Lanarkshire residents are being asked to “use water efficiently” throughout autumn following a “record dry period” which has depleted reservoirs serving the county.
The water sources for South Lanarkshire, including Camps, Cowgill, Coulter and Daer reservoirs, currently sit between 40 and 66 per cent of their full capacity.
September saw Camps drop to just one-third full, its lowest level in 16 years, while Daer’s 37 per cent capacity at that time was its smallest reserve of water since 1999.
North Lanarkshire is served by sources including Lochs Lomond and Katrine and the Carron Valley reservoir; with current storage ranging from the 100 per cent-full Loch Lomond to less than 50 per cent at other reserves – much less than the seasonal average of between 78 and 92 per cent.
Met Office data indicates that the west of Scotland experienced its driest April-September period in 160 years, and officials at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) say: “The significant rainfall deficit means double the [usual] amount of autumn rain is needed to return water levels in some areas to normal.”
Scottish Water is now asking householders and businesses to help protect supplies by reducing non-essential use and taking steps such as turning taps off, having shorter showers and only using washing machines and dishwashers when fully loaded.
Officials from the water authority say they are installing new reservoir infrastructure and working to detect any leaks in the network – saying that, although there have been “small increases in storage over recent days because of fresh rainfall, reservoir storage is well below what we’d normally expect across Lanarkshire”.
They are “asking customers to consider how much water they use as we look at all other options for protecting supply as we enter autumn”; and are also carrying out “enhanced treatment operations” to address discolouration caused by “naturally occuring manganese” as a result of low reservoir levels and their gradual refilling.
National operations manager Kes Juskowiak said: “Maintaining normal public water supplies remains a significant challenge for us.
“Hopefully, autumn will bring some respite, but we need heavy and prolonged rainfall to get reservoir levels back up towards normal levels for this time of year.
“People might assume that, because we are into autumn which is usually cooler and wetter, and there has been some rain recently, [that] water saving is no longer an issue.
“We are constantly monitoring weather systems across Scotland and assessing their impact on our water sources, working closely with Sepa – however, the public can make an important contribution towards protecting supplies by taking small, simple steps to reduce water use.
“This is an unusual call in the autumn, but we are experiencing exceptional circumstances due to a significant rainfall deficit.”
Salsburgh’s weather monitoring station recorded 111.2mm of rain last month and 132.6mm in August – with the figures dropping as low as 33.8mm for the whole of June and just 22.4mm of rain during April.
Rainfall across Lanarkshire during that period saw significant reductions compared to the mean average monthly totals measured over the past four decades.
The driest months of the period were April, recording just 13.7mm or one-fifth of the area’s normal rainfall total; followed by June and July at 39 per cent and 41 per cent respectively with their 29 and 35.7mm of precipitation.
While May saw a higher-than-monthly-average 96mm of rain across Lanarkshire, August and September reduced to 84 and 96 per cent respectively of the mean figures.
Met Office climate spokesman Grahame Madge told Lanarkshire Live: “Rainfall in Scotland has been much lower than expected since April, for extended periods, and this picture has been seen in the rainfall totals for Lanarkshire.
“In common with most of Scotland, rainfall was very low in April; conditions returned to normal in May, but then June and July were also below average. The remaining months have recorded near to average rainfall.”
David Harley of Sepa added: “Scotland is facing a climate emergency with more frequent extreme weather, ranging from significant water scarcity to sea-level rises, heavy rainfall and flash floods, which can be devastating to communities, public services and businesses.
“What we are seeing now is the strange phenomena of short-term wet weather against a backdrop of longer-term prolonged dry spells which not only causes immediate challenges, but also concerns for the medium term and into 2022.
“Across the period, working with Scottish Water, we’ve asked both communities and the companies we work with to be vigilant and responsible over their water use.
“With continued strain on the water environment, we are asking households and businesses to be extra vigilant now, to reduce demand and keep our water resources flowing.”
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