The East is one step away from a drought
Anglian Water, which covers Lincolnshire, is encouraging customers to use water wisely
The Environment Agency are discussing with water companies the possibility of parts of England facing drought next month.
Several groups - including Anglian Water which covers Lincolnshire - will be looking at how bad the current situation is, and what they can do to protect supplies.
"We operate in the driest region in the country, so conserving and managing our water resources and protecting against drought is what we do every day."
Currently the spring and summer has been dry, with the recent high temperatures acting as additional pressures in the equation.
The country is not in widespread drought but most of England except for the north west has moved into a state of prolonged dry weather, the step before a drought is declared.
The Environmental agency said there are four stages of drought - prolonged dry weather, drought, severe drought and recovering drought.
Officials have said people will start seeing the visual signs of low water levels.
Much of the country already has low river flows, affecting the quality and quantity of water, with impacts on farmers and other water users, as well as wildlife.
In the East of England the water comes from a 50/ 50 split betweeen surface water (rivers and reservoirs) and groundwater sources, all of which Anglian water says are not affected yet.
It is also said that the last eight months have been the driest since 1976, with the Environment Agency announcing the East was in 'prolonged dry weather' status, one step away from a drought.
An Anglian Water Spokesperson said:
"On a normal day, we supply roughly 1.1 billion litres of top-quality drinking water to our 4.3 million customers across the East of England, but as temperatures peaked at over 40 degrees, so did the demand for water. We exceeded a record breaking 1.6 billion litres , a 37% increase, and more water than we've ever treated and sent to customers' taps before.
"Despite a very dry year so far, our reservoir levels are stable, at around 80% full, and our groundwater sources are in good shape too, so we're not currently planning any hosepipe bans this year. River levels are lower than average however, and we're already reducing the amount of water we abstract in order to protect the environment."
So far in July, the East of England has recieved only 4% of the Long Term Average rainfall, which means it is in a deficit now equivalent to 2–3 months' worth of rain.
The spokesperson continued to say:
" Although one dry winter doesn't give us cause for concern now, we also need to make sure we conserve enough water for tomorrow, next month and next summer too. It's such a precious commodity that often gets take for granted. This is why we always encourage customers to use water wisely, whatever the weather."
The last drought was declared in 2018, but other notable droughts took place in 1975 to 1976, 1989 to 1992, 1995 to 1996, 2004 to 2006 and 2010 to 2012.