Droughts so bad parts prepare for plans of rotating water cutoffs

By Lewis Clarke

The water crisis in a part of the U.K. is so bad authorities are preparing plans for taps to be on a rotating system.

About 60 organizations in Devon including district councils and emergency services are planning for possible “Stage 4 severe drought.”

It could see water supplies to households and businesses temporarily put on a rotating basis.

The warning comes as the county faces serious drought. Council leaders have warned of the risks to care homes and vulnerable people.

Devon County Council chief executive Donna Manson disclosed the preparations to the council’s cabinet on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

She has also attended meetings with ministers in Whitehall about emergency planning for increased risks of drought and wildfires in areas affected by climate change.

The council’s cabinet member for adult services, Richard Keeling, said: “I have very real concerns about what planning for cut-offs would actually mean.

“I’m worried about all our care homes and the 33,000 vulnerable people we have in our care whom we would have to supply with water.”

According to the council, a joint letter from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Environment Agency and regulator Ofwat revealed that South West Water had been warned for seven successive years about missing its own leakage reduction forecasts and putting supplies at risk.

Deputy council leader Paul Arnott called for immediate action from the water company.

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He said: “South West Water has got to up their game right now on leakage.

“The way they plan their finances in five year chunks does not help when we are already in this situation.”

Arnott added: “We are making decisions on planning and housing right now when we have real doubts whether the sewage and water supply infrastructure will be there or not.”

His comments followed a letter to Devon County Council from Environment Secretary Angela Eagle, outlining plans for local authorities and potentially a future mayor of Devon to take part in a regional committee helping to shape South West Water’s future investment decisions.

Eagle wrote: “The current system has led to disjointed investment decisions, often poor value for money which do not meet the needs of communities. That must change.”

She added: “That’s why, for the first time since privatization, investment decisions through the next investment period will be shaped much more directly by the priorities of local communities, regional leaders and those who understand the needs of places best.”

But Arnott questioned how quickly the proposals would make a difference.

He said: “It’s good Angela Eagle says communities will have influence over future decision-making but setting up these committees is maybe a year away and we won’t see what they can do in practice for perhaps two years.

“As ever I’m worried this will be fudged somehow which is why I intend to be like an eagle on this every step of the way.”

He added: “We simply cannot afford the devastating potential losses to tourism and our whole economy caused by pollution or the possibility of supplies being turned off.”

Cabinet members agreed to promote water conservation and encourage vulnerable customers with medical or mobility needs to join South West Water’s Priority Services Register.

The council said the scheme would ensure bottled water deliveries to those registered if drought restrictions cut off tap supplies.