02/05/2012 Inside Out North East and Cumbria

It has been the wettest April in the years. But swathes of England

have been told we're officially in a drought and things could get much

worse. Why? Tonight, what's going on with England's water?

As the rest of the country starts to run dry, will our supplies be

called to the rescue? I would reassure customers that

whatever happens, there supplies will be guaranteed and safeguarded.

And the government minister tells us she cannot rule out standpipes

on England's streets. It is unlikely that we would have them

this year but if we have another try winter it becomes more likely.

And I'm in Spain where they're going through their worst drought

in 70 years. What lessons can we learn?

And if you are hoping for more rain, we'll find out what's in store back

home. I'll have the very latest on the

weather in the North East and Cumbria and a reminder of what a

northern drought looked like. You do not need me to tell you how

much rain we have had of late. But much of England is still officially

in a drought. Many areas have hosepipe bans and they're warnings

about what could happen next if we do not get more rain. Well here in

the north-east and Cumbria we seem to have escaped but discussions are

already under way about how are precious national resource could be

heading south. A 1995, the last time the North helped other parts

of the country cope with Stroud. Drastic measures for drastic times.

1000 tankers a-day transporting water to Yorkshire. If the drought

in the south gets worse the same may have to happen again. Envious

glances have been cast at our reservoirs and one in particular is

attracting attention. Behind this damn I 200 billion

metres of some of England's purist and cleanest water. This is Kielder

Water, the biggest man-made lake in Europe.

Once seen as an expensive white elephant, it could now help to

solve the water problems further south.

Above me is Kielder Water, 170 ft deep. All but water cannot of

course go down but it could also be piped into the rivers. That could

be part of a network to supply a drought-stricken parts of England.

Our water supplies are owned by Northumbria Water, part of a Hong

Kong-based company. If it sold our water to the rest of the country,

who would benefit? It is an opportunity for water companies to

make some money so long as they come plants strategically for the

future. -- so long as they can plan. The government appears to back that

strategy. Yorkshire Water can already buy from Northumberland and

other water companies are being encouraged to a white paper. We

want to see more incentives for water companies to block transfer

water. Average water bills in the North East are �161, the second

lowest in England and Wales. Could they come down? I do not think the

bills will be coming down. The water bill, and the structure of

the industry is based on five-year periods. I think for Emergency

situations if water was to be transferred then that would be a

question for government and for regulators and water companies to

talk about. Opinion is divided on whether our water should be shared.

I would not be happy. Hull should be for all round this area. I feel

all right about that. It is a good thing for us. A we should help each

other. But in the an emergency, all bets

would be off. In 1995, the 35 million litres of water per day

tanker to Yorkshire involved no profit. If there is a crisis it

could happen again but on a much larger scale. Supplies could be

stretched. If it comes to the West and there is near disaster in the

south then there is no reason for them not to come and just take the

water. That is the only circumstance when Kielder Water it

would come under pressure. I do not think people in the North can just

say it belongs to us and you cannot have it. The more you take out of

the reservoir, the greater the effect. But I am would reassure

customers certainly in the North East, up whatever happened at

Kielder Water, at their supplies would be guaranteed.

But every rain cloud may have a silver lining. A chronic sudden

drought could herald a boon for Nordin agriculture.

As the South suffers their crops will die off and failed. We have

ideal growing conditions in the North and the rain that does fall

is used by the crops. So there could be bumper prices in the

future for crops and animals. there any chance of us ever having

a drought in the North? I cannot see any situation where you would

have a drought in the north. We have an abundance supply of water.

But this comes at a price for some farmers. This farm in

Northumberland, in a good year the farmer can raise 1400 lambs.

have just had a very cool and wet April on the ground is now

saturated. The grass is not really growing, the sheep are under

pressure producing milk for the Lambs. We want a warmer and drier

spells. Jimmy has been keeping records of the rainfall here for 14

years. Police me, it is not getting drier here. -- believe me. It has

been the sole wet that some plans have actually drowned in the fields.

