then drought?

The met Office is now looking into what is behind this apparent change

in our climate. The first place they are looking is the jet stream.

That carries rain bearing weather fronts across the Atlantic. The jet

stream has tended to be placed a bit further north. By the time it

gets to the south, it is running into higher pressure and it is not

doing the job that be what which is to produce grain. At this time of

year we are competing with nature for water. You do not get England's

green and pleasant land without it. While everything around us is

turning green, and you see the river starting to fill up, what you

do not see in some parts of the country is even more important.

Handed and 50 miles south-east of Windsor may our main droughts

territory. I am visiting the National Geological Survey in

Northampton. They are constantly surveying the consent of the ground

water in the UK. They have an underground map of Great Britain.

The areas in green here are a shock. This is Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.

This is the south-east. This is a really important aquifer. This is

only recharged by rainfall in the winter and we have had to

relatively dry winters so we have not had the recharge we expect.

Groundwater levels are normal in the North West but by the time you

get to the south-east they have dropped by a third. In the last

couple of years only four months have been significantly wetter than

normal, including the able just on which to live at record rain. To

find out how low our ground water stocks are, last week I went to do

a survey. This is the South Downs. In drought

and one of the driest parts of England. Below me is the most

important source of ground water, the chalk aquifer. Today we will

find out how far we have to godowns of find that water.

This aquifer is at a giant pressurise sponge, full of water,

which the Victorians tat with Wells. The water would normally be about

20 metres below ground level. This is the exciting bit. How far

down are we? It is looking promising. I can see

a reflection at the bottom of the well. We are 30 metres below where

we started. Below up -- before long, we pass

the point where we would expect to see water.

There are really dry walls to the ball. If there was moisture at the

was a big balls would be listening. They are not. There completely dry.

He even though it has been pouring with rain, at the it has not made a

jot of difference to the water level down here.

No, it would take weeks or months for her at the water to infiltrate

if it was going to. But it will not. The water is taken up by plans.

This is the surface of the water here.

How does it compare with how low it has been before?

Were a have 180 years of record. This is the 5th or 6th driest we

have seen. It is pretty low. The last major it drought was in

1976 when a dry winter was followed by a hot summer.

Now we are saying, save water, we are going to need it.

People were forced to queue and get water from standpipes. This was his

difference. It is not hot and sunny it has been pouring with rain and

yet we are told it could be in droughts big -- we could be in

droughts until Christmas. This rain has still not reached where many of

us get our water from, the Aqua first.

What the Victorians started with Welles was soon expanded to exploit

the natural resources in the chalk aquifer on a much bigger scale.

This aquifer is operated by South East Water, supplying two. 1

million customers from pumping stations like this one.

So down there is the precious water. Just how low are the aquifiers?

It is a very serious situation. They are very low. We all see the

reservoirs and rivers flowing at higher levels with the rain fall

but it is not OK. We are seeing low levels. They are at all-time lows.

So that means it is even worse than 1976?

Yes, I think it is worse and far more widespread. Our greatest fear

is if we have a third dry winter. The level of recharge in our

groundwater is a third lower than it should be after two dry winters

in a row. We have come a long way from the Lake District and it seems

we are even further from that soaking rain that has been falling

above ground. Down here it is winter rain the matters and if we

do not get enough next winter, then So what does happen if we do get a

third straight win Seki Mac as you can imagine, there is no shortage

of people offering advice to the government and water companies? Do

we have a strategy? I have been looking into this, starting in a

world where they are used to little rain. This church has stood here in

this valley in Northern Spain for more than 500 years, but the thing

is I shouldn't even be able to be here because this is the bottom of

a reservoir and that spire is usually submerged under thousands

of tons of water And the reason it's so dry is Spain is going

through its worst drought for 70 years, reservoirs are drying up and

forest fires have been raging in Just look at the water line in this

reservoir come over here look how high it should be and look at how

low it is. Just below those trees is where that water should be. That

is incredible. So can Spain give us a glimpse into an uncomfortable

Four years ago the situation got so bad the taps in Barcelona almost

ran dry and the city was forced to Its 3.5 million residents, like the

Lardner family, have had to completely change their attitude

towards water. I find it incredible that something as simple as water

had to be transported in in tankers into Barcelona. What was that like?

Well, erm, it's a first as far as I know. Luckily it never had to be

carried thorugh on a massive scale or for a very long time. But before

that there really was a sensation that it was not going to be easy,

that if the drought continued for very much longer people would have

to have water rations and it was going to be complicated. So how

have you adapted your lifetstyle in the current climate where water

isn't in abundance as it used to be? I think we took consciousness

of how precious water is when we had that drought and when we were

about to have emergency measures. So, you know, the children talk

about it a lot in school. At first they had an easier time adapting to

turning the tap off all the time and they would be the water police.

Through simple measures such as turning off taps, having timed

showers and teaching water conservation in its schools,

Barcelona is now well on its way to becoming one of the worlds leading

cities in saving water people here use just 107 litres a day compared

to 150 in the UK. Across the city they've also tried using water from

showers to flush toilets as well as recycling the water in Barcelona's

famous fountains. This isn't the first and it certainly won't be the

lat time Barcelona has faced drought but that experience four

years ago here in Barcelona forced everyone to change the way they

And this place was the answer. They built this massive desalination

plant and it's the largest in Europe. By taking sea-water from

the Mediterrean the plant can produce 180 million litres of fresh

water a day but that's still only a fifth of the city's needs, so it is

used as a stop gap when the reservoirs are low.

