02/05/2012 Inside Out Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Good evening, welcome to a special programme from Lincolnshire.

Tonight, drought, of what drought? You cannot have failed to notice

how wet it has been in the last few weeks. In Lincolnshire, it has

broken records. Why is the Government refusing to rule out the

use of sand by the? Of the have another dry winter, that is another

drought. -- if we have another dry winter. Also tonight, leaking pipes,

we are being told not to me bar taps running, but to the water

companies need to clear up their act? And the lack of rain in Spain,

can other countries teachers how to look after our precious water? --

As you can see, from a very swollen river here in Lincoln, it has been

a very wet April, the wettest on record. And yet Lincolnshire is

still in a serious drought, with water restrictions that could last

for months. How can it be when we have had so much rainfall, that we

are so short of water? Yet another wet day in Lincolnshire, and she

would be forgiven for thinking, why all of the fuss? And very wet April

has broken records, and in fact, this is not lost on the people of

Skegness, people in the midst of a water shortage. It is normally one

of the driest places in the country getting as much rainfall as the

Costa Brava in Spain, but the last month as felt more like Manchester

than Barcelona off. Despite the last few weeks, it has been

exceptionally dry here in Lincolnshire, and in the last two

years, they were the driest on record going back to 1910, so quite

notable. Normally, a winter rainfall replenished as the stocks

and that has not happened in the last two years, and if there is

another dry winter, it would be a very serious situation indeed. Can

be blamed for this be laid at the door of climate change? I will have

a special court cast at the end of the programme. -- a special

forecast. And despite all the recent rain, water remains a scarce

resource, and restrictions are in place with the local council lot

being happy. They would like an exemption from the hosepipe ban as

they have spent �600,000 on plants in an attempt to make the town at

its best. But with a hosepipe ban now in place, all of these flowers

will have to be watered by hand. The local authority says it is not

just about the fate of these plants that of the local economy. Recent

rain has meant that the flowers don't need watering, but in the

summer, the council says doing it by hand would be a drain on

resources. Fortunately, something else will not get done because of

the watering. -- unfortunately. We cannot let these plants die.

issue want Anglian Water to show more flexibility? -- did you want?

Yes, we had been doing as much as we could to conserve water, and the

worry for us is that this really important time when the new plans

are going in, that is when we need to make sure that we can keep

watering them. East Lindsey council is not alone in seeking relief.

Some customers say the restrictions are too tough, especially when

water leakage is such a big problem. The water companies have spent tens

of millions of pounds on infrastructure and the pipes that

bring water from boreholes and the rise of four to each home. But

despite all of this, Anglian Water loses one fifth of its water to

leaky pipes and the record in Yorkshire is worse with millions of

gallons of water leaking away every year. This footage was shot in

Boston before the drought restrictions went in place, but it

shows the water companies still have a long way to go. Pipes may be

part of the problem, but they are also part of the solution and deep

in the Lincolnshire Wolds, something significant is happening.

This piping is part of a �40 million infrastructure project and

the aim is to pump water from the North to the drought-stricken South

of the county. The pipeline will run for more than 40 miles from the

reservoir to Boston. It is not the only major Anglian Water problem,

there are also plans for a new reservoir near Lincoln. This is the

kind a project they will have to do more in the future. It is about

moving the watered down to where there is less of it down in Boston.

We know that the town of Boston is growing and will need more water

now than in the past. This money bet you were spending on the

pipeline, would it be better to spend it on the leaking pipes?

have to do both, that is why we are spending �40 million doing this and

we spent �15 million on leakage last year and we do spend the same

again next year. We fixed 30,000 leaks every year and it is very

important and we know it is important for the customers, that

is why we have an army of 300 people finding and fixing the

leakage every day. We had a very wet month indeed, you can see how

wet it is, surely this is having an impact on the drought? It has had a

marginal effect, but we're coming off the back of two dry winters,

the driest 18 months in many centuries, and it will take more

than a few wet weeks to get us back to where we want to be. Anglian

Water's customers are not the only ones feeling the pressure. There is

the national reserve here, which this network of sand-dunes being

back home of one of the barest animals and Britain. -- be the home.

