Did anyone else know that the reservoirs are running so low? Wildlife must be struggling.

[hajbajkajlad]

I just saw a couple of photos from the other thread, the hosepipe ban one.
I'm a bit worried about this.

We've been exceptionally warm for spring, I've put out water bowls for animals and watered the young trees planted recently (the leaves were curling it's been so dry)
I haven't seen any hedgehogs this year at all, no frogs and less birds than usual. we have a small pond in the garden that usually attracts lots of visitors.

Aibu to be worried about the wildlife?
I wish there was more that I could do.

I am quite rural and we have a lot of outdoor space, which I know is a luxury.

There is a lot of wildlife around here but where I am, there are plenty of fields/trees/hedges. Our village also has a lot of green spaces and a lot of people have various flowers/plants in the gardens.

We have 2 old millpond near us which also help wildlife.

My husband is a very keen gardener so we have all sorts of plants and flowers out there and he built a water feature that uses water from a stream which we can use to water plants plus we have a water butt to catch and store rainwater.

Generally speaking, I think a lot of people don't give water much thought - they just assume it's there and that's it. We are not connected to mains water, we have well water, so we are very careful with using water during the spring/summer if it is dry. We had a very dry spell around April/May and managed not to run out by being very conservative with using it. Since then, we have had some good downpours in between sunny spells so we are doing fine. Many people will just never think about what they use.

There are two reservoirs near us and they are looking very low 😔

Not just watered, but painted with chemicals to keep them green in summer and sprayed with pesticides and herbicides.

Golf courses are man made ecological deserts.

I know, it’s awful 😞

I didn't even connect the dots here. That's sickening.

doing what you can is all you can do.
I was speaking to a neighbour and she put out water for them too.
so that's 2 people on my road. got to be better than nothing?

It does feel like we are all fighting a losing battle with regards to developing.
There are 100s of houses crammed too close together. it's too much. no new schools or Dr's and less and less greenspace for everyone, human and animal alike

Well I think that is roughly when the water companies were transferred from public to private ownership. Since then they have been more keen to rake off any profits to pay dividends to shareholders than invest in the infrastructure.

This is not true. Investment has increased significantly since privatisation.
https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/investment-in-the-water-industry/#qu1

You really believe that any of the recent governments would prioritise investment in water, something that the public mostly never think about? I wouldn't trust them to.

I think the trouble is that people don't care. I've seen threads before where people are entitled, outraged that they might have to consider not using a hosepipe or wash at the sink instead of having a bath. Or not washing their towels after every use. People don't see water as a precious and finite resource.

Further afield, but there's a terrifying article about the lack of water in Kabul here:
https://aje.io/f1707v

Indeed. Local councils and the EA in my area recently rejected planning permission for a housing development due to serious doubts over the ability to supply water. The government overruled it and said it will go ahead.

If you need to be concerned about your water usage in your area, your council/borough will let you know.

I live in a country that is regularly drought-affected. In my area, all houses have water tanks separate to the council water supply. Our water tanks (we have two) can supply us completely if we needed, but at the moment we use that water for our garden, the pond, and our shed. They have never run dry.
Occasionally, the dams in our region do dip to critical drought levels. When that happens, the Council tells us to conserve water by having short showers, watering plants before 10am or after 4pm (if using town water), or if quite critical, only watering plants on certain days of the week. Cars can only be washed on lawns, not driveways (if critical, not at all).

If you haven’t been told to take measures like this, I wouldn’t worry. However, you can conserve water by making some of the changes above.

@Jennps you lost the argument so decided to have a go at attacking @insomniaclife instead. Do better

What argument? And what attack?