But it is the extremes, a very wet spell and a very dry spell, no

pattern to it at all. Despite their the rain, there are

areas suffering from very dry conditions, especially in summer.

Harbottle, in 2007. Eight square kilometres of tinder-dry Forest and

more land were destroyed. The fire crews were hampered by a limited

access to water. Special fire pons like this one are now being built

to collect rainwater. The fire Pond allows us to have a significant

water resource near to where firefighters might be able to get

to it easily and we will be able to use that water in the event of wild

fires in the hills. Even if our reservoirs are full to

the brim for most of the year, water is still as scarce and a

precious resource. So have people here got the message about

conservation? I have always been careful with it. Because one of

these days we will find ourselves very short of it, you can see it

coming. We do not flash because it saves water. At this farming

Newcastle they go one better than not flushing. They flush with the

rain water, collected from the rooftops. It is a little bit brown

and you would not want to drink it but it is filtered. We seek to be

as environmentally friendly as possible.

Environmentalists like this family in Darlington are well aware of the

need to save water. We opted to have a water meter

installed when we moved in. It meant that we could reap the

benefits financially of using less water. If Dad is going to get a cup

of coffee, he just measures up one Cup. Then we have more water in the

reservoirs. You can get a dishwasher now that can measure how

dirty the water is when it comes out and it will re-use that water

if it can. We're renovating our house with a dual flush system. You

have the option of a full flush or half flush.

Even though we are not suffering drought conditions, we are still

affected by shortages and changing weather patterns. We do need to

save water. The jury is out on whether the North will eventually

be seen as a giant was a Wyeth to provide water to the rest of the

country. -- giant reservoir. So what's going on with our

national water supply? Just how real is the threat of drought?

We asked meteorologist Nick Miller to take a trip through England,

from the wettest to the driest areas. You might not be surprised

to learn his journey starts in the The latest trick is England's

wettest place and the word trout is the last thing that comes to mind,

it looking below. The reservoirs have billions of litres of water.

So with all of this and on an island where it has not stopped

raining for the past few weeks, how can much of England B in drought?

The Met Office is looking into what is behind this apparent change in

our climate. The first phase they're looking is the jet stream

that carries rain bearing weather friends across the Atlantic. It has

tended to be displaced further north and by that time the weather

in France are pushing south, their running into a higher pressure. So

they're not doing the job that we At this time of year, we are

competing with nature for water, everything embarking on spring

growth. You do not get England court -- you do not get England's

green and pleasant land without it. Whilst everything turns green and

rivers fill up, in some parts of the country, you do not see

underground. And it is the water underground, not reservoirs, that

provide 75% of the most populous parts of England. 150 miles South

East of Windermere, I am in drought territory, visiting the National

Geological Survey in Nottingham where they are constantly

monitoring the level of ground water. Using data from thousands of

boreholes, they have created an underground map of Britain. If you

look at the map, the areas in green, up into Yorkshire, down the South

East, it is a really important at offer, which is only recharged by

rainfall in the winter. -- at offer. We have had two relatively dry

winters, so we have not had the recharge we were to expect. Ground

water levels have remained level in the North West, but dropping by a

third in the South West -- South East. Only four months have been

wetter than normal. That includes the people just gone, which

included record rainfall. To find out how low ground water stocks are,

I joined Andy Mackenzie and his team doing a survey. This is the

South Downs. It is one of the driest parts of England and below

me is the most important source of groundwater, the chalk aquifer, and

we will find out today just how far we have to go down to find water.

The chalk aquifer is effectively a giant pressurised sponge full of

water, which the Victorians tap with Wells like one at Chilgrove.

The water would normally be 20 metres below ground level. --

Victorians tapped ground wells. How looking promising. We're only about

30 metres below where we started. Before long, we pass the point

where we would normally find water and the camera keeps descending.

You are seeing really dry walls. Normally, we would see moisture and

the walls are listening, which are not. So even though it has been

pouring with rain, that rain down here has not make a difference?

it has not, it will take weeks or months for what are to infiltrate.

