Dry spring affects Channel Island water supplies

BBC News

3 days ago

Channel Islanders are being asked to think twice about their water usage after a particularly dry spring.It was the warmest spring on record for the island according to the Jersey Met Office, and also the third driest since records began in 1894.In Guernsey, it was the second warmest but since May was slightly wetter, it was the 11th driest.It meant water reserves were below average in both islands.
'Minimise wastage'
In Jersey, the water company was "cautious but not concerned" even though it was prepared to use the desalination plant just in case it was needed later in the summer.The reservoirs were 89.1% full, 5% below the five-year average and 3% below the 10-year average.Mark Bowden, Head of Water Resilience for Jersey Water said when the island last experienced drought in 2022, the company was at or around the average capacity of water supply at this time of year.Mr Bowden said while they were not looking at introducing formal water restrictions at this time they encouraged customers to minimise wastage. But he had not ruled out introducing restrictions later in the summer.
'Think twice'
Guernsey Water said the island's water storage levels were 3% below what it was "comfortable with".Recent data from the utility showed levels were sat at around 91.5% which was around 10 day's supply, below its optimal levels.While there were no restrictions in place at the moment, Guernsey Water had asked islanders to think twice about if they needed to water their gardens or wash their cars and to practice water saving ideas.The utility said it would be posting weekly updates on storage levels, each Friday on its Facebook page.It was announced recently that only a limited amount of water could be used from the island's largest raw water storage reservoir due to traces of a pesticide being found.
Ashraf Elsergany, the Managing Director of Saints Bay hotel said it can be difficult to manage water usage at a hotel.The hotel has 35 bedrooms, 12 rooms for staff accommodation, a swimming pool, bar and restaurant, all of which need to use water.Mr Elsergany said that as a hotel they can not ask customers to not have a shower but they could ask them to "use it sensibly".The swimming pool remained a challenge though.Mr Elsergany said they "continue to fill up the swimming pool daily" due to evaporation from the sun and a need for more water after the daily chemical checks.Mr Elsergany saids that if any restrictions were to come into place they might have to try "negotiate" how it would work with their hotel.
La Mare Wine Estate in Jersey , which grows grapes and apples, was faring well despite the dry weather. Managing Director Tim Crowley said the young vines needed a lot of watering but mature ones had very long roots which searched for water underground.Mr Crowley said there was a "plus and a minus side" as they get a lot less disease in dry weather and were in a "much better than average" place at the moment.In 1996 they put in underground tanks which had the capacity to collect 30,000 litres of rain water and this was topped up from a borehole when needed so the business has access to a large amount of free water.