02/05/2012 Inside Out South West

It is spring. The South West has just had a month's worth of rain in

two days, and there are even been floods. But like large parts of the

country we are officially in drought. Tonight, we have --

investigate what is going on with our water.

In the South West, water, water, everywhere, and plenty to drink.

Sold by are those who depend on it so worried?

The us is the worst situation I have known for 30 years, since I

have been in business. What is the story with a our

weather? How can a rainy country have a water court -- water

shortage? What a drought? It has not stopped

raining for the past few weeks! But that has still not replenished our

underground water supplies. We check out the lack of rain in

Spain. Can our Government get some tips from abroad?

And I will be looking at some of And I will be looking at some of

the facts and figures, as well as a full forecast later in the

programme. I am Sam Smith, and welcome to a

special Inside Out on the drive to. It seems crazy. Floods, rain, get

it there is a water shortage. We it there is a water shortage. We

are told at the problems could get worse, but in the South West there

is no hosepipe ban. I have been investigating a very peculiar a

tiny -- kind of drought. It is the wettest water shortage many can

In the South West, April was the rainiest month in more than 100

years. Many of the South West's reservoirs are fuller than this

time last year, and our water companies say they are sure what --

customers will not be rationed. We're confident there will not be a

hosepipe ban this year. A what about next year?

Well, it is a long time away but we hope to start at the reservoirs

much fuller than they would be otherwise.

So, why was a drought declared in the South West, and with the recent

downpours why has it not been lifted? In our region it is not a

water shortage for humans. It is a shortage for wildlife. And it is

not over yet. Cast your mind back just two weeks when the evidence of

an unusually dry 18 months was laid bare. That long-term whack of rain

seriously depleted the water resource we cannot see, one that is

underground. It is the one that Robert Smith relies on at his fish

farm in Dorset. This is the worst situation I have known for 30 odd

years, since I have been in business. Robert Stocks rivers and

fishing lakes all over the South of England. He starts breeding two

years in advance, and now he has thousands of fish ready to go. But

orders are drying up. The problem is we have so many fish on the farm

is we have so many fish on the farm ready to go to our clients, but

they have been forewarned not to stock the Rovers because of the

drought situation. We cannot sell our product, we have to hold the

fish here. We of the main welfare issues is the potential suffocation.

-- one of the mean. These are not ornamental fountains, they are a

life support system to get oxygen into the fish. That would normally

be done by the stream which runs through the farm, but it is at a

third of its normal flow. Its source is not a man-made reservoir

but a natural one, the local water bearing rocks. Two dry winters have

depleted underground stores, leading not just the fish farm

short of water but many of the local rivers and ponds.

At this time of year, normally the water situation should be fine for

the fish, but they are only experiencing a third of their floor

at the moment. We're OK for the spring, but in summer it may be a

different story. It is Ned April, and Robert is

making some deliveries. -- mid- April. When these fish reach their

new home they will need to let things to survive - oxygen and food.

Low water levels can mean a shortage of both.

This Laval, with its portable form of rock flight -- fragments, is an

important food source for tried. But if the rivers they are living

dry up, they die. Less water also means less dilution for any

politics, like farm: goals. They can seep out of nearby fields. --

like farm chemicals. Fish like the iconic salmon could

also be affected because their journey upriver to spawn is

triggered by fast flows. For predators like otters, struggling

fish could provide easy pickings in the short term, but a long-term

problem if too many fish die or failed to breed. Robert is worried

things can only get worse. These fish should be OK once they

establish themselves in the river now, but we don't know what is

going to happen. Two weeks after we met Robert,

heavy rain has transformed Dorset's rivers, but that is not enough to

replenish the underground stores of water.

We need continual, steady rain for months to get us back to a normal

position. We have been -- seen the second driest 18 months in 100

years, so we have to have months and months of steady rain.

So, why do the South West's reservoirs tell a different story?

Like this reservoir on Dartmoor, overflowing after the recent rain.

The last drought was declared back in 1995 and it looked as you would

expect. Our other reservoirs looked -- reached critical levels and

there was a hosepipe ban that lasted a year.

