Large areas of England are likely to remain in an official drought until next year. Water companies are seeking permission to extract more from rivers, or to keep taking water even when levels drop below certain threshold. The utilities need to be granted special permits to impose limits on commercial water usage. Many already have hosepipe bans in place, which stop households from watering their gardens.
The National Drought Group applied official drought status to swathes of England and Wales last month amid an extremely dry summer for the first time on record. Many areas are set to keep the status into the winter.
Barry Bendall, operations director at the Rivers Trust: “I think it’s highly likely some areas will still be in drought come 2023.” He added that the country needs “significant and constant rainfall” which is not currently forecast.
Source: bnnbloomberg.ca