Increasing concern at record low water levels in our rivers
RIVER levels are at record low levels with experts “increasingly concerned” if the hot weather continues, following Wales’ driest May since 1910.
Images of Llwyn-on reservoir, just off the A470 between Merthyr Tydfil and the Storey Arms, taken this week appear to show lower than usual levels of water following the recent spell of hot, dry weather combined with increased demand on the water supply due to the coronavirus lockdown.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said it is “growing increasingly concerned” about river levels and Welsh Water has asked customers to “play their part” and avoid wasting water, while experts said conditions which increase the risk of wildfires could also return.
Tracey Dunford, NRW’s water resources lead planner, said: “As a result of this prolonged dry weather, we are growing increasingly concerned for river levels across Wales.
“We are seeing some rivers at their lowest recorded flows for this time of year and we are concerned that water quality and wildlife will suffer if the dry weather continues through the early summer.
“When water levels are low it causes problems for important species like salmon and sewin when they migrate to spawn. It also intensifies the effect pollution has on other fish and wildlife if there is an incident.”
It comes as Welsh Water has seen “unprecedented” demand, which is already higher due to more people being at home during the lockdown.
On Friday, they said they have 50 operational reservoirs, with levels currently ranging from 40% to 90% full.
It said 40% could be normal for the time of year if there was the option to draw from another reservoir.
Welsh Water said reservoirs are where they expect them to be for this time of year, with the dry start to the year.
Experts at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), a world-class research organisation focusing on land and freshwater ecosystems, said Wales had this year seen the driest May since 1910, with less than 20% of the rain it would normally get for the month.
CEH hydrological data scientist Katie Muchan said at the end of May, soils in north Wales were “exceptionally dry” and “notably dry” in mid and south-west Wales.
She said: “These conditions increased the risk of wildfires and several were witnessed in Wales during May. Recent rainfall has somewhat alleviated this risk, but such conditions could return with a further period of hot dry weather.”
The centre said the Yscir (Powys) and Erch (Gwynedd) rivers recorded the lowest average flows for May since records began in 1973.
The rivers Tywi (Wales’ longest river, in south-west Wales), Teifi (winding through Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire), and Dee (starting in Snowdonia), with records dating back more than 50 years, also recorded new record low May average flows.
As river levels have been dropping, demand for water at home has increased.
In the first weekend of June, Welsh Water said they saw record demand from customers, which exceeded the levels seen at the peak of the 2018 heatwave.
They said Wales has seen lower than normal rainfall, which was down 50% in April and 30% in May.
On a typical day, the company would normally treat and supply around 800 megalitres – a megalitre is 1,000,000 litres – of fresh, clean water to its three million customers.
This is roughly the same amount of water needed to fill around 320 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
During the last days of May, however, the company saw this level exceed 1,000 megalitres per day on May 28, May 29 and May 30.
Ian Christie, Welsh Water managing director of water services, said: “I’m sure we’ve all been enjoying this warm weather and as a company we always see an increase in demand for water when the sun shines.
“Peaks in demand normally only last a short period but with more people at home due to the Covid-19 precautions we’re seeing a sustained period of increase in demand.
“The demand then over the weekend [of May 30] reached unprecedented levels which even exceeded what we saw at the peak of the 2018 heatwave. Meeting spikes in demand naturally brings with it some additional challenges for the company and people will have seen our teams out and about over the weekend working to make sure that we kept the water flowing. While we will do all that we can, it would help us as well if customers play their part as well by avoiding wasting water.
“We know that water is playing a crucial role at the moment in maintaining personal hygiene to tackle Covid-19, but there are so many simple things we can all do to save water at home.”
The company also issued advice to customers to avoid wasting water including not using garden sprinklers, which use on average 1,000 litres of water every hour. This is the equivalent to what a family home would use in two days.
Some media reports have suggested that “the summer would be as unusually hot as the spring” across the UK, which the Met Office has dismissed.
They said: “The current threemonth outlook does not suggest that the summer will be as hot as spring.
“The outlook is not a weather forecast, it does not consider other factors such as cloud amount, sunshine levels or wind direction and strength.
“It looks solely at temperature and precipitation and the risks of these being above or below average, it does not consider the impact of that on our day to day weather.”