23/01/2012 Inside Out South

Welcome To Inside Out. Coming up: the water normally would be up to

here. Where has all our water gone? How the South is running dry in the

middle of winter? Are you a betting man? �10 on whether there will be a

hosepipe ban. The secret wartime mission from Bournemouth they ended

in tragedy. If there was something wrong with the aircraft, then it

was not the pilot's fold. family's campaign to clear a war

hero's name. I think an injustice was done. The should be put right.

And getting hotter about the otter. Are they a wildlife success story

or a wildlife nightmare? When the fish have gone, what will it lead?

First tonight, if I was walking through these gardens last year, I

would have been knee-deep in water. You might remember those flash

floods we had back in August, but despite all that rain and today's

drizzle, some parts of the South are at serious risk of drought. The

experts say the warning signs were there as early as spring last year.

At the source of the River Itchen, the spring that fed the famous for

chalk stream ran dry. Later in the year when sea-trout should have

been spawning upstream, lack of water meant they were stuck in

coastal harbours. And only last month boat owners found themselves

stranded on the Kennet and Avon canal went level stop to their

lowest in 90 years. Here at this reservoir, where rebels are at a

record low. Is the South running out of water? Everyone remembers

the and the summer of 1976, the But there was a flipside. A drought

that almost emptied reservoirs and rivers and caused fires, triggered

hosepipe bans and standpipes across the south. More than 30 years on,

surely we should be more prepared for a drought? That could never

happen again, could it? This reservoir should befall at this

time of year but it is not. The pumping station has been left high

and dry. This really tells the story. Water levels should be up

there? It should be at that line there. We should be four metres

underwater. We should be completely submerged. You join the water board

in 1976, is this the worst it has ever been? Yes. There reservoir has

just 30 % of the water it should have and the area is officially on

drought alert. How has this happened? There is no tropical heat

wave, why are levels down? If we look back from October 2010-2011,

this is the driest period we have had since 1976. It is unprecedented.

How much whether do we need to rectify the problem? We would need

to have at least above average rainfall until early mid- spring

period. Unless we get that, things will be very different. Because of

the severity of the shortage, the Environment Agency must allow South

East Water Authority to top up its reservoirs by extracting water from

nearby streams and rivers. But this comes at a cost to wildlife and the

environment. Here we go, what do you make of it? For January it is

extremely low, he should be to for at high at least. Normally in

winter we should not be able to do this without getting wet. Very wet.

Are you surprised by how low it is? I am quite surprised and alarmed by

it and how it will affect the fish and the fishing for us anglers.

Many rivers along the South Coast are renowned breeding grounds for

sea trout. This time of year the sea water should be deep enough for

them to travel upstream and lay their eggs but it is not. The sea-

trout which live in the sea and come back in the autumn, have not

come up the rivers because there has not been enough fresh water to

trigger them to come up. The fish are getting stuck by them in the

estuaries waiting to come up and then it will be too late for them

to spawn. There is a whole spawning season last, that is a generation

of trout last. This is not just happening here, we have been to the

source of the River Itchen as well and it is dry. That has ben not

flowing for 18 months. We just need rain, rain. We also have the issue

of extraction. They have got to find other ways of finding water.

Whether it be reservoirs or not, I do not know. Is it too easy for the

water companies to extract water? It is the easiest source of water,

yes. Back in the 1990s, the river Levant used to hit the headlines

when it flooded in the winter months. This is it today. Nothing

is flowing because the ground water levels are too low. It is these

under water supplies that water companies rely on, particularly in

times of drought and here at West Dean College, the Environment

Agency used an old world to monitor how low the levels have dropped.