How come this time the region has so much water saved for a rainy

day? For a start, we are using less.

South West Water is supplying 15% what -- less water now than it did

in 1985, and it has invested at being better able to cope with

drought. The we have reduced leakage by 40 %.

We have about 73 % of our customers on water meters, meaning they tend

to think far more about their water usage.

Stocks have also been boosted by schemes like this, which pump water

out of the river ex into the local reservoir. That highlights an

important point. At the end of the day, there will be more water

flowing down our rivers and helping wildlife if we all used a bit less.

For now that is up to you, because they will be no compulsory

restrictions on householders in the South West while the water

companies have plenty in the reservoirs as back-up. South West

Water says its priority is safeguarding surprise, not the

environment. Why isn't South West Water asking

for a hosepipe ban to help with the general problem of a lack of water

in the environment? We can only imposed a hosepipe ban

if there is a concern about public water supplies. We cannot impose

one because of the environment. There is obviously nothing to stop

our customers doing their bit for the environment by using less water.

Robert Smith agrees that everyone should play their part in making

sure our environment and the creatures that rely on it are not

left high and dry. Yes, there has been rain in the

last couple of days, but that is a false picture. If you look at some

of the Rivers now, particularly east of the country, the headwaters

are bone dry, so there is a real issue for the next couple of months,

and we may be in a serious situation later in the year.

South West may be one of the best prepared regions in England to cope

with a dry summer, but a third a dry winter and we could all be in

not so deep water. The less be all use the other days,

the less we are likely to struggle if the weather continues on its

unusual course. Later we'll have a full weather

forecast. David Whiteley heads to southern Europe, where they know a

thing or two about drought. The Spanish are facing their worst

drought for 70 years. What lessons We live in a country where

complaining about the rain is a national pastime, yet we have this

drought. Just how serious has it all become? We asked meteorologist

Nik Miller to take a trip through England from the wettest to the

driest areas, and on a few -- and on the way he has a few myths to

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

though one that drought is the last thing that comes to mind. There is

rain rich land, and the reservoirs with billions of litres of water.

With all of this, on an island where it has not stopped raining

for the past few weeks, how come so much of England is in trip -- is in

drought? The Met offices now looking into

what is behind this apparent change in our climate. The first place

they are looking is the jet stream, but carries a rain bearing weather

fronts across the Atlantic. It has tended to be displaced a bit

further north. By the time the weather front are pushing into the

country that is so short of rainfall, they are running into

high pressure, so they are not producing a decent abide of rain

and topping up the aquifers. At this time of year, we're

competing with nature for water. Everything around us has embarked

on spring growth. He did not get England's green and pleasant land

without it. Whilst everything is turning green and you can see the

rivers filling up, what you don't see in some parts of the country is

even more important. And that is underground. And it is the water

underground, not reservoirs, that supplies 75% of the most populated

parts of England. 150 miles south- east of Windermere, I am in drought

territory. Was pipe bands are in place in the East Midlands. I am

visiting the National Geological Survey in Nottingham, where they

are constantly monitoring the level of England's groundwater at using

data from thousands of boreholes. They have created an Underground

map of Britain. The areas that are in green here,

the chalk, running in to Lincolnshire and into Yorkshire,

around the south-east, it is a really important aquifer. That only

gets recharged by rainfall in the winter, had we have had two

relatively dry winters, so we have not had the recharge we would

expect. Groundwater levels have remained

normal in the north-west, but as you move south-east they have

dropped in the volume by one-third. In the last couple tears, only four

months have been significantly wetter than normal, including the

April just gone, which delivered record rain. To really find out how

low it our Greg water stocks are, I joined Andy Mackenzie and his team

This is the South Downs, and it includes one of the most important

sources of water, the aquifer. Today we are going to find out how

far you have to go down to get water. It is a pressurised Spanish

full of the water, which the Victorians attack with Wells. --

attacked with Wells. The so is the exciting bit. -- This is the

exciting bit. I can see our reflection in the bottom of the

well. The four long, we have passed the point that we would normally --

before long, we have passed the point we would normally find water,

and the camera keeps rolling. there was any Recharge happening,

you would probably see moister, and the walls would be listening.

rain down here has not made a jot of difference. No, it has not. It

would take weeks or months for the water to infiltrate. But it is not

going to. We are just coming up to 34.4. We are very close. It is the

surface of the water. We have got 180 years of record. This is the

5th or 6th driest that we have seen in April. The last major drought

was in 1976, when one dry winter was followed by a hot summer.