TRANSLATION: Of the system is much more secure because of this plant

but this is not total security. It allows us a chance to function

between rainy periods. If there is . After building Europe's first

desalination plant 40 years ago Spain is now a world-leader in the

technology but it's not a perfect solutiuon. The water produced here

is very expensive and the Barcelona plant uses enough energy to power a

small town. Now, unlike Spain which uses most of its water for

agriculture, this is where we use most of ours - for generating

electricity in our power stations. Most of the rest, around 40 percent

is used in our homes and gardens but the trouble is we use too much,

more than many other developed countries. As Head of Water

Resources at the Environment Agency its Trevor Bishop's job to try and

find a solution, so is desalination We have already got one big

desalination plant near London and that is important for safeguarding

what a surprise for London. I think the likelihood of seeing more

desalination plants in England is quite high. You do not want to rely

on desalination. It is very expensive and produces a lot of

carbon. We are these as picturesque locks

in a wheelchair. What it gets me down here. Is that an option for

water companies, to move water to other parts of the country?

Absolutely. The Victorians look what around. Manchester is supplied

by water from the Lake District largely. In future, a living was a

red even more, greater complexity between the networks, will be part

of the answer but not all the answer.

Connectivity is the new buzzword, isn't it? Are we talking about a

National Grid? As far as electricity is concerned, that if

some area is having a power, all areas have power.

We're not looking as they grow it - - a grid in the same way as power.

What is heavy and expensive to move. If you build a big main from the

north to the south of England, you can have droughts in the North of

England. You cannot rely on that exclusively.

If desalination has problems and we cannot rely on moving water, what

will happen if we have a third try a Windsor?

It is difficult to save. It would be a very bad thing. We have never

had three dry winters in a row. You would be expecting measures to try

and conserve water there would be quite dramatic. There would be

standpipes in the streets. Water suppliers would be cut off and

buckets and containers would need to be taken standpipes. It could

affect tens of thousands of people. As far as I am aware, there is no

strategic national plan to deal with three dry winters in a row. I

would like to be proven Warren. I would like to think we have a plan

to deal with it but I do not know of one. -- to be proven wrong. Hope

is a very poor strategy for planning business Annes domestic

security? So is there a strategy on not?

Caroline Spelman as the Roman secretary.

Yes, we do have a pot at the foot of. Three has seen this coming

bands have been planning for it. We are putting measures in place.

Things like the temporal restriction on a non- essential

uses of what a in a domestic setting is something we plan to do

in order to conserve water and make sure we do not have to knit a more

stringent restrictions. Three. 3 billion litres of water, a

quarter of our water, is a loss every day. D'you think that is

acceptable? We Need To encourage the water

companies to reduce leakage. She didn't they targets be more

stringent? Germany only loses temper cent of its water.

We believe these targets are a challenge to the industry to meet.

The government is also pushing water companies to do more to

connect up water suppliers across the country but Caroline Spelman

says we need to think differently about the water we use.

When you go to a dry country and explain that we use drinking what

other everything, we wash our clothes in drinking water, we flush

the loo with drinking water, we wash up with drinking water, they

are sometimes quite surprised by that.

Can you guarantee that if we get a third try winter we will not have

thwart a rationing and standpipes in the street?

I cannot tell you how much rain we are going to get and it is too

early to tell whether we will have the wet winter we do need but a but

whereas it is most unlikely that we would have to standpipes this year,

or if we have another try when so that becomes more likely.

Given the recent heavy rain and floods in the UK, talk a standpipes

may sound extraordinary but at the -- but as they have discovered in

Spain, the world is changing. Climates change as an expanding

population means that demand for water is set to increase. Even if

the rains do come this winter, we are have to start thinking of

drinking water as the precious and scarce natural resource it it

really is. Let us find out what the weather is

doing closer to home. Here is Alex At the moment this weather front is

going to cause us problems. The met Office has issued at a yellow

weather warning for overnight. This rain fall could be slow-moving

producing significant rainfall in areas where we have already seen

some flaws in. Do expect problems on the roads. Overnight lows no

more than seven degrees Celsius. Be winds will be a light north-

easterly. Tomorrow that rain will be quite slow to move. You can see

it here on the chart. The jury is out as a how quickly that will

clear. It will become lighter and more patchy during the course of

the day, leaving a lot of cloud behind. It will feel chilly in that

wins with highs of 10 or 11 degrees Celsius. Through the afternoon,

further spells of rain trying out they gradually, leaving a lot of

ploughs behind. Looking ahead, it is staying pretty unsettled. We

could get further light of patchy rain and ties of 11 degrees Celsius.

Cooler into the weekend with highs of 9 degrees Celsius. We will see

the return of some frost by night. Still some unsettled conditions. On

most of the debate should be dry on Saturday but Sunday and Monday will

see some further showers with some sunshine in between. That is the

weather. That is it from here in

Northamptonshire. I will be back in the autumn with a new series the

Inside Out. The we will also keep watching the drought story for you.

Keep up-to-date on your local radio station and on much east of BBC 1.

And you can e-mail me with any of Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your

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