South East England still in drought

South East of England faces its second year of drought.

The south east of England is currently experiencing the driest period on record. Water companies around the region have introduced hose-pipe bans effecting more than 13 million people.

The drought began in 2004 and has continued throughout two relatively dry winters. South eastern England has been hit hard because of its high population density, relatively low number of reservoirs and a heavy reliance on ground-water supplies.

Thames Water said that in an average year the region it manages receives less rainfall per person than Dallas in Texas, Rome or Istanbul. London receives about the same amount of rain as Athens.

According to the Environment Agency "ground-water levels in some places in the south east are at their lowest on record, and some rivers are drying up. If conditions remain dry, the reservoirs are expected to drop quickly after April."

"ground-water provides about 75% of public water supply in south east England and about 30% in England and Wales as a whole. "

"Low ground-water levels and river flows will increase the risk to the environment and wildlife. Low flows mean that pollution incidents will have a bigger impact and fish are more likely to die from high temperatures and low oxygen levels in the water. The more companies do to reduce demand for water the less risk their customers face, but also the less likely it is that we will see environmental damage over the summer."

Although Royal Gardens are exempt from a hose-pipe ban, Kew Gardens has a strategy to minimise their use of water while maintaining its collection, which is of global importance.

·The Strategy includes irrigating collections out of visitor hours in order to maximise the available water pressure; however there will be a need to carry out watering during the daytime hours as well.

·Water newly planted trees with the aid of the water bowsers.

·Incorporate water to the young heritage tree plantings through the installed underground-watering loops.

·Priority will be given to the irrigation of Heritage trees, important scientific collections, newly established plantings and commemorative trees over other plantings.

·Use low level irrigators/misters/leaky pipes and "tree pees" will be used where possible.

·Taking care to avoid the unnecessary watering of roads and other hard surfaces.

·There will be no watering of turf areas, except for recently turfed areas. Once the turf is established watering will cease.

So what can we do?

Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth and take showers rather than baths.

Collect rain water and spill-off from roofs to water plants and wash cars, or how about filling the garden with drought-resistant plants. Start a new fashion for the 'London cactus week?'

Find out more about Climate Change.