Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Environment Agency Wales warns against water supply complacency

BBC News: Wales should avoid being too complacent about its water supply levels, the Environment Agency Wales (EAW) has warned. EAW director Chris Mills said Wales had enough water "at the moment".

But he added that some rivers were at their limit in terms of how much water could be taken without harming the environment. Calls for Wales to supply surplus water to drought-hit England were dismissed as "too costly" by Welsh Water.

The company said pumping water would prove very expensive and English water firms would would be looking at other solutions. EAW said periods of exceptionally dry weather in recent years had pushed parts of Wales close to drought with many rivers running low.

The agency warned that if Wales suffered a dry spring and summer this year the situation could worsen and impact wildlife living in rivers. It said it had prepared a drought plan for Wales in the event of this happening, and added that the nation was also likely to face future pressure on its water resources as a result of climate change....

Afon Nodwydd, Red Wharf Bay, Anglesey, shot by Porius1, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

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