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Water Issues

The dry weather over the last few days has allowed the Environment Agency to start work on reducing the amount of water currently lying on the Somerset Levels.

GMB, the union for water workers, has said that the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee must call private water companies, the Environment Agency and Ofwat to account for allowing parts of the UK to run short of water.

 

Faced with what could end up as the wettest April since records began, media coverage of  the current drought, rain and floods in the UK suggests that the public are failing to get the message on water issues.

 

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has reiterated her support for a national water grid as she took questions about drought in the House of Commons on 26 April.

 

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has published the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) final plan for Dalgety Bay.

Water minister Richard Benyon has suggested that it is time for Britain to create a national water grid, according to a report in the Sunday Times.

 

The UK Government has said that it is on target to make up to £3 billion of annual savings on infrastructure projects with the publication this morning of the first annual report of the three-year Infrastructure Cost Review programme.

The first year programme of work also included a commitment to address the problems of cyclicality in the water sector as part of a joint study with Ofwat.

The Environment Agency has warned that despite the recent wet weather, groundwater levels are still the same as last week.

 

Severn Trent Water is looking at how water trading can be brought about in a plan to flow water from the Midlands into the drought-hit east to help Anglian Water.

 

Drought has forced seven water companies to introduce water restrictions today, affecting about 20 million people across southern and eastern England.

 

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