The star attraction is the natterjack toad. Its mating calls

can be heard for miles away, bringing a slice of the tropics to

Lincolnshire, but it is vulnerable to drought. They like the Open s

and the shallowness of the water and they have got a shallow shelf

in front of it. -- they like the open conditions. They enjoy the

warm water to breed in out andon in there. They can come out and they

needed to survive. If it is not just the Tote having a tough time,

elsewhere on the coast, the breeding birds are vulnerable. --

the told. These birds that breed on the small islands are at risk of

having their chicks eaten by predators that no longer have water

as a deterrent. Despite all of the recent rain, the domestic hosepipe

ban in Lincolnshire continues, so how has industry been affected?

Much of this land was turned over to the production of potatoes.

every plate of chips that we consume, there is a heavy price to

play in water consumption. -- price to pay. Cleaning gum of for the

supermarket shelf uses a lot of water and the Branston potato

plants be a Lincoln is currently recycling 80 % of the water that it

users to make them acceptable for consumers. -- the plants near

Lincoln. More than half a million tons of potatoes are grown in this

part of the world, but each 2.5 kilogram bag of potatoes is the

product of will be been's with the water. Farmers are stockpiling

water. Now experts from Cranfield University have been working out

the footprint water footprint of the data production. They are

helping out with less water in the future, but if the drought

continues, this landscape could see some major changes. After two dry

winter would be in a very bad position this time next year. -- a

third the dry winter. Farmers would have much more pressure on domestic

water supply. There would be water restrictions early on and we would

need to think very carefully about viability of growing this kind of

crop in this part of the country. We might have to move to other

parts of the country that are wetter and have more reliable

rainfall. Another pipeline section goes into place. It will not be

operational until next year, so it is certainly not an instant

solution to the current drought. In the short term, we will all have to

learn to use less water, while Coming up: Will there be more rain

fall in the coming weeks? Or will this dry weather return? I will

have a special extended weather forecast for Yorkshire and

Lincolnshire later in the programme. And we had to sell their new rubra

they know a thing or two about the drought. -- and Beagle 2 so there

you rub Rev they know a little bit. What more can we learn from Europe

about the drought? In the UK, where much more used to

complaining about the rain and there has been a lot of it in the

last few weeks. In Lincolnshire, we are still definitely in a drought.

My whether colleague has taken a trip around the country to find out

what on earth is happening to the weather. -- my weather Centre

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

there were a drought is the last thing that comes to mind. There is

rich land and the reservoirs with lots of water. But with all of this

century it has an stop raining for the last few weeks, how come there

is so much drought in England? -- it has not stopped raining. The Met

Office is looking at this change in the climate and the first place

they are looking at is the jet stream that carries the wet weather

across the Atlantic. It has displaced further north and by the

time the weather front pushes further south and east into parts

of England, there is higher pressure, so they are not doing the

job we want them to do which is to add a decent amount of rain on top

of the water levels. At this time of year, we are competing with

nature for water and everything has embarked on the spring growth. You

do not get the green and pleasant land without it. But when

everything is turning green around us and you see the river is filling

up, what you do not see in some places in the country is even more

important, and that is underground. And it is the water underground,

not the rise of fours that supplies 75 % of the population of England.

-- the wiser fors that supplies. I am visiting the National Geological

Survey in Nottingham where they are constantly monitoring the level of

groundwater in England and using information from thousands of four

holes they have created an underground map of Britain.

areas in green here, running a peerage and Lincolnshire carpenter

Yorkshire, and in the south of Britain around the south-east, it

is an important aquifer. -- running around Lincolnshire and up into

Yorkshire. I ground water levels have remained normal in the north-

west but as you move to the south- east, they drop by one third.

the last couple of years, only four months have been significantly

wetter than normal, including the April just gone which has delivered

record rain. To really find out how low the ground water stocks are,

last week I joined Andy Mackenzie This is the south Down's. Below me

is the most important source of ground water, the chalk aquifer.

Today, we'll find out how far we have to go down to find that water.

