Page 57 - ALG Issue 4 2021

SOUTHERN REPORT
Plans for
drought
conditions
In early July, Southern Water, with Portsmouth Water and Southampton Water, held a consultation webinar
on their plans for drought conditions. Considering the size of the area covered by the water companies, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and parts of Kent, the attendance at the webinar was surprisingly very low. The Drought Plan set out the actions the water companies proposed and what they expected their customers to do to save water during drought conditions.
Most of the water supplied in this area comes from underground aquifers that get filled with water as it soaks through the ground. The rest comes from rivers (23%) and reservoirs (7%). When water levels fall below normal, different levels of a drought plan are triggered. The first level is ‘Impending Drought’, followed by ‘Drought’, ‘Severe Drought’, and culminating with ‘Emergency Drought’.
Under ‘Normal’ conditions the
water companies aim to encourage customers to save water – there is a “Target 100” programme to encourage everyone to reduce their water use to an average of 100 litres per person per day by 2040 – currently the average use is 127 litres per person per day. The water companies have committed to reduce water leakage by a further 40% over the next 20 years.
When ‘Impending Drought is triggered, customers will be told of the situation and advised on how to help to save more water so that restrictions can
be delayed for as long as possible. ‘Drought’ conditions trigger Temporary Use Bans (previously known as hosepipe bans), followed by ‘Severe Drought’ when reductions in water use by businesses and industry will be required. Finally, under ‘Emergency Drought’, more drastic actions, such as water rationing and collecting water from standpipes in the street or from mobile tankers would be actioned, although the likelihood of such conditions happening are extremely rare, maybe once in every 500 years!
During each level of drought conditions, there will be exemptions for certain
customers or activities. Some are automatically allowed by all water companies in the UK whilst others are at local discretion.
It has to be acknowledged that not all allotment sites are fortunate enough to have a mains water supply, but
even where mains water is provided, all allotmenteers are encouraged to harvest as much water as is possible. Under ‘Drought Conditions’ where restrictions on stopping the use of a hosepipe for watering a garden were proposed, allotments were included
in with public gardens, parks, lawns, verges, open green spaces and sports areas – none of which produced food as do allotments. This point was raised during the webinar and the companies undertook to take it into consideration. A summary of responses and updates will be produced late in 2021.
NO ALLOTMENTS IN YOUR AREA?
As a reader of Allotment and Leisure Gardener Magazine it is probable that you are fortunate enough to have a large garden or an allotment plot where you are able to grow your own fruit and vegetables. Over the years, the size
of gardens with new properties has reduced to almost postage stamp size and there are locations where allotment land, that had not been used for some years, has been put to another use.
Even where farmland is in abundance, unless a farmer or landowner is prepared to sell a patch of land to the local authority, plots will not materialise
What do the inhabitants of these areas do if they want an allotment plot?
The first port of call is the local authority, but even if six like-minded residents formally request a plot, there is no guarantee that the local authority will be able to meet the request. Even where farmland is in abundance, unless a farmer or landowner is prepared
to sell a patch of land to the local authority, plots will not materialise. Local authorities are not in the habit of leasing land.
A village group came across this hurdle, so they decided to canvas local farm owners and succeeded in finding a corner of a field that a sympathetic farmer was prepared to lease to the group. With assistance of the NAS in completing the necessary agreements, the group now has its allotment plots and harvested its first crops this year. The official opening of the allotments was during National Allotments Week, and the farmer was presented with a basket of produce from the allotment holders.
The site is being developed as a community resource and has many novel features that will be the topic of a later item in the magazine.
Mike Cantillon, Southern Region
Allotment and Leisure Gardener 57