People were forced to queue in the streets to get their water from

hosepipes. But it has been pouring down with rain and we are being

told we could be in drought until Christmas. No one is saying that

all of this water is not making a difference. There has been flooding

and it has been one of the wettest April. But the rain has not been

reaching where we get our water from. What the Victorians started

was soon expanded to exploit natural resources in the aquifer on

a much larger scale. This aquifer is operated by South West Water and

supports millions of customers. Down there, that is the precious

water. Just how low are the Aqua first. It is a very serious

situation. We see the reservoirs and rivers, we see them at high

levels and think that everything is OK, but it is not the case. We have

pumps down at lower levels they have never been down to. So this is

even worse than 1976? Yes, and I think it is more widespread across

the various regions. My greatest fear is a third dry winter.

level of recharge in the ground water is a third lower than it

would be after two dry winters in a row. We have come a long way from

the Lake District. We are even further from the soaking rain that

has been following above ground. But down here, it is a winter rain

that matters, and if we do not get enough next winter, we are heading

So what options do we have if there is a third dry winter? To the

government and the is drought companies have a strategy in place?

-- do the Government. Our next story starts in a part of the world

that is used to life with little rain.

This church has stood here in northern Spain for more than 500

years. I should not even be able to be here, because this is the bottom

of a reservoir. That spire is usually submerged under thousands

of tons of water. And the reason it is so dry is because Spain is going

to its worst drought for 70 years. Reservoirs are drying up and forced

buyers have been raging. Just look at the water line. -- Forest fires

have been raging. That is just incredible. Can Spain give us a

glimpse into an uncomfortable future? Four years ago, the

situation got so bad, the taps in Barcelona almost ran dry, and the

City was forced to ship in surprise from France. -- supplies. The

residents, like this family, have had to completely change their

attitude towards water. It is incredible that something as simple

as water had to be transported in Pancras in Barcelona. What was that

like? -- in tankers. As far as I know, it never had to be carried

through on a massive scale for a long time. But before that there

was a sensation that it would not be easy. If the drought continued

for much longer, there would have to be a water fashion. How have you

adapted your lifestyle in the current climate? -- water ration.

We have taken precautions. We have emergency measures. The children

talk about it a lot in school. They had an easier time adapting to

turning the tap off all of the time and being the water police. Simple

measures, such as turning off police -- turning off taps, these

are things being taught in schools, and Barcelona is now becoming a

leading City in saving water. People here use just 107 litres per

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

the water in Barcelona's famous fountains. This is not the first

time that Barcelona has faced drought. But an experience years

ago has changed the way that people from the City think about water.

This place was be a answer. They built this massive plant. It is the

largest in the country. This plant can produce 180 million litres of

fresh water every day. But that is still only a bit of the City's

needs, so it is used as a stop gap when the reservoirs are low.

system is much more Secure because of this plans but it is not total

security. The plant allows its to function daring low periods. --

during low periods. After a building the first plant 40 years

ago, Spain is now the world leader in technology. But it is not a

perfect solution. The water produced here is very expensive,

and the plant in Barcelona uses the enough energy to power a small town.

This is where we use most of our water, for generating electricity

in our power stations. Most of the rest, around 40 %, is used in our

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

countries. It is the job of this man from the Environment Agency to

find a solution. Is turning salt water into fresh water the answer?

We have one plant in London and it will be important. I think the

likelihood of seeing more players like this and the next 50 years in

England is quite high, but you do not want to rely on it. It is very

expensive and it is not good for the environment. We can see these

picturesque locks here in Wiltshire. Is it an option for water companies

to transfer water to drier parts of the country? Yes. Manchester is

supplied by water from the Lake District, for example. There could

be greater connectivity and it could be part of the answer, but

not the whole answer. Are we talking about a national grid of

water? As far as electricity is concerned, if someone is a lecture

at -- generating electricity, you do not get blackouts and the rest

of the country. The shocker in the rest of the country. -- in the rest

of the country. If you build a big mane of a water from the North of

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

of England. You do not want to rely on moving water around exclusively.

