Dry spell leaves river flows ‘among lowest on record’

Sepa said if exceptional low river flows continued over the next few days then Berwickshire Coastal, Whiteadder Water, Lower Tweed, Lunan Water, Lower Don, Fife (East Neuk) and North Fife were expected to move into significant scarcity.

Head of compliance Shona McConnell said: “Weeks of exceptionally dry weather are continuing to put pressure on rivers across much of Scotland, particularly in the east where some river flows are now amongst the lowest on record.”

She said Sepa had been working closely with a range of organisations to give them as much notice as possible of any restrictions it might need to put in place.

“Our weekly water scarcity reports and drought risk assessment tool help people understand what’s happening in their local area and plan ahead,” she added.

“If restrictions become necessary, they will be targeted, temporary and only remain in place for as long as they are needed to protect Scotland’s water environment.”

Sepa has four levels of water scarcity – early warning, alert, moderate and significant for when rivers fall to critical levels.