:00:06. > :00:13.We may have had heavy rain in the last few days, but it is too little,
:00:13. > :00:18.too late. So what will be drowned mean for the sake -- what will the
:00:18. > :00:23.drought mean for the South East? we have another drive winter, it
:00:23. > :00:30.will be serious. How did a wet country like ours end up in a
:00:30. > :00:34.drought? Drought, what drought? It has not stopped raining, but that
:00:34. > :00:38.rain has not replenished hour underground water supply is.
:00:38. > :00:46.Experts tell us their worries for the future. A I would like to think
:00:46. > :00:54.we have got a plan to do with it, but I am not sure. And we will have
:00:54. > :00:59.been laid is whether from our forecaster. -- we will have the
:00:59. > :01:04.latest weather from our forecaster. I and Natalie Graham, bringing you
:01:04. > :01:14.the latest on how the water shortages will affect us in the
:01:14. > :01:24.
:01:24. > :01:28.South East. This is Drought 2012: Today, I am in Tunbridge Wells, in
:01:28. > :01:32.the centre of the south-east. The drought is particularly bad in this
:01:32. > :01:42.part of the country, but just how serious is it and could we be doing
:01:42. > :01:46.
:01:46. > :01:52.Water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource here in Kent and
:01:52. > :01:57.Sussex. Two of the driest winters on record mean we are officially in
:01:57. > :02:01.drought. River levels and water suppliers are running low and the
:02:02. > :02:06.effects are being felt throughout the south-east. Hosepipe bans are
:02:06. > :02:10.in force and customers are being told to cut down their water use.
:02:11. > :02:16.It is affecting our were rivers and putting a wildlife at risk. But
:02:16. > :02:20.just how bad is this drought and are we doing enough to save water?
:02:20. > :02:26.A we need to realise that we do not have as much water as wee thing and
:02:26. > :02:31.we need to do our bit otherwise the drought will continue. The drought
:02:31. > :02:38.has been caused by a lack of winter rainfall, so despite the fact it
:02:38. > :02:42.has poured down during the past week, we are still in trouble. This
:02:42. > :02:49.reservoir is only 60 % fall, so we can to find out if the recent rain
:02:49. > :02:53.has made any difference. This is the great drought, isn't it. It is
:02:53. > :02:58.Murphy's Law. I come here to talk about the drought and it is pouring
:02:59. > :03:06.with rain, but it is is good news. How much is the brain helping?
:03:06. > :03:11.will make a change to reservoirs like this. We can take water from
:03:11. > :03:16.the Medway and bring it into Bewl. The rain is alive when asked to do
:03:16. > :03:22.that. But not all our water in the south-east is from reservoirs. More
:03:22. > :03:27.than 70 % comes from underground aquifers, like these. Rain soaks
:03:27. > :03:37.through the rock and restore underground. That is part of the
:03:37. > :03:39.
:03:39. > :03:44.problem. The rain has held locally. The farmers and gardeners have
:03:44. > :03:49.benefited from that, but the aquifers under an offbeat only
:03:49. > :03:53.replenish in the wintertime. After that period, the plants abound us
:03:53. > :03:58.will suck up the water. They have one chance to fill and we have lost
:03:58. > :04:03.it now. The impact of the drought is more obvious above ground. This
:04:03. > :04:07.is a chalk river that is a haven for wildlife. What are you so
:04:07. > :04:12.worried about this? If you look now, we can walk through this
:04:12. > :04:17.comfortably. Normally, it would be up to the top of my Wellington
:04:17. > :04:24.boots. Look at it, it is only inches deep. This is the time of
:04:24. > :04:28.peak flow. The river should be at its best and not its worst. I will
:04:28. > :04:36.have to find the key species here to see how they are been impacted
:04:36. > :04:46.on by the drought. If we are lucky, we might find a bald head. Oh, look
:04:46. > :04:46.
:04:46. > :04:52.at that. Perfect. -- ball head. These fish are only small and they
:04:52. > :04:57.only lay about 50 eggs. They need clean water. They are disappearing
:04:57. > :05:02.and we need to protect them. If the river tries, the river bed set like
:05:02. > :05:06.concrete. The animals will have nowhere to live. We could lose the
:05:06. > :05:12.species for decades. As well as its effect on wildlife, the lack of
:05:12. > :05:18.rain means farmers are preparing for a try a future. At James
:05:18. > :05:22.Smith's fruit Farm near Maidstone, he is building his own reservoir.
