Drought announcement looms for parts of Wales over river levels

“We’ve had really dry weather but also it’s been really hot – and those things combined if you’re a livestock farmer means excessive pressure on livestock,” said Abi Reader, president of NFU Cymru.

“You have to make sure they have enough water and shade and we are getting farms with springs and streams drying up,” she told BBC Walescast.

“If you’re an arable farmer the heat and dry weather have also forced a lot of the crops to come to ripening a lot earlier than they normally would.

“It’s unprecedented early harvesting this year and farmers are going to see lower crop yields.”

Dwr Cymru Welsh Water emphasised that NRW’s drought declarations were different to its own announcements.

The company has already brought in a hospipe ban for 33,000 properties in west Wales.

“NRW’s drought status reflects environmental conditions, including factors such as rainfall, river flows and groundwater levels,” a spokesperson said.

“By contrast, Welsh Water’s Temporary Use Ban is an operational measure based on local water demand and our ability to replenish service reservoirs with drinking water at the same rate, or faster, than customers are using water.”

“It is driven by the capacity of the local treatment works and distribution network to keep up with sustained demand.

“This means different parts of Wales can experience different operational pressures, even if they are not in the same environmental drought category declared by NRW.”