Flows in the River Test, in Southampton, Hampshire, are falling and current forecasting shows that we may need to apply for a drought permit by the start of September, if hot and dry weather continues in August.
This is very similar to an atrial we published in the summer of last year.
Demand for water has been higher this year due to more people staying at home during the Covid-19 crisis and the hot and dry periods of weather through the spring and summer.
The River Test is a vital source of fresh water for south Hampshire and a designated river due to its high environmental value. A drought permit would be necessary to help protect the environment and health of the river, which we know is important to our customers and a legal requirement to continue to abstract flows when river levels are low.
If there’s sufficient rainfall, demand for water reduces and flows in the river recover, the possibility of applying for a drought permit will be reduced. We will be continue to monitor the situation closely with the Environment Agency.
While in the process of applying for a drought permit, we urge all customers in Hampshire to reduce water use wherever possible, to help us reduce the impact on the river’s habitat.
Playing our part – tackling leakage
We face serious water challenges in the years to come but we’re already taking bold steps to cut people’s water use and reduce leakage in Hampshire and across the region that we serve.
We’re working hard to keep our leakage levels as low as possible. We invested an additional £3.2 million during 2019–20 to increase the size of our leakage teams, recruiting 30 new ‘find and fix it’ teams – bringing the total number across our region to 190, compared to 100 in 2018. We also announced in June the world’s first roll-out of NarrowBand Internet of Things leakage detection devices in Southampton, helping us to pinpoint leaks.
Our aim is to reduce leakage by 15% by 2025 and 40% by 2040.
Water for Life - Hampshire
Changes to Southern Water’s abstraction licences on the River Test and River Itchen and predicted future changes mean a shortfall of about 190Ml/d during a 1-in-200-year drought to meet the forecast demand for water – about 80-85% of the amount needed to supply customers in the south Hampshire area.
The potential frequent need for a Testwood Drought Permit is brought about by the Testwood abstraction licence change in March 2019, which includes a new flow condition that stops abstraction when river flow falls below 355 Ml/d. This is necessary to protect the river system.
We have agreed with the Environment Agency to rely on Drought Permits and Drought Orders up until 2027 to allow us to continue to take water from the rivers during dry weather, while we invest in new water resources under our Water for Life – Hampshire programme.
More information on this programme can be found at www.southernwater.co.uk/our-story/water-resources-planning/protecting-hampshires-rivers
Applying for a drought permit
We are now in the process of preparing a drought permit application for the River Test, which may be submitted at the end of August, according to current forecasting and flows and demand for water supplies.
If a permit is approved, we then must take the decision if and when we need to implement it. This means we would be asking our customers to be extra vigilant with their water use.
Temporary Use Bans – previously known as hosepipe bans – may need to be imposed.
We know this may be disruptive but we thank all for their understanding, patience and we will continue to update our customers on the situation with the River Test.