Water failures

SIR – We have been hectored about climate change for over 20 years; our population has increased by millions in the last 10 years; we have decommissioned reservoirs and built none recently; and now we are surprised that, during a hot summer (which had been predicted), we are short of water in the south of England.

What have the Environment Agency, Ofwat and the water companies been doing all this time? Do they undertake strategic planning? And if so, what on Earth does it involve?

Paul Cook

Hayling Island, Hampshire

SIR – It is quite extraordinary that it has taken so long for hosepipe bans to be enforced.

The Government should have the power to put such a ban in place very quickly, after consulting with the water authorities. In Gloucestershire, for instance, there has been much dilly-dallying. Action should be immediate.

Most of the public will be able manage perfectly well for a couple of weeks with a watering can, and the practice of watering lawns is ludicrous anyway, and should stop – drought or no drought. Grass recovers, and turning brown is its own way of surviving a week or two of dry weather.

Bob Kingsland

Stroud, Gloucestershire

SIR – For many of us in our seventies and eighties, our gardens are our refuge from loneliness and a means of retaining our mobility.

We plant out our pots and borders, and take such pleasure from the cheerful displays.

We are cost-conscious and most of us have water meters. We don’t want to waste water but we can’t bear to stand by and watch everything die.

Carrying heavy watering cans is beyond our capabilities: our backs ache and our balance is compromised.

Please can we use a hose to water our flowers?

Lorna Hancock

St Mary Bourne, Hampshire