put a metre down the well and when it hits the water, there will be a

beeping noise which indicates it has hit the bottom. What is the

implication of a low-level here? means they could be problems for

extractors who rely on water for their business needs. It also means

that river flows well below. We would rather it be a brimming but

the longer that takes to beat, it means the water level is low and

that is a concern for us because the levels are much lower than they

should be this time of year. There we go. It looks like it is about

five metres 46, probably at least a couple of metres lower than it

should be. Aside from praying for rain, solving any water shortage is

a complex problem. How do you best protect the environment and take

less water from our rivers while meeting the demands of a growing

population? The government recently published a White Paper that calls

for water companies to rely less on taking supplies from our rivers and

instead look elsewhere to top up shortfalls. The extraction regime

was set up in the 1960s when we never used words like climate

change. We now have to be resilient and you'll see more of a flow of

water from water rich areas to water port areas, but trading is

very much a feature of the policy we have announced. The most

important immediate change of we want to see is the heavens open and

rain to resolve problems we will face this summer if we do not get

that. Today the average person uses 150 litres of water each day and

the utility companies are going to great lengths to encourage us to

cut back our consumption. As well as giving us a variety of water-

saving devices, they hope the Stourton metres will be the biggest

incentive for households to cut back. We hope to save 25 million

litres of water a day across the company. For the householder in

terms of their use of water, do you know how much it will cut their

usage? Customers on average they save about 10 % of their water.

has to be done, we have to change attitudes to this never ending

supply of water which we are fast learning is not never ending.

a finite resource and we have to ensure we have enough water for the

environment and our customers. The population is increasing, the

demand is increasing. Installing meters will curb demand and it is

the fairest pay -- way to pay. have to tackle the root cause of

this problem. We are consuming more water than is going to the

underground water table. We have to cut our consumption of water and

that means using water far more efficiently in our buildings,

industry and having political well to address this problem.

Conservation is on Mac thing but we still need lots of rain to stop the

water shortage. But the weather is in the lap of the guards. For some

the point of no return is living. This fishing lake on the River Test

is at critical levels. consequences would be that it will

go down so low, the oxygen will be so depleted it cannot sustain life.

The Environment Agency went on an emergency basis take the fish out

and put them elsewhere. With the fish taken out, there is nothing,

no reason for people to join an angling club. We want if we

possibly can to sustain our Angling Club for future generations.

think climate change is inevitable. Dry winters, warmer summers,

probably less of rain. Customers have to play their part in

conserving that resource. I see a disaster coming but nature does

repair and we have to bear that in mind. Nature may well repaired this

but it may be too late. Fingers crossed for a bit of decent

rain. While we are in Bournemouth, let me tell you about one night

which changed people's lives for ever and it happened but far from

here. The relatives of a World War II pilot whose aircraft crashed

killing nine people have been battling to clear his name. They

say it was mechanical failure and not pilot error which brought down

his Halifax bomber. Nine team 40s Bournemouth was a

place to escape the war. Its beaches and gardens a haven of

tranquillity and to one night the war came crashing in. It was

obvious we were going to die and I just felt for the pilot, try and

save it. I think their chances were slim as soon as they encounter

difficulties. Hell incarnate had come to that part of the world

unexpectedly. March 1944, a Halifax bomber takes off from Hurn

Aerodrome just outside Christchurch. At the control it is an RAF pilot,

Dennis Evans. The seven-man crew are on a secret mission to Morocco

but they would never arrive. He was very skilled because he would not

have been chosen for special operations even though he was very

young. The reason he was selected was he was a natural pilot. But all

the experience in the world could never have prepared Dennis Evans

for what was to happen. The take- off phase is the most critical

phase. The aircraft needs to achieve a certain speed to get

airborne and then to climb away from the ground, it needs to

maintain that speed. If you were to have any problems, loss of thrust,

in that take-off phase of flight your options are limited. It rose

to around 200 ft and then it seemed to dip. That is in the initial

reports say something happened early on. Meanwhile, on the ground,

Russell Barnes was woken by the sound of the plane. I could hear an

aircraft coming towards us. It was making a peculiar noise, one of the

engines would roll and scream. And then it would splutter and then go

silent. I cannot see any reason that you as the pilot would be

increasing power and reducing power, so it suggests that there is some

sort of mechanical issue with the aircraft. The pilot were struggling

with the controls, that was obvious. He was flying an aircraft that was

in serious engineering problems. It was obvious we were going to die. I

just felt for the pilot as he was coming in. Try and save it, try and

save it and then the banger came and it was all over. Very brave of

him. When I heard he was 20, just five years older than me, it

On impact, the aircraft flipped onto its back. The fuel tanks

exploded. The seven crew on board stood no chance and the they did

the two civilians sleeping in their beds.

