This summer, water companies came under fire for their apparent failure to plan for the drought and address leaking pipes. Sarah Bentley, the chief executive of Thames Water, received a bonus of £496,000 last year, almost double her performance-related payments for the previous year, and a pay rise to £750,000 from £438,000 in 2020-21, show annual accounts. Sources at Thames Water have ruled out announcing a tire ban this weekend despite the drought in rivers around southern England. Most water companies have stopped short of banning excessive water use, such as watering gardens and washing cars with hoses, but river experts hope the UKCEH’s August forecast will spur them into action. The Rivers Trust has accused water companies of waiting until the last minute to implement bans to avoid backlash from customers. Only two so far, Southern Water and South East Water, have announced pipeline bans. Last month was England’s driest July for more than 100 years and some areas had their driest summer on record. According to the latest forecasts, rivers are at the most severe drought warning level across the country, even in areas that have seen rain in recent weeks. For many, the flow is almost certain to be the lowest it has been this century. Forecasts show major rivers, including the Avon and Waveney, are flowing more slowly than during the droughts of 2011 and 2006, when tire bans were imposed in many parts of the country. In Scotland, rivers such as the Tyne and Tweed are forecast to flow much slower than usual. Next week, the government and UKCEH will produce a report based on these forecasts, which will analyze how badly the situation is in the UK, with rivers drying up. Campaigners hope an urgent action plan will be put in place, amid fears rivers could face long-term effects from water shortages. Last month, the Environment Agency’s National Drought Task Force, made up of farmer groups, environmental experts and government agency representatives, met to discuss the response. They were supposed to meet in October, but the meeting was postponed due to the drastic conditions. However, the government does not enforce the pipeline bans, leaving them to the water companies. It can give advice and prompts for further action. But charities don’t think that’s good enough. Josh Jones, senior technical analyst at the Rivers Trust, said: “It just goes to show that we need to apply management. Without managing demand when there is limited supply, we are heading for rivers and wildlife in rivers leading to a difficult time. We first need to slow down the flow of water in rivers and replenish soil moisture, and we need more wetlands that also store water. Water companies should enforce pipe bans across the country and they should be pro-active and not retroactive, this problem has been brewing for a long time. Even if you look at a 12-month average, it’s below average rainfall across the country. This problem was predictable.” A spokesman for the Angling Trust said: “Let’s not sugar coat this, our rivers are dying. The situation is farcical, predictable and entirely the result of our abject failure to plan properly in this country. No new reservoir has been built in southern England since 1976, coincidentally in response to the last major drought, yet since then millions more people have been living here and using ever more water. With the effects of climate change being felt here and now, the government and water companies knew this was coming. However, they have prioritized profits over the needs of our environment and wildlife.” The consequences for nature could be dire because of this lack of action, he added. He said: “We are seeing an increasing number of fish deaths being reported, starving for oxygen and lack of water, and we have to deal with this on top of the pollution being poured into our rivers. And the lack of water is killing our chalk streams, which we have a global responsibility to protect. Many of them, from the Pang in Berkshire to the Ver in Hertfordshire, no longer flow along large sections of their upper reaches, some of the most important habitats for wildlife. “Reducing demand and putting a ban on pipelines is important. We are in a drought, it is a crisis, we all have to play our part. But all this is just a sticking plaster. What we are experiencing is the new normal. We need urgent action and a much faster response from government, regulators and water companies.” Thames Water told the Guardian that its teams were working 24/7 to maintain water supplies, but that if the drought continues, water-saving measures, including restrictions, may be needed. The company has a statutory drought plan and implemented the first stage of this plan in May, which was a media campaign with water conservation tips. “The next stage of the plan would be to introduce a temporary ban on use which is likely to include tyres. The timing will depend on the amount of water our customers use, which determines how quickly the reservoir storage is depleted, and the amount of flow in the rivers, which determines how much water we can take to refill them,” he said. Thames Water. He added: “Customers can really help us in this long-term planning by using water wisely – using only what they absolutely need.” The Guardian has approached Defra for comment.