It is not going to, it will be taken up by plants. We are just

coming up to 34.4, very close. That is the surface of the water.

much does it compare with how low it has been? This is the 5th or 6th

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

1976 when one dry winter was followed by at a hot summer. We are

asking to save water. People were forced to queue in the streets to

get water from standpipes. This drought is different, it is not hot

and sunny, but pouring with rain, yet we are told we could be in

drought and a full Christmas. No one says all this rain is not

making a difference. We have had the wettest April, with some

flooding, but the rain has not reached were many get the water

from, such as this one. This is supplying 2.1 million customers

from pumping stations like this one. Down there, that is the precious

water. How low? We are in a serious situation. Underground aquifers a

very low. We have rivers flowing at high levels and think everything is

OK, but that is not the case. We are seen all-time low levels and

the greatest fear is a third drier winter. The level of recharge in

ground water is a third more than it should be. -- Are For lower

after three dry winters. -- a third lower.

Down here, it is winter rain that matters. If we do not get enough

next winter, we are all heading into the unknown. We have already

heard how her mac reservoirs may be used as emergency supplies, but

what are the other options if there is a third dry winter and do we

have a national strategy for something as basic as a reliable

clear -- as a reliable, clean water supply? David Whiteley investigated,

beginning in part of the world that is learning how to live with dry

weather conditions. This church has stood here in this valley in

northern Spain for more than 500 years. But I should not 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. The reason it is

so dry it is Spain is going through its worst drought for 70 years,

reservoirs drying out and forest fires raging. Look at the water

line in this reservoir. That is how high it should be. Just below those

trees is where the water should be. Incredible! Can Spain give us a

glimpse into an uncomfortable few picture?

Four years ago, the situation was so bad, the water taps in Barcelona

almost ran dry and the city was forced to ship in supplies from

France. It is 3.5 -- its 3.5 million residents, like this family,

had to change their attitude towards water. I find it incredible

that something as simple of -- simple as water had to be

transported into Barcelona. What was that like? It was a first as

far as I know. Luckily it was not on a massive scale for a long time.

Our view that to July style where water is not in abundance? We were

conscious of how you precious water is. The children talked a lot about

it in school. They had an easier time adapting to turning the tap

off all the time. Through simple measures, such as turning off taps,

having timed showers and teaching water conservation in schools,

Barcelona is well on its way to becoming one of the world's leading

cities in saving water. People are you use just 107 metres every day,

compared to 150 in the UK. Across the city, they have also tried

using water from showers to flush toilets as well as recycling water

in the famous fountains. This is not the first and it will not be

the last time Barcelona has faced drought. But that experience four

years ago forced everyone to change the way VF think about water on

every level. -- the way people thought about water. And this was

the answer, this massive desalination plant, the largest in

Europe. By taking sea water from the Mediterranean, it can produce

180 million litres of fresh water every day. That is still only 20%

of the city's needs, so it is a stop gap when reservoirs are low.

TRANSLATION: The system is much more secure because of this plant,

but this is not total security. The plant allows us time to function

between rainy periods. If there is a drought, the plant can produce

more. After building Europe's first desalination plant 40 years ago,

Spain is now or world leader in the technology. But it is not a perfect

solution. The water produced is very expensive and the Barcelona

plant uses enough energy to power a small town. Unlike Spain, which

uses most of its water for Agriculture, we use most of ours

for generating electricity. Most of the rest, around 40%, is used in

homes and gardens, but we used to much, more than many other

developed countries. As head of water resources at the Environment

Agency, it is Trevor Bishop's job to find a solution. Is turning salt

water into freshwater the answer? We already have one big

desalination plant near London which will be really important for

safeguarding supplies for London. The idea of seeing more

desalination plants in England is quite high. But you do not want to

rely on desalination, which is very expenses, producing a lot of carbon.

-- very expensive. Looking at these picturesque scenes, could the idea

be to transfer water to drier parts of the country? Absolutely. The

Victorian start to transpiring won it -- started transferring water

and that underpins much of the way we manage water resources.