One of those was Dorothy Bennett. At the time, her daughter Margaret

was down the corridor of preparing to go to bed. There was a bump and

then the curtains were on fire and I started to run towards the

bedroom. The next thing I knew, I was coming round and I was holding

on to the door. I could not have been out for very long. There was a

second explosion. Or the aircraft's fuel tanks had ignited. The room my

mother was in, the ceiling came down. There was nothing there. As I

said at the time, if that was going to happen, it was good to go at

once. You would never survive a fire like that. It was extremely

powerful. It must have been a complete seen off the devastation.

There is no other way of describing it. Hell incarnate as it were, come

to that part of the world. This tragedy could not have come at a

worse time as all along the south coast, preparations were being made

for D-Day. Accidents like this on home ground just could not happen.

This was big news and a public relations disaster for the MoD. It

seems the default position was to blame the pilot. I think, it is

innocent until proven guilty. If they did not have the evidence, how

could they say, it was pilot error? In the official documents, the MoD

did blame pilot Dennis Evans and ignored any possibility of a engine

failure. Is there any mention of ancient

fire in the official report? There was a comment by the police

who said he saw the aircraft a light in the sky before it crashed.

At the MoD also chose to ignore her a catalogue of mechanical errors

that came to light at the inquest into Margaret Bennett's mother.

were told it had had trouble and they had mended it and said it was

all right to fly. There was a question about whether the RAF

agreed that it was all right to fly. There was a feeling it should not

have grown at all. What have we got here? Your treasured photos. Yes,

my brother. Evelyn Cleverly is part of a growing campaign group to get

the MoD to re-examine the evidence. For handsome chap, is he not? He

really was. Her brother Henry was navigator on board. In the days

leading up to the tragedy, he had doubts about the plane's

airworthiness. A every night, he wrote to his wife, saying the play

was not ready, there was something wrong. -- the plane. There was

doubt about a play that all through that week. One of his doubts could

have been about the Halifax's rudder which was acknowledged to be

a recurring problem and one which the manufacturers were trying to

fix. If the rudder had blocked, there was nothing he could do. The

only way out of that rudder lock on a Halifax was to dive for something

like 4,000 feet to be able to compensate for the lock. He only

had a few hundred feet. There was no chance. Evelyn Cleverly feels

that the pilot should be remembered as a hero who did everything he

could to prevent loss of life. think that poor pilot, he was only

20 years old. He suddenly would find he could not -- he had not got

a plane that would respond to him. I do not know, my own thoughts are

he probably tried to turn to get back to Hurn Aerodrome or perhaps

crash in the water. If he could have got to the seat, that might

have been possible. Those last two minutes,, those last months have

given me a lot of sadness. On the site of the crash, a memorial

stands to remember those who died. All other friends and relatives now

want is for the official record to be set straight. It does not matter

whether it was 60 years ago or last week. An injustice has been done.

They should be put right. They got it seriously wrong. This young man

had an aircraft with a major fault and he was stuck with it.

should they get away with blaming a young man who was clearly very

brave and volunteered to do this work and turning round and giving

him a piece of machinery that was impossible to fly? If there was

something wrong with the aircraft, it was not his fault. Finally, it

has been a success story, though the introduction otters to the

south's rivers. Not everybody is happy.

I love this ballet. I have been coming here for 70 years. -- valley.

It is one of the most beautiful valleys in England. Richard has

been fishing for Barbour on this stretch of the Avon since he was a

boy. -- bottle. But something is disturbing his peace of mind.

river used to be in the top five rivers in the country. Sadly, it

would not be in the top 100 now. You are not catching as many fish

question of no. What is causing this downturn? Cormorants and

otters. The halt fishing stock has been decimated. The otters will eat

anything and everything. They are like a fox in a chicken house. His

magnificent to see one out there but there are too many of them.

some, the increase in otter numbers is great news. Like Chris Wood who

had an unexpected encounter near Plymouth. Fantastic. It was two

years old. I have never seen one before. It was excellent. Amazingly,

Chris filmed his otter calmly emerging from the room up of the

garden centre where he worked. got my phone out and filmed it.