So if it has its problems, and we cannot rely on moving water, what

will happen if we have a third dry winter? It is difficult to say, but

it would be very bad. I do not think we have worked out the

consequences of three dry winters in a row, but you would be

expecting measures to try and conserve measure that would be --

water that would be quite dramatic. What a supplies would be cut off

and people would have to take containers down to the hosepipes.

As far as I am a aware, there is no strategic national plan to deal

with three dry winters in a row. would like to be proven wrong. I

would like to think we have a plan but I do not know of one. I think a

plan is based on hope that it rains and hope is a very poor strategy

for dealing with such a risky thing. So is there a strategy or not?

Respected the Environment Secretary. Yes, at -- we spoke to the

Environment Secretary. Yes, because this can happen at any time. We

have seen it coming and we have been planning for it and we are

putting in place measures to plan for it. Using water in a domestic

setting, conserving it, that is something that we are trying to do

to make sure that we do not have to move to more stringent restrictions

later. But one-quarter of our water is lost every day. Do you think

that is acceptable? I think we need to encourage the water companies to

reduce leakage. But should be targets be more stringent? It is

the economic regulator that set the targets. The government is also

pushing water companies to do more to connect supplies across the

country. But Caroline Spelman says we need to think differently about

the water that we use. When you go to a dry country and you explain to

them that in a country like ours we used to drinking water for

everything. We flush the loo with it and wash our close with it.

Sometimes they will be quite surprised by that. Can you

guarantee that if we get a third dry winter we will not have water

rationing? I am not deluded into thinking that I can tell you how

much rain we are going to get and it is far too early to tell yet

whether we are going to have the wet weather we do need. Where it is

most unlikely we would have that happen is if we have another dry

winter. Given the recent floods and heavy rain, top of hosepipe bans

seem extraordinary. But the world is changing. An expanding world

means that pretty soon we will all have to start thinking of drinking

water as the pressures and scarce resource that it is. -- precious

and scarcer resource. Time now for her the weather story

in the South West and a summary of in the South West and a summary of

the forecast. Why has it been so dry? There are

lots of reasons, but I suppose consistent lack of rainfall over

the last few winters has made a huge difference. We have had quite

a lot of dry around. The dry winters have contributed to it.

Rainfall is not consistent. You could ask, is the weather we have

had the wrong kind of rain? Heavy downpours in a short space of time

often runs away quickly and disappears out to sea, whereas like

rain is something that we need to see, especially at a time like this.

March has been unusually dry. Maj 2012 has been the driest since 1953.

-- March 2012. The wettest place in England was a risk come in Somerset.

That rain has made a difference to our reservoirs. It is early, too

early to tell. We are seeing some patchy rain over the next few days.

A bit of clear skies over Britain now. We will find one weather front

coming down from the north that will introduce some patchy rain

from Thursday. Weather fronts close by on both Friday, Saturday and

then eventually giving away on Sunday. Sunday looks like the

better day of the two for the weekend, with a little rainfall for

the early part of next week. We have some rain creeping in, and it

could become quite heavy across Devon and Somerset. The South is

not seeing a great deal of that weather. Temperatures will be

between eight and ten degrees. There will be a lot of cloud for

tomorrow but it should be largely dry. There might be a few splashes

of rain here and there at temperatures could get up to 12

degrees as a maximum figure. As for the rest of the week, Friday is a

rather cloudy day. Most of the rain will be across the Channel Islands.

A few showers will be possible elsewhere, with rain arriving late

in the day. Saturday, patchy light rain and still a lot of cloud

around, but much of it will peter out as we move into Sunday. The

forecast is mainly dry but on the cool side, with temperatures around

ten degrees. A summary of all that. There is some cloud and patchy rain

until we get to Sunday, and then the high pressure will come back. A

few showers dotted around on Friday. A more persistent rain on Sunday.