Drought and drinking water disaster? by Jay Wynne
It’s been quite dry recently in parts of the UK, the south in particular. Water levels in some reservoirs have been causing some concern with rumours of a possible hose pipe ban this summer. Overall, for England and Wales reservoirs are at 91% of capacity, that’s about 2% less than at the same time last year. There are some regional differences, the southern region (Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight) is currently at about 76% capacity. There will be some welcome rain here in the next few days.
The situation in China is far worse. Some parts of the country are experiencing the worst drought in 50 years. Some 9 million people are facing a shortage of drinking water while farmers across the country are looking out over parched land. Even though irrigation systems are in place there is little water to supply it.
Northern China is an arid place anyway so drought is not uncommon but southern China is more used to a regular soaking from typhoons which come rolling in from the South China Sea. Floods happen here way more often than drought. The last time a typhoon hit the region was last autumn. Typhoons are most common from July to October but have been known to occur at other times of the year.
The Island of Hainan lies in the South China Sea, it’s a large island comparable in size with Taiwan. It’s a popular spot for tourists and its rugged interior is used for sugar and rubber plantations. It has also been badly affected by the recent conditions.
Some 11 major reservoirs on the island are at such low levels that water will not flow to surrounding farmland. Drinking water supplies are normally provided from a series of smaller reservoirs. A recent audit showed that close to 1,000 of these are now dry. The situation is quite bad and while some rain is likely in the next few days it doesn’t look as if it will be enough to scratch the surface of this particular problem.
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