Essex “most water scarce area” in country
A Water Strategy's been launched during yesterday’s Spring Climate Summit.
Essex is said to be a seriously water stressed area, meaning the county does not have enough water supply to meet demand.
Local water bodies also have below average water quality compared with the rest of England.
A Water Strategy for Essex has been launched that looks to improve water quality and supply, by working with local partners.
The plans were discussed at the bi-annual climate conferences yesterday (20 March) exploring how the county is responding to climate change.
Daniel Johns, Managing Director at Water Resources East, attended the event.
The organisation is tasked by the Government to create a long-term water resources plan for the whole of the eastern England region.
Mr Johns said: "Water isn't just for public consumption. It's also there to support nature. Water stress means that there's a very great risk that there's not enough water, particularly at certain times of the year, to support all of us - the economy, communities, and the environment.
"Essex is part of the eastern region, the most water scarce part of the country. On average, the region gets only about two thirds of average national rainfall. And particularly in the changing climate, all the water that does fall as rain seems to appear at once. We've seen, particularly this winter, it's one of the wettest winters on record. It's a real example of the kinds of weather patterns and rainfall seasons that we can expect to see in future as the climate changes."
He continued: "Not having enough water is already impacting parts of eastern England. In Norfolk, farmers can't get enough water to irrigate crops, and they're going to have to switch different farming mechanisms or invest in new winter storage reservoirs.
"In Suffolk, new commercial businesses and developments can’t get through the planning system because there's not enough water to serve those new buildings. So, these kind of water scarcity constraints are starting to appear and unless we start to invest now they're only ever going to get worse.
"Thinking differently about water, valuing water a little bit more, and trying to not use drinking water for things like cleaning cars and watering garden - it's all those kinds of things that we can change our attitude and our behaviours about water use around the home."