Cambridge Water is warning that another drier than average winter will increase the chance of restrictions being required in 2020-21.

The water company says that despite some heavy rain and flooding in parts of the country, Cambridgeshire received less than average rainfall over the 2018-19 winter period, when recharge is made to the chalk aquifer storage.

Cambridge Water has been monitoring the situation for some time, commenting:

“There are no risks to water resources in the immediate future with our current forecasts, but we are very conscious of the impact of the lack of rainfall, particularly the impact on our local chalk streams.”

Earlier this week, Pete Fox, Director of Water, Land and Biodiversity at the Environment Agency said that between May 2018 and May 2019 parts of the South East of England received 30% less rain than normal. “There is also no doubt that it is having a devastating effect on our chalk streams.” he said.

The Cam Valley Forum – the Wildlife Trusts of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire has just published their River Cam Manifesto which is calling for “a radical and urgent change” in the use of water and stewardship of water resources.

According to the Forum, many of the chalk streams that still appear to be flowing are actually artificially maintained by water being pumped in at their headwaters, or by water treatment plants releasing clean water at points along their length.

The Forum said:

"The long term provision of water in this area is clearly an issue that needs robust solutions - especially given the Oxford-Cambridge Arc plans that propose a million new homes in this catchment, all of which will be drawing from the same resource. Climate chaos also means that we are more likely to have more frequent unusual weather, which could mean more regular dry winters - and a compounding of an already serious problem."

"The Environment Agency, the government and the water companies need to put proposals together quickly, and outline the ways in which they will manage these mounting problems."

A position statement provided by Harvey Bradshaw, Environment Agency Executive Director of Environment and Business at the Chilterns Chalk Stream Conference which took place this week said:

“Some water companies such as Cambridge Water are 100% dependent on the aquifers that support the chalk streams. Without this water taps would run dry.”

“Despite the recent wet weather, if we look back over the last three years we have seen about 50% less recharge to aquifers than we would normally expect in this part of the country. Some groundwater levels are currently the lowest ever recorded.”

“For many years we have been able to use water stored in the chalk aquifer in a sustainable way but recent weather patterns require new approaches that make us more resilient to prolonged dry periods. We face having to invest more money in alternative and more costly supplies of clean water.”