Changing climate could leave Scottish private water supplies dry

● 220,000 could be hit by effect of drier summers, particularly in the North-east

Climate change may put Scottish private water supplies at risk of running dry by the middle of the 21st century, according to one of the country’s leading scientific organisations.

Research by the James Hutton Institute found a trend towards drier and warmer summers, coupled with more frequent instances of heavy rainfall, are likely to leave supplies more vulnerable to droughts.

The body warned changing weather patterns, including greater rainfall in the west of the country and drier conditions in the east, meant that as much as 4 per cent of Scotland’s population – around 220,000 people, based on existing levels – could have their drinking water supply impacted in coming decades.

The institute said the problem was a “major issue” and pointed out that many businesses and tourist facilities rely on private water supplies.

It said the summer of 2018 was “unusually dry”, causing many private water supplies to run out, leaving people needing assistance from their local authority.

In the wake of that season, Scotland’s Centre of Enterprise for Waters (CREW) – a partnership between the James Hutton Institute and other higher education bodies – commissioned the report into how climate change is likely to impact the resilience of private water supplies in the future.

The partnership found that if, as projected, drier and warmer summers are more frequent, private water supplies will be increasingly vulnerable to water shortages, with North-east Scotland forecast to experience the largest increase in water shortages. It is home to the highest density of private water supplies.

Dr Mike Rivington, project lead and co-author of the report, said: “About half of Scotland’s private water supplies are estimated to be within areas of increased vulnerability between now and 2050.

“Future levels of vulnerability are due to reduced water quantity availability combining with specific catchment scale water use, such as for agriculture. Across Scotland this will vary in space and time due to changes in precipitation and temperature that affects the overall water balance.”

Environment and climate change secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “This important research provides more evidence that climate change is having a growing impact on our natural environment and resources – and on our everyday lives.

“The prolonged dry weather in 2018, and again this spring, shows that Scotland is not immune to water scarcity.”