:05:22. > :05:29.He grows apples and pears and is introducing technology to monitor
:05:29. > :05:33.water levels on the farm. We are following the way the soft fruit
:05:33. > :05:38.industry and salad guys have been doing it. When we get this new
:05:38. > :05:41.system, we will monitor the water content of the soil, right down
:05:42. > :05:49.through to the profile to see how much water is available to the
:05:49. > :05:54.trees. Then we can deliver the right amount of whether it -- right
:05:54. > :05:58.amount of water. A you doing this in response to the drought, or were
:05:58. > :06:02.you going to do it anyway? It is riskier doing this kind of thing.
:06:02. > :06:09.We are using irrigation and a reservoir to mitigate against the
:06:09. > :06:13.risk of drought. But whilst agriculture and the environment are
:06:13. > :06:19.having to adapt, our water companies doing enough to safeguard
:06:19. > :06:26.suppliers? Last year Southern Water wasted an average of 96 million
:06:26. > :06:31.litres every day. That is more than 21 million gallons. More than
:06:31. > :06:35.enough water lost through leaks the two completely fill this reservoir.
:06:35. > :06:45.The drought is not helped by the fact that Southern Water had failed
:06:45. > :06:50.to meet their leakage targets. For this, the legislator has told them
:06:50. > :06:55.to give �5 million back to their customers. People are concerned
:06:56. > :07:00.about the water you waste. There is concern. Be it has to be a priority.
:07:00. > :07:04.Quite clearly, we cannot vote leaking water and not managing that
:07:04. > :07:08.situation and then asked customers to save water. That would be wrong.
:07:09. > :07:18.What we have to accept is there will always be a large amount of
:07:19. > :07:19.
:07:19. > :07:25.leakage from the system because it has millions of joints in it. We
:07:25. > :07:30.currently have 250 people repairing and fixing leaks and I guarantee we
:07:30. > :07:34.will come in well below the new target when it is set. No such
:07:34. > :07:38.families in Kent and Sussex have to keep a close eye on what is going
:07:38. > :07:45.down the drain. Compulsory metering has been introduced to try and cut
:07:45. > :07:54.down water use. Families like the cast ands are now paying for every
:07:54. > :08:02.drop and they are looking at ways to save. -- Castons. I am about to
:08:02. > :08:09.visit the family to give them a makeover. This water but, showered
:08:09. > :08:17.gadget and some advice is all they need. A lot of water used in the
:08:17. > :08:23.House is down to mum Helen, who spends a lot of time in the bath.
:08:23. > :08:29.Also, Ryan can spend up to 20 minutes in the shower. We know
:08:29. > :08:35.about you shall have it. What can we do? If we can get you down to
:08:35. > :08:45.four minutes, that will save about 120 litres. Meanwhile, we have got
:08:45. > :08:51.some tips for Helen. You are not going to stop Helen having a bath?
:08:51. > :09:00.Well, we are more concerned about waste of water. You can be used the
:09:00. > :09:10.water. Areas where you can put your dirty bath water, best not to put
:09:10. > :09:11.
:09:11. > :09:16.it on your herbs. Best place would be here, on this soil. The soil
:09:16. > :09:24.will get rid of the insects and the soap. A good way to use your dirty
:09:24. > :09:30.bathwater. Said that is the bath water cleared up. -- so that is.
:09:30. > :09:35.Now it is time to check on the show would challenge. How was it? Great.
:09:35. > :09:42.It has saved you about 320 litres. Your parents will be pleased when
:09:42. > :09:46.they get their bill. And lastly, the water butt. You have water from
:09:46. > :09:51.the roof been diverted into here. Easy enough to water your garden
:09:51. > :09:59.which means that even when there is a hosepipe ban, you will have water
:09:59. > :10:04.to water your garden. That average house has hundreds of litres of
:10:04. > :10:09.water on the roof, said this can be filled several times. So just three
:10:10. > :10:15.small changes will save the family around �200 a year. Has that help?
:10:15. > :10:21.It has. We have got some good tips on how to save water and save some
:10:21. > :10:26.money. We used about 150 litres of water per person every day. In
:10:26. > :10:30.France and Germany it is 110. We need to realise that we don't have
:10:30. > :10:35.as much water as we think and we need to do our bit otherwise the
:10:35. > :10:39.drought will continue. The problems created by two years of below
:10:39. > :10:44.average rainfall are complex. Experts are hoping there will not
:10:44. > :10:48.be a third dry winter. If we end up moving through a third try of
:10:48. > :10:53.winter, it will become extremely serious because there's underground
:10:53. > :10:57.resources that we rely on do not get the opportunity to refill.
:10:57. > :11:07.water such a scarce resource in a world region, it is clear we all
:11:07. > :11:12.