Manchester is supplied by water from the Lake District. Greater

connectivity within the country will be part of that answer, but

not a whole answer. The buzz word this connectivity. Could we talk

about a National Grid for water? If one places generating electricity,

you do not get blackouts and one part of the country. Why have

restrictions in one part of the country and not the other? We are

not talking about a National Grid and the same way as gas and

electricity. Water is heavy and expensive to move. But if you had a

big name of water from the north to the south. You do not want to rely

on moving water around exclusively. So if desalination has problems,

and we should not rely on moving water, what will happen if we have

a third dry winter? It is difficult to see, but we would be in a bad

place. We have never really worked out the consequences of three dry

winters in a row, as we have never had that, but you would expect

measures to conserve water to be quite dramatic. There would be

standpipes on streets, water supplies cut off, people taking

buckets down to standpipes. We do not know the numbers involved, but

it could easily be tens of thousands. 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 wrong and think we had a plan, but

I do not know of one. I think our plan is based on hope that it rains.

And hope is a very poor strategy for dealing with a risky and

important business. So is there a strategy or not? Caroline Spelman

is the Environment Secretary. because we need to have contingency

plans. Drought is a natural phenomenon that can occur at any

time. We have seen this coming and had planned on it. We are putting

in place measures to deal with that, such as temporary restrictions on

non-essential uses of water in a domestic setting is something that

be planned in order to conserve water and make sure we do not have

to move to more stringent restrictions later. But 3.3 billion

litres of water, 25% of our water, is lost every day. Is that

acceptable? We need to encourage water companies to reduce leakage

and the Government has made that clear. But should targets be more

stringent? Germany only loses 10%. It is the economic regulator that

sets these targets that it believes are a challenge to the industry to

me to. The Government is also pushing water companies to do more

to connect up supplies 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 you explain to them that, in a country like this, we

used drinking water for everything, washing clothes, flushing the

toilet, washing up. People are sometimes quite supplies by the

that. -- quite surprised by that. Can you guarantee we will not have

water rationing or standpipes? not alluded to say how much rained

we will get. It is far too early to tell whether we're going to up the

wet winter we do need. Whereas it is unlikely we would have

standpipes this year. If we have another dry winter, that becomes

more likely. Given the recent heavy rain and floods in the UK, talk of

standpipes may sound extraordinary. But as Spain has discovered, the

world is changing. Climate change and expanding population means

demand for water is set to increase. And even if the rains to come this

winter, pretty soon we will have to think of drinking water as the

precious and scarce natural resources it really is.

For the next few months, the national obsession with the weather

forecast will be all the more important. To tell us what has in

store this week, here is Hannah Temperature records were broken

from March. The highest was in North Yorkshire. Since then, people

turned soaking wet, the wettest on record nationally and in the North

East, with more than three times of rain water. Back in 1976, it was

very different. Our worst drought in living memory. Temperatures

topped 30 Celsius in Newcastle, running out of St -- running out of

suncream on the beaches of Barcelona and fines for washing

your car. -- on the beaches of the time. Some water disappeared in

Cumbria. For the next few days, staying dry, particularly clear in

the West, all was Cloudiest for North Yorkshire and the North East.

And north-easterly breeze bright -- and north-easterly breeze coming in

from the coast for tomorrow. Most places avoid frost. Through

tomorrow, the best of the sunshine in the West, all was Cloudiest in

North Yorkshire and the North East. Still that chilly wind bringing

cloud from the sea. As we tour the North East and North Yorkshire,

temperatures between 8 and 12 Celsius, low for this time in early

May. Particularly chilly on the North Northumberland coast.

Crossing westwards, across the Pennines to Cumbria, it feels much

more like spring, 16-17 Celsius. Light winds feeling very pleasant

to end the afternoon. That north- easterly wind makes it less

pleasant to the east of the Pennine hills. The big picture of the

pressure sequins shows we are in between weather systems so it

should stay generally dry. -- pressure sequence. High pressure

dominating from the North meaning more chilly breezes over the

weekend. It should be free from rain Saturday in to Sunday,

although still a fair bit of cloud into the North East and possibly

spots of drizzle. Not feeling quite as much might spring as we would

hope. That is it for tonight from the