3 days ago
What does the declaration of a drought mean for Yorkshire?
A drought has officially been declared for Yorkshire after the driest start to a year in 96 years. But what does that mean for people living and working in the region?During a drought, which is announced by the Environment Agency, water companies are required to put their drought plan into can mean customers being asked to reduce their water usage and, if that is ineffective, hosepipe bans could move to drought status does not automatically trigger action, but allows the Environment Agency and water firms to increase efforts to manage the is the first time a drought has been officially declared in Yorkshire since 2022, and comes just weeks after a drought was confirmed across the north west of May, Yorkshire Water, which provides water to about five million people, said its reservoir stocks had been falling since late January due to one of the driest springs on record, and increased customer demand during warmer to the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs, north east and north west England have not experienced such a dry period between January and April since 1929.
Yorkshire Water's drought plan – which follows guidelines set by the Environment Agency – includes the possible introduction of measures such as:Voluntary water usage restrictionsFormal hosepipe and sprinkler bansReducing leakage from Yorkshire Water systemsOptimising the company's supply network by balancing reservoir stocks and recommissioning unused water sourcesAccording to Yorkshire Water's plan, it could restrict water use for vehicle washing, watering parks and gardens and washing customers would be asked to volunteer to reduce their usage before a hosepipe ban was put in place, according to the the voluntary restrictions did not work and the drought worsened or continued, formal restrictions on water use could be brought into firms are also expected to release more regular information on stocks during an official drought.
Yorkshire Water last implemented its drought plan in summer 2022, with a hosepipe ban that lasted from August until December that the 2022 drought, the company recommended customers take measures such as singing a four-minute song while showering to reduce usage, only cleaning car mirrors, windows and lights, and leaving lawns to go May, Dave Kaye, the firm's director of water, said a hosepipe ban was a possibility this warned that water stocks in Yorkshire were "in a worse situation" than in 2022, when there were three heatwaves over the course of the to the company, a drought order would be lifted when the region's water resources returned to levels where normal operations could it has said that could take some time and measures might last well beyond any return to normal rainfall patterns.
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