:11:12. > :11:18.need to do our bit to make sure it Coming up later - we will have a
:11:18. > :11:24.full weather forecast and David Whiteley had to southern Europe
:11:24. > :11:27.where they know anything about droughts. The Spanish are facing
:11:27. > :11:34.their worst drought for 70 years. What lessons can we learn from
:11:34. > :11:38.them? Now, what is going on with the National weather and away
:11:38. > :11:44.supply of water? We live in a country where we love to complain
:11:44. > :11:54.about the rain and yet we have this drought. He is meteorologist Nick
:11:54. > :12:08.
:12:08. > :12:12.The Lake District is England's work is place and looking below, there
:12:12. > :12:19.were drought is the last thing that comes to mind. The reservoirs have
:12:19. > :12:29.millions of litres of water. With all of this and with the recent
:12:29. > :12:31.
:12:31. > :12:41.rain, how comes we are in drought? The Met Office are looking into
:12:41. > :12:45.
:12:45. > :12:49.this. First port of call is the jet They are running into higher
:12:49. > :12:54.pressure. They are not doing the job we want them to do, which is to
:12:54. > :12:58.add a defeat -- a decent amount of rain. At this time of year, we are
:12:58. > :13:08.competing with nature for water. Everything around us has embarked
:13:08. > :13:09.
:13:09. > :13:15.on its bring growth. -- spring. What you don't see in some parts of
:13:16. > :13:21.the country is underground. Go to the water underground, not
:13:21. > :13:29.reservoirs, that supply 70 % of the most populated parts of England.
:13:30. > :13:35.150 miles south-east of Windermere, and I am in drought territory. I'm
:13:35. > :13:39.visiting the National Geological Survey, where they constantly
:13:39. > :13:46.measure the ground water. They have created an underground map of
:13:46. > :13:50.Britain. The areas in green here, the talk, running up and Yorkshire,
:13:50. > :13:57.down in the south of Britain, around the south-east, it is a
:13:57. > :14:07.really important level which only get recharged in the winter. We
:14:07. > :14:09.
:14:09. > :14:13.have had two relatively dry winters. As you move south-east, they have
:14:13. > :14:17.dropped in volume by a third. In the last couple of years, only four
:14:17. > :14:21.months have been significantly wetter than normal, including the
:14:21. > :14:27.April just gone which delivered record rain. To really find out
:14:27. > :14:32.just how low art ground water stocks are, last week I joined Andy
:14:32. > :14:42.and his team to do a survey. One of the interesting things is that
:14:42. > :14:45.you're seeing really dry walls to the borehole. Normally you would
:14:46. > :14:49.see the walls would be glistening slightly, and they're not. Even
:14:49. > :14:54.though it's been pouring with rain, that rain down here has not made a
:14:54. > :14:58.jot of difference yet. No, it hasn't. It would take weeks or
:14:58. > :15:05.months for the water to win portrait if it did, but that is not
:15:05. > :15:10.going to. It is going to get taken up by the plants. We are very close.
:15:10. > :15:17.So this is it? This is the surface of the water. How does it compare
:15:17. > :15:23.with before? This is the 5th or 6th driest that we have seen out of
:15:23. > :15:28.hundred and 80 years of records. The last major drought was in 1976
:15:28. > :15:33.when one dry winter was followed by a very hot summer. People were
:15:33. > :15:37.forced to queue in the streets to get their water. This drought is
:15:37. > :15:41.different. It is not hot and sunny, it has been pouring down with rain.
:15:41. > :15:45.And yet we have been told we could be in drought until Christmas.
:15:45. > :15:50.Nobody is saying all this rain isn't making a difference. Of
:15:50. > :15:55.course that is. We have had one of our wettest eight Paul's, even with
:15:55. > :16:05.flooding. But that rain still hasn't reached where many of us get
:16:05. > :16:12.
:16:12. > :16:19.our water from. -- Aprils. This aquifer is operated from pumping
:16:19. > :16:29.stations like this one. That is the precious water. Just how low of the
:16:29. > :16:38.
:16:38. > :16:44.aquifers? -- they are very low. -- just how low it are the aquifers?
:16:44. > :16:49.They are very low. So, it is even worse than 1976? Yes, it is far
:16:49. > :16:59.more widespread across the various regions. Our greatest fear is if we
:16:59. > :16:59.
:16:59. > :17:09.have referred to dry winter. -- a third dry winter. The level is a
:17:09. > :17:11.
:17:11. > :17:16.third lower than it should be. here, it is winter rain that
:17:16. > :17:26.matters. And if we don't get enough next winter, we are all heading
:17:26. > :17:34.