The chalk aquifer is effectively a giant pressureised sponge full of

water which the Victorians tapped with wells like this one. The water

would normally be about 20 metres below ground level. This is the

exciting bit. How far down are we? Any sign of that water? It is

looking promising. I can see a reflection towards the bottom of

the we will. We are only at about 30 metres below where with we

started. We passed the point where we'd normally find the water and

the camera keeps descending. interesting thing is you're seeing

dry walls. If there was any recharge happening you'd see

moisture. The walls would be glistening slightly and they are

not. They are completely dry. even though it has been pouring

with rain, that rain down here has not made a jot of difference yet?

No, it hasn't. It would take weeks, probably months for the water to

infiltrate. But it won't. It will be taken up by the plants. We're

coming up to 34.4 feet. This is if? That's the surface of the water.

How does it compare? We've 180 years of record. This is the fifth

or sixth driest we've seen it in April. That's pretty low? That's

pretty low. One dry winter in 1976 was followed

by a very hot summer. Now we are saying, save water, we are going to

need it. People were forced to queue in the streets to get water

from standpipes. This drought is different. It is not hot and sunny.

It has been pouring down with rain. Yet, we are being told we could be

in drought until Christmas. No- one's saying all this rain we've

been having is isn't making a difference. Of course it is. We've

had one of our wettest aeps, the there's even about flooding. But

many of us get our waters from the aquifers.

What the Victorians started with wells was soon exploited on a much

bigger scale. This is an aquifer operated by South East Water

supplying 2.1 million customers from pumping stations like this one.

Down there, that's the precious water. Just how low are the

aquifers? We are in a very serious situation. Our underground aquifers

are very, very low. We see the reservoirs and rivers, flying in

high levels with the recent rainfall and think everything's OK.

It is not the case. We are seeing all-time low levels. We have pumps

lowered down to levels they've never been to before. All-time lows.

So that means it is each worse than 1976? It is worse than 1976. It is

far more widespread across the various regions. Our greatest fear

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

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

a row. We've come a long way from the Lake District. It seems we are

even further from that soaking rain that's been falling above ground.

But down here, it is winter rain that matters. And if we don't get

enough next winter, then we are all So what options do we have if

there's a third dry winter? Do the Government and water companies have

a plan? David Whitely's been to a country used to life with little

rain to find out how they cope with This church has stood here in this

valley in northern Spain for more than 500 years. The thing is, I

shouldn't even be here because this is a 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 other parts of the country. Look at the water line in

this reservoir. It should be that high and look how low it is. Just

below those trees is where the water should be. Incredible. So,

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 supplies from France. It is three-

and-a-half million residents, like this family, have had to completely

change their attitude towards water. I find it incredible something as

simple as water had to be transported into Barcelona in

tankers. What was that like? It is a first as far as I know. Luckily

it never had to be carried through on a massive scale or for a very

long time. But, before that, there really was a sensation it would not

be easy. If the drought continued for much longer people would have

to have water rations and it would be complicated. How have you

adapted your lifestyle in the current climate? I think we took

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

were about to have emergency measures. 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 would come and be the water

police. Through simple measures such as turning off taps, having

tiepltd showers and teaching water conservation in its schools,

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

cities in saving water. In. People here use just 107 litres a day

compared to 150 litres a day 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 fount ace. This isn't the first and

will not be the last time Barcelona faced drought. That experience four

years ago forced everyone to change the way they think about water at

every level. And this place was the answer. They

built this massive desalination plant. It is the largest in Europe.

By taking sea water from the Mediterranean, the plant can

produce 180 million litres of fresh water every day. But, that's still

only a fifth of the city's needs. So, it's used as a stop gap when

the 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 funk 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 a world 450er in the

technology. But it is not a perfect solution. The water produced here

is very expensive. And the Barcelona plant uses enough energy

to pow ear small town. -- power a small town.

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

in our power stations. Most of the rest, around 40% 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 as Environment

Agency, it is Trevor Bishop's job to try and find a solution. Is

turning salt water into fresh water the answer? We've one big

desalination plant near London. That will be really important for

safeguarding water supplies for London. The likelihood of seeing

more desalination plants is quite high but you don't want to rely on

desalination. It is expensive and produces a lot of carbons. So not

good for the environment. We are at a lovely set of locks. Can water

companies transfer water to drier parts of the country?

