A WATER scarcity alert has been issued for several rivers and estuaries in the east of Scotland which are approaching critical levels amid low rainfall and warm temperatures.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said on Friday that six river catchments in Scotland are experiencing “moderate” scarcity and are estimated to be around two weeks away from being upgraded to “significant” scarcity.
The environmental watchdog said the rivers are now at alert level for water scarcity, meaning pressure on rivers is building fast.
The River Almond, Tweed, Findhorn, Spey, Dee and Firth of Forth have all been put on alert, meanwhile, the Deveron, Ythan, Don and Esk in the North East, as well as the River Esk and Firth of Tay and Tyne in Lothian are currently experiencing moderate scarcity.
A number of other rivers, including the Rivers Spey and Forth, are also being monitored by Sepa.
An early warning has also been raised for Orkney, Thurso and the Clyde, as conditions are drying, but Sepa said no action is currently required.
Sepa’s senior manager, Eilidh Johnston, said the alert shows the environment’s “vulnerability”.
“Approaching significant scarcity for the third time this year in some areas highlights the vulnerability of eastern Scotland’s water environment,” she said.
“We understand that after such a long period, the message may feel repetitive, and it’s easy to assume that rainfall will arrive in time to ease the pressure as it has before. But there’s no guarantee that will happen this time.”
It is the third time this year that river levels in eastern Scotland have given Sepa cause for concern.
In May, the whole of Scotland was placed under some level of water scarcity warning, following the driest start to the year in six decades.
Several weeks of high temperatures and little rain in July also caused water scarcity levels to drop.
However, on both occasions, it rained just before Sepa was required to intervene.
Regulators have warned though that river flows in some areas have not fully recovered to normal, leaving them susceptible to other long periods of warm temperatures.