:17:34. > :17:37.Now, what options to we have if there is a third dry winter? Do we
:17:37. > :17:47.have a strategy implies? David Whiteley begins his investigation
:17:47. > :17:50.
:17:50. > :17:53.in a part of the world where they This church has stood here in this
:17:53. > :17:58.valley in northern Spain for more than 500 years. But I shouldn't
:17:58. > :18:02.even be able to be here, because this of the bottom of a reservoir.
:18:02. > :18:07.And that's by air is usually submerged under thousands of tons
:18:07. > :18:12.of water. The reason it is so dry it is because Spain is going
:18:12. > :18:15.through its worst drought for 70 years. Reservoirs are drying up and
:18:15. > :18:19.forest fires have been raging in other parts of the country. Just
:18:19. > :18:24.look at the waterline in this reservoir. Look how high it should
:18:24. > :18:31.be, and look camera tours. Just under those trees is where the
:18:31. > :18:34.water should be. Incredible. So can Spain give us a glimpse into an
:18:34. > :18:39.uncomfortable feature of? Four years ago, the situation got so bad
:18:39. > :18:43.the taps in Barcelona almost ran dry and the City was forced to
:18:43. > :18:48.shipping supplies from France. Through simple measures such as
:18:49. > :18:52.turning off taps, having timed showers and teaching water
:18:52. > :18:58.conservation in its schools, Barcelona is now well on its way to
:18:58. > :19:05.becoming one of the world's leading cities in saving water. People here
:19:05. > :19:09.used just 107 litres a day compared to 150 in the UK. Across the city,
:19:09. > :19:15.they have also tried using water from showers to flush toilets, as
:19:15. > :19:18.well as recycling the water in Barcelona's famous fountains. This
:19:18. > :19:23.isn't the first and it won't be the last time Barcelona has based
:19:23. > :19:28.drought, but that experience four years ago forced everyone to think
:19:28. > :19:35.about the way they use water at every level. And this place was the
:19:35. > :19:41.answer. They built of this massive plant, which is the largest in
:19:41. > :19:45.Europe. By taking sea water from the Mediterranean, the plant can
:19:45. > :19:52.produce 180 million litres of fresh water every day. But that is still
:19:52. > :19:58.only affair of the city's needs. So it is used as a stop gap when
:19:58. > :20:04.reservoirs are low -- only want beer. A systemic his much more
:20:04. > :20:14.secured. -- the system is much more secure. If there is a drought, the
:20:14. > :20:15.
:20:15. > :20:21.plant can produce more. After building Europe's first plant 40
:20:21. > :20:28.years ago, Spain is a leader in the technology. But it is not a
:20:28. > :20:32.permanent solution. The water is very expensive. Unlike Spain which
:20:32. > :20:37.uses much of its water bowl agriculture, this is where we use
:20:37. > :20:41.most of ours, for generating electricity in our power stations.
:20:41. > :20:48.Most of the rest, around 40 %, is used in our homes and gardens. But
:20:48. > :20:52.the trouble is, we used to much. As head of water resources at the
:20:52. > :20:56.Environment Agency, it is Trevor's job to try to find a solution. So,
:20:56. > :21:02.is turning salt water into freshwater the answer? We have
:21:02. > :21:12.already got one big plants near London, which will safeguard water
:21:12. > :21:22.supplies for London. But you don't want to villi and deceleration. It
:21:22. > :21:32.
:21:32. > :21:39.is very expensive. -- deceleration. It underpins much of the way we
:21:39. > :21:45.have managed water supplies now. In the future, moving water around
:21:45. > :21:51.even more is going to be part of the answer. But not the whole
:21:51. > :21:55.answer. Are we talking about a National Grid of water? As far as
:21:55. > :21:59.electricity is concerned, if some way is generating electricity, you
:21:59. > :22:02.don't get blackout another part of the country, so why should we have
:22:02. > :22:12.restrictions on water it in one part of the country and not the
:22:12. > :22:15.other? If you build a big mane of water from the North of England to
:22:15. > :22:23.the south of England, for example, you can have drought in the North
:22:23. > :22:27.rely on moving water around the country exclusive -- exclusively.