Victorians started transferring water around. It underpins much of

the way we manage water resources. Manchester is supplied by water

from the Lake District largely. Moving water around, greater

connectivity within the country and networks will be part of the answer

but not the whole answer. Are we talking about a National Grid of

water? As far as electricity's concerned, if somewhere's

generating electricity you don't get blackouts in other parts of the

country. Why have restrictions in one part of the country and not

another? We are not talking about it in the same way as we use

electricity and gas. If you build a big main of water from the north to

the south of England, you can have droughts in the north of England.

You don't want to rely on dragging water around the country

exclusively. What will happen if we have a third dry winter?

Difficult to say. But we would be in a very bad place. We've never

worked out the consequences of three dry winters in a row. We've

never had three in a row. If you you'd be expecting measures to try

and conserve water that would be quite dramatic. Standpipes in the

streets. People's water supply would be cut off. They'd have to

take buckets to those standpipes. We don't know the numbers of people

involved but it could be tens of thousands easily. As far as I'm

aware, there is no strategic national plan to deal with three

dry winters in the a row. I'd like to be proven wrong. I don't know of

a plan. I think our plan is based on hope that it rains. So, is there

a strategy or not? Caroline Spellman is the Environment

Secretary. We have contingency plan. Drought is a natural phenomenon. It

can occur any time. We've seen this coming and have been planning for

it. What we are putting in place now are the measures to dole with

that. Things like the temporary restrictions on non-owe sepbgs uses

of water in a domestic setting is something we plan to do in order to

conserve water and make sure we don't have to move to more

stringent restrictions later. 3.3 billion litres of water, a

quarter of our water is lost every day. Should the targets be more

stringent. Germany only lose 10% of their water. It is the economic

regulator which sets these targets which it believes are a challenge

for the industry to meet. Water companies are being pushed to

connect up supplies across the country. Caroline Spellman says we

need to think differently about the water we use. When you go to a dry

country and explain in a country like ours we use drinking water for

everything, we wash our clothes in drinking water, wash 7 with it,

flush the loo, they are surprised by that. Can you guarantee if we

get a third dry winter we don't -- won't have water rationing. Spanned

pipes in the streets? It is far too early to tell yet whether we'll

have the wet winter we do need. Whereas it is most unlikely we'd

have standpipes this year, if we have another dry winter, that

becomes more likely. Begin the recent heavy rain and

floods in the UK, talk of standpipes may sound extraordinary.

But as they've discovered here in Spain, the world is changing.

Climate change and an expending population means demand for water

is set to increase. Even if the rains do come this winter, pretty

soon we'll all have to think of drinking water as the scars and

precious natural resource it really Crucially, what's the weather

forecast for the next week or so? There's been some lovely sunshine

in Lincolnshire today. A welcome relief compared with, as we've

heard in the programme, what's been a record-breaking April. At

Cranwell in South Lincolnshire, they smashed their rainfall record.

The data there goes back to the First World War. In Sheffield, it

has been wettest April for at least 130 years. But, of course, the main

point which needs stressing is all this rainfall comes off the back of

what's been the driest 18 month-two year period since records began in

1910. That's been the cause of the current drought in Lincolnshire and

across southern and eastern parts of the country. One of the common

questions I keep getting asked is can the plaim for this be layed at

the door of climate change? Well, on closer inspection of climate

projections, they suggest winters will become milder and wetter and

summers become drier and hotter, which is, in fact, the exact

opposite of what we've had. It is the dry winters which have caused

this drought. So, is climate change to blame? I suspect it is highly

unlikely. Anyway, let's have a look unlikely. Anyway, let's have a look

at the early part of May. It looks quite unsettled. On

Friday's chart, a cold front pushing down from the north. Behind

it, a little ridge of high pressure suggests things will become drier

and a bit more settled. Let's look at the forecast, Thursday, tomorrow,

there is a risk of so far rain in more southern parts of our region.

Perhaps further north it is mostly dry. Some rain for all of us for a

time on Friday. The weekend looking a little better. One or two showers

around but also some sunshine and, I think, for most a fair amount of

dry weather at the weekend. On Monday, a risk of some rain pushing

up from the south-west. What about after Monday for the rest of next

week? There's a lot of uncertain ity. It looks as though, after an