Southern Water has shared the feedback it received following a consultation on how it would keep the taps running for life’s essentials during a drought.
The company consulted on its draft Drought Plan earlier this year and is sharing the responses it received from 26 customers and organisations, as well as feedback gained through drought plan webinars, customer workshops and other engagement.
The drought plan sets out how Southern Water would promote water saving and maintain vital water supplies whilst protecting the environment during droughts, which are likely to become more frequent in the future due to climate change.
Most respondents felt the plans to tackle droughts were easy to understand and supported the plans for restrictions and exemptions, including extreme measures in an emergency drought.
Following the consultation the plan will be updated. This includes:
- Further development of the drought flow triggers for the rivers Test and Itchen in Hampshire, which are used to determine when actions to maintain secure supplies during a drought are needed
- Providing more information on the potential environmental impact of drought permits and orders and mitigation plans for them.
Nick Price, Water Resources Strategy Manager at Southern Water, said: “I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to share feedback on our plans to maintain reliable water supplies during droughts. The responses have been mainly positive, which is important as we can only successfully deal with droughts if we effectively work together.
“As well as receiving very detailed responses from the water industry regulators, such as the Environment Agency, we also heard from a wide range of organisations who took part in webinars and customers who got involved in online workshops and forums, including young people, households and business customers.
“We’ll now carry out further work and update our plan based on the feedback we’ve received and publish a final version next year when it has been approved by the Government.”
There have been three droughts in the South East since 2000 and Southern Water carefully monitors water levels all year round so it’s well prepared if a drought starts.
To read the feedback visit southernwater.co.uk/droughtplan