:22:27. > :22:35.So, if we shouldn't rely on moving water, what will happen if we have
:22:35. > :22:40.referred dry winter? It is difficult to say. We would be no
:22:40. > :22:43.bad place. We have never had three dry winters in a row, but you would
:22:43. > :22:48.be expecting measures to try and conserve water that would be quite
:22:48. > :22:56.dramatic. People's water supply would be cut off, they would have
:22:56. > :23:01.to take buckets down to standpipes. It could be tens of thousands. As
:23:01. > :23:05.far as I'm aware, there is no strategic national plan to deal
:23:05. > :23:11.with three dry winters in a row. By would like to be proven wrong, I
:23:11. > :23:15.would like to think we had a plan to deal with it. I think our plan
:23:15. > :23:20.is built on hope that it rains and hope is a very poor strategy for
:23:20. > :23:30.dealing with a risky an important business. So, is there a strategy
:23:30. > :23:30.
:23:30. > :23:35.or not? Caroline Spelman is the environment agency officer. We have
:23:35. > :23:40.seen this coming and we have been planning for it. For we have --
:23:40. > :23:47.what we are putting in place now is measures to deal with that. For
:23:47. > :23:52.example, restrictions on non- essential water in a domestic
:23:52. > :23:56.setting. We need to make sure we don't need to move towards more
:23:56. > :24:06.stringent restrictions later. to 0.3 billion litres of water is
:24:06. > :24:09.
:24:09. > :24:14.lost every day. Is that acceptable -- 3.3 billion. Should the targets
:24:14. > :24:18.be more stringent? Germany earlier lose 10 % of their water. It is the
:24:18. > :24:22.economic regulator that sets these targets that it believes are a
:24:22. > :24:26.challenge to the industry. government is also pushing water
:24:26. > :24:29.companies to do more to connect up supplies across the country. But
:24:29. > :24:34.Caroline Spelman says we need to think differently about the water
:24:34. > :24:38.we use. When you go to a dry country and you explain to them
:24:38. > :24:42.that in a country like ours, we used drinking water for everything,
:24:42. > :24:46.we wash our clothes in drinking water. We flush the toilet with
:24:46. > :24:51.drinking water. We wash up with drinking water. They are sometimes
:24:51. > :25:00.quite surprised with that. Can you guarantee that if we had have a
:25:00. > :25:10.third try water, we went -- if we have a third dry it winter, we
:25:10. > :25:10.
:25:10. > :25:15.won't have all these things in place like standpipes? If we have
:25:15. > :25:20.another dry winter, standpipes become a more likely. Given the
:25:20. > :25:23.recent heavy rain and floods in the UK, talk of standpipes may seem
:25:23. > :25:28.extraordinary. But as they have discovered here in Spain, the world
:25:28. > :25:31.is changing. Climate change and an expanding population mean demand
:25:31. > :25:36.for water is set to increase and even if the rains do come this
:25:36. > :25:46.winter, pretty soon we will have to start thinking of drinking water as
:25:46. > :25:52.the pressures and scarce natural resource it really is. -- precious.
:25:52. > :25:59.So, what is the weather situation here in the south-east? Let's go
:25:59. > :26:06.over to a forecaster in the studio. Thank you. Yes, we are officially
:26:06. > :26:12.in drought in the south-east. Normally here in the south-east we
:26:12. > :26:21.would be expecting to see over a year at 776.8 mm of rainfall. In
:26:21. > :26:31.2010, we saw just 689 mm of rain. In 2011, even less than that, 634.8
:26:31. > :26:36.
:26:36. > :26:41.mm. Two very it right years. -- very dry. There has been 18 months
:26:41. > :26:48.of well below average rainfall. But a particularly wet April, the
:26:48. > :26:54.wettest on record across the UK. Normally in the south-east over the
:26:54. > :27:01.month, we will be expecting around 53 mm of rain. In fact, we saw
:27:01. > :27:06.135.4 mm of rain. That is 257 % of the average rain we normally would
:27:06. > :27:13.be expecting. So, a very wet month indeed. But of course we are still
:27:13. > :27:18.in drought and the reason for that is two particularly dry years.
:27:18. > :27:25.Looking forward, plenty of rain in the forecast. We have got a gentle,
:27:25. > :27:30.northerly winds which will take the edge off those temperatures. A
:27:30. > :27:33.weather warning in place for heavy and persistent rain. As we go it
:27:33. > :27:43.would tomorrow afternoon, it will be increasingly dry but still
:27:43. > :27:50.feeling miserable. Temperature is raised -- ranging between 9 and 12
:27:50. > :27:57.degrees. Further rain around the Saturday. It clears up a Sunday but
:27:57. > :28:03.as we head into the new week, the rain will be returning. So, a
:28:03. > :28:13.warning out about heavy and persistent rain for tomorrow. Rain
:28:13. > :28:18.for Saturday, increasingly dry as Thank you. If you want any more