Then it went down and ran through the coffee shop outside. It went

off into the distance. My baby it's a young one. It was amazing. -- may

be at the young one. It came up to where we are now. It is weird

because there are roads in the way,. Could rotters -- what has been a

widespread? They but almost disappeared 50 years ago. The main

culprit was pesticides. These pesticides were in otters. That

would divide over much of the UK, to be honest. That was in a fairly

short space of time. Are they were numerous now? Are a lot more

numerous. A lot of pesticides were removed over a period of time. The

otter population has responded and they have recovered as their food

supply has become less contaminated. This recovery will inevitably have

some impact on fishing. Some anglers feel their concerns are not

being taken seriously. There are concerns a small number of may even

be shooting this highly protected species. We know there is a legal -

- and illegal killing of otters taking place. What we are aware of

may be the tip of the iceberg. Where do you get creditors

conflicting with people's a personal interest, you will get

people to take the law into their own hands. We could do that. It is

irresponsible. We know we goes on, however. The killing of otters is

condemned by anglers. Martin Bowler is one of the country's top

professionals. He does point out feelings are running high. There

have been calls for some radical action. There are rumours of

anglers taking the law into their own hands and getting guns out.

think that is wrong. You need to understand desperate people, their

livelihoods are going. I am not calling for any kind of Carl on

otters whatsoever. If that would be the worst PR possible. We are in a

no-win situation. It is desperate. The angling community is dead. It

would be fair to say they are split, too. -- scared. They do not know

the right way forward. A Martin believes are the daughters'

recovery has not been a natural one. Are they have been put back into

our rivers. -- otters' recovery. They are offering the ecosystem out

of balance. Is there any truth in the rumour that wildlife

sanctuaries are breeding otters and releasing them? I have come up to

it that Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre near Burnham-on-Sea

in Somerset. His name is Otto. He has been with us since he was about

400 grams, very tiny. How did he end up here? He came from

Lincolnshire. Some people saw two otter cubs and were concerned about

it. They were told to leave them alone. That is quite right. He was

so tiny, however and the other one was very lethargic so we suggested

they pick it up. Do you breed otters? We do not breed otters, no.

I have contact with wildlife hospitals all over the centre --

the country and I do not know anyone reading them. It is just

once we Pickup that, usually through human intervention, the

mother gets killed and the cups are found. You are talking about 20 to

30 animals a year over the whole of Great Britain. He is not just

anglers on the river banks who are getting hot under the collar. For a

still water fishery owner, otters could be bad for business. Some of

rich and's specimen of carp are worth �1,000 each. We have had fish

killed and site. I found an of today near to the fishery. That had

been released from an RSPCA centre. This was a big animal. Over 3 ft in

length. I felt it was released to close to my fishery and without

consultation with the authorised bodies. The RSPCA were not able to

comment on Richard's case but their guidelines say they should find a

location for releasing otters what is the most suitable to enable

their survival. Despite all the evidence, anglers need a lot more

convincing that otters are recovering naturally. We bought the

Environment Agency's top experts to meet Martin Bowler and there was a

heated discussion. You cannot deny politicians are also quick to come

out, so quick to come out as soon as an otter has been found. There

is nothing wrong with the Government celebrating the fact

that our top predator is back. What will it be? It will take

everything... This is an Armageddon type view. It is clear this is an

argument that is not going to be resolved just yet. It is the end of

the day's fishing and Richard did not catch a thing. But then he did

not spot an otter either. Whatever the true reason for the decline of

fish, he says fishing he just isn't what it used to be. I still love it

and I still come here even though why catch nothing. The fish are not

here to be caught. That is all from us. I will see you

next Monday. More than two years after Joanna Lumley's victory is

beginning to Ghurka families the right to live in Britain, one army