A dire warning that a hosepipe ban due to hit the Marlborough area on April 5 means that all environmental protection for the River Kennet will be worthless came today (Thursday) from ARK (Action River Kennet).
Charlotte Hitchmough, director of the charity organisation set up to protect the rare chalk stream, urged everyone to use less water NOW in a bid to prevent the hosepipe ban being introduced.
“A hosepipe ban is the first in a series of measures to reduce water consumption in order to protect water supplies,” she told Marlborough News Online. “By conserving water now we may be able to prevent a full drought order.”
“In times of extreme drought the water companies are allowed to pump as much water as they need out of the aquifer. There are no riles to protect the water in the river.”
And she warned: “It’s a stark choice – water in the river or water in your tap. By using water wisely now, we might still be able to have both.”
Forecasts already show that the Kennet, now suffering from the worst drought conditions since 1976, will suffer this year, regardless of how much it rains in the next few months.
“The impact of the drought on the river’s ecology will probably be worse than 1976,” John Lawson, ARK’s technical adviser, told Marlborough News Online. “We all need to use less water.”
“ARK is suggesting to Thames Water and the Environment Agency an alternative way of managing its abstraction as a means to alleviate the worst effects of the drought.”
“This is not something they have to do by law, but we are hoping that they will voluntarily make these changes to help the river in a time of crisis.”
ARK went to the House of Commons last week to give evident to the Parliamentary Select Committee’s inquiry into the Water White Paper headed Water for Life.
Dr Geoffrey Findlay, ARK’s chairman, told the committee that the present drought was a wake-up call to show how urgent it was to stop exporting water from the Kennet to homes in Swindon.
“Our frustration is – it gives us no comfort to say it – that we have been warning you about this,” he said. “It is now a crisis. I do not like to use the word ‘disaster’ too much, but it is an impending disaster, a potential one.”
“My colleague, Charlotte Hitchmough described it recently, having been working on the River Kennet, as watching a car crash in slow motion.”
ARK has been campaigning on the issue for 20 years and is calling on Thames Water and the Environment Agency to implement their agreed solution – a £10 million pipeline linking north and south Swindon – as quickly as possible, the current implementation time-table not being announced until the end of this year.
Meanwhile, the Care for the Kennet Campaign is making it easier for people to use less water with a range of gadgets that will be available at Saturday’s Science Fair being held at St John’s School, Marlborough.
“You can pick up free water saving gadgets or book a trained fitter to give your home a water saving makeover,” said Helen Kelly of ARK. “It’s easy and it’s free.
“If you can’t make it to the Science Fair drop me an email at C4K@riverkennet.org
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