Drought status upgraded as reservoir levels drop

People living in parts of mid Wales could face a hosepipe ban within weeks after Welsh Water declared a drought developing zone due to dry weather.

The Teifi Pools area of south and mid Ceredigion has experienced a drier than expected period between March and May, with reservoir levels 31% lower than the same time last year.

The reservoirs supply water to 32,000 properties in Ceredigion, as well parts of northern Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire.

Marc Davies, Welsh Water’s water services director said “temporary use bans” could be introduced in the next four to six weeks, depending on the level of upcoming rainfall.

Drought developing status is the second of five stages Welsh Water uses to measure the level of drought, but does not restrict customers’ use of water.

But if reservoir water levels in the area do not improve over the next few weeks, Welsh Water might have to move to stage three and issue temporary bans on the use of water in the near future.

Mr Davies said the “worst case scenario” was if there was no rainfall, which could lead to hosepipe ban “in about four to six week”.

The mid and south Ceredigion network area is the only part of Wales that is under these conditions.

If it were necessary to move to drought status, Welsh Water would write to customers explaining the situation.

The company said it had already taken steps to save water in the area, including conducting work to find and fix water leaks.  

Customers have also been urged to be mindful with their use of water.

It said moving water from reservoirs in different parts of Wales to supply the region would not be practical.

In May, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said all of Wales was being upgraded to “prolonged dry weather” status.

It followed the driest March since 1944 which left the majority of river flows at a currently or exceptionally low level.

Mr Davies said the change to the drought status was aimed at preventing “further restrictions later in the year”.

“Following such a dry period it’s essential that we all help preserve the supplies in our reservoirs and rivers,” he added.

The Welsh Water Drought Plan consists of six stages that determine the severity of the water shortage.

Following the upgrade, the mid and south Ceredigion water network is now on stage two.

It it were to move to stage three, this would mean that the area is officially in a drought and a temporary ban, or hosepipe ban as its known, would be implement.

Wales has experienced a drought before when it received just 56.7% of its expected rainfall between March and August 2022.

NRW and the Welsh government took the decision to trigger the drought status after the threshold was met in south-west Wales.

The areas affected included north Ceredigion, Teifi, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthen, Swansea, Llanelli, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend.

• Don’t leave the tap running while washing hands or brushing teeth

• Take a shower instead of a bath

• Don’t fill the paddling pool to the top and when you’ve finished, use the water on the plants in the garden

• Don’t use a sprinkler on the lawn to keep it green – the colour will soon come back once it rains

• Wait until the washing machine and dishwasher are full before putting them on.

Welsh Water said its Get Water Fit, external calculator also provided additional tips to save on water and water bills.