Analysis since 2002 of England’s groundwater, reservoir levels and river flows – three key indicators of drought severity and river health – shows that July this year was the worst on record. River flows this July were below normal in 88% of rivers and reservoir levels were at about 64% of capacity, the lowest level in two decades. Groundwater was the fourth lowest level, with about two-thirds of sites experiencing lower-than-normal groundwater levels. The analysis, shown by the Guardian and coordinated by Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL), based on the Environment Agency’s monthly state of water reports from July each year, showed this year was the worst overall for drought when ranked in the indicators. Ellie Ward, policy and information co-ordinator at WCL, said: “Our resilience to drought is not good enough. This puts nature and people at risk of running out of water. We need ambitious, holistic action to build this resilience and ensure clean and abundant water.” Experts also warned that this year’s drought may not be a one-off, but could be the start of a three-year drought cycle, which has struck three times in the past two decades, in 2004-06, 2010-12 and 2017- 19 , as the WCL analysis shows. If this is the case, water levels and river flow levels will get much worse next year, which would spell disaster for swaths of England’s wildlife and natural environment. Fish and other aquatic animals, and the ecosystems that depend on rivers and streams, have already suffered greatly in this year’s drought. Mark Owen, head of freshwater at the Angling Trust, said: “At the start of this year, our rivers had not yet fully recovered from the effects of the dry weather of previous years. We now need the government to accelerate action to enable full recovery and plan for potential impacts in 2023 and beyond if this weather repeats.” It called on the government to take steps to reduce water demand, increase resilient reserves and “build back more water”, such as restoring wetlands. Low water flows mean not only less water for aquatic species, but also more concentrated pollutants, sediment-choked rivers and lower amounts of dissolved oxygen, leading to fish and invertebrate kills. Conservationists have raised concerns that some rivers will take years or decades to recover from the record drought, exacerbated by increasing pollution from both farms and human sewage that water companies have been allowed to dump into rivers and streams. The River Wye, for example, was already heavily polluted by runoff from poultry farms, and Windermere, probably the UK’s most famous lake, has been so affected by phosphate pollution and drought that a dangerous blue-green algae bloom has occurred. If pollution and mismanagement are allowed to continue, another year of drought could spell disaster for these and many other English waterways. Ali Morse, director of water policy at the Wildlife Trusts and chair of the Blueprint for Water coalition, said: “Over the last 100 years we’ve lost 90% of the wetlands we once had, so it’s no surprise that our landscape is less capable. to capture and absorb water. Wildlife-rich wet meadows, reed beds, hedgerows, peat bogs and wetlands created by beavers were once widespread, acting as a sponge to soak up the rain that replenishes underground aquifers and fills rivers.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The climate crisis also means that the coming years are likely to bring similar weather conditions. This year’s record heatwave will be the average summer until 2035, according to Met Office research. This means more needs to be done to prepare the UK for warmer weather and drought. Nathan Richardson, head of strategy and policy at Waterwise, said: “We know that the frequency and severity of severe drought is increasing with climate change. We need to use the water we have more wisely and we urgently need to see the government’s promises of new policy to reduce water demand come to fruition.” Torrential rain has lashed parts of south-east and east England in recent days, relieving some parched ground but only partially, as long-dry ground does not absorb water well and much of the rain will have run off, adding to the problem of of sewage effluents. Sir James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency, said: “Water pressures on wildlife and the environment remain high and despite recent rainfall and a pause in the hot dry weather, we need to continue to manage water wisely . Both next year and, with the impact of climate change, the next decade, a complete shift in gear is needed in the way water companies and all water users, from farmers to households, think about how they use water and understand its fundamental value. He said: “This summer should be a wake-up call about how the nation prepares for extreme weather and how we make the best use of our water resources. Our National Water Framework clearly sets out what we are doing towards a new normal for water and we are determined to drive it forward.”
