The Guardian provides excellent reports on the current lack of water in the South of England:
“The government has declared drought in the southeast and warned that other parts of the country are in danger of drying up, too. For two winters in a row the UK has had unseasonably low rainfall. Now the government, and those with long memories, are invoking the summer of 1976 as a harbinger of what’s to come.
Drought tends to mean two words in Britain: hosepipe ban. Thames Water has already announced that it is to impose a hosepipe ban on all its 8.8 million water customers in London and the Thames Valley, coming into effect on 5 April before the Easter bank holiday weekend.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/mar/12/hosepipe-ban-london-south-east-water
Hose-pipe bans are the scourge of a lawn-loving nation, and a huge source of frustration to anyone who wants to keep their green and pleasant land just so. But gardeners are perhaps more mindful of water than most people: we have the everyday knowledge that it is the single most important element when you’re nurturing living things. It’s a resource that needs to be carefully managed, and a hosepipe left on for an hour uses as much water as a family of four does in a week, which puts things in perspective.
As responsible gardeners there are lots of things we can do to avoid wasting water in our gardens.
And, is a hosepipe ban really the best way to deal with restricting water usage? The Guardian again offers an excellent response:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/mar/13/hosepipe-ban-water-drought-effective
Wed, Mar 14, 2012
Climate Change, Water, UK Climate Change