State of drought declared (From Salisbury Journal)

State of drought declared

3:55pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012 in Rural Focus By Anne Connon

MUCH of south and south-eastern England is officially in a state of drought, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced. The announcement came as Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman hosted a drought summit on Monday, as parts of England experience groundwater levels lower than those in 1976, when most of England suffered from a prolonged drought. One area suffering is the River Kennet in Wiltshire, which has seen flows of just 31 per cent of its average levels and which has dried up completely west of Marlborough.

And Hampshire is on the list of 16 counties now officially in drought. The effect on arable farmers, in particular, could be considerable. Wessex Water spokesman Luke de Vial, said: “We do not intend to introduce water restrictions over the coming months but it is important customers use water efficiently to help reduce demand.”