Reservoir levels have risen for a tenth week in a row
Yorkshire Water says it hopes to lift the ‘hosepipe ban‘ “within the next few weeks”. It comes after reservoir levels in the region increased for a tenth week in a row.
The utility company says it is now “taking steps to remove its drought permits” with further heavy rainfall over the past seven days seeing water stocks “recovering well”. Reservoir levels in Yorkshire are now at 84.6 per cent, up from 80.5 per cent last week, while Hull aquifer levels are at 49.9 per cent, up from 46.6 per cent.
It follows a record-breaking increase of 15 per cent in a week due to the high rainfall associated with Storm Claudia earlier this month. Yorkshire Water says the “ongoing drought permit activity” has also helped water levels recover.
The removal of these drought permits will allow the company to “lift hosepipe restrictions earlier than initially thought”.
Dave Kaye, director of water and wastewater services at Yorkshire Water, said: “We’re now confident that we’re moving into a healthy position across our reservoirs, rivers, and groundwater water sources, after seeing further rainfall over the last seven days, and another significant jump in our reservoir levels.
“Restrictions are still in place for the time being, but we are working to lift them as soon as possible, hopefully within the next few weeks. This is earlier than we had originally thought possible, and it’s thanks to the water-saving actions of people in Yorkshire that we’re able to pull it forward.
“We’re now working with the Environment Agency to reduce the measures we’d put in place to manage our water resources differently during the drought – a step we have to take before restrictions can be lifted. This can take a number of weeks, but we will not keep the restrictions in place any longer than is necessary.
“In the meantime, we will continue to monitor our resources and manage them carefully. Once again, we’d like to thank all of our customers for continuing to do what they can to save water throughout the restrictions.”
Restrictions on household water usage were introduced in July following months of low rainfall. At the time, Yorkshire Water said the region had experienced one of the driest and warmest springs for well over a century leading to it being declared in drought.
The restriction, which came into effect on July 11, banned households from using hosepipes for activities such as watering the garden, cleaning cars and filling paddling pools.
Customers who ignore the ban could potentially face fines of up to £1,000 but Yorkshire Water said at the time “we hope it won’t come to that” as it urged households to help conserve water by sticking to the restrictions.