Drowned village reappears as Cumbria hosepipe ban looms

5:10pm Thursday 24th June 2010

By Andy Edgeworth

CUMBRIA is only days away from a hosepipe ban unless there is ‘significant’ rainfall, which is not forecast, United Utilities has warned.

But the threat has been criticised by Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, who said the water company needed to modernise the way it managed its resources.

“We are the wettest county in the wettest country in western Europe so we’ve got to be really going some to be incompetent enough to not have enough water,” said Mr Farron.

“They need to answer some pretty harsh questions to ensure this does not happen again."

A UU spokesman said that although the reservoirs were full six months ago it was not possible to store any additional water from rainfall - surplus water drained naturally into rivers.

As dry conditions continued this week water levels in Haweswater are so low that the “drowned” village of Mardale is starting to reappear for the first time since the autumn of 2003 and before that during the severe drought of 1995 when former buildings became visible.

Farmers are also being badly hit by the dry weather. Cumbrian hill farmer Will Cockbain said that he was having to transport water to his cattle because natural supplies on his land had dried up, which had never happened to him in June before.

“I think that what I am doing will be typical throughout the Lake District,” said Mr Cockbain.

The Environment Agency say that because water levels in lakes and rivers are so low wildlife such as fish and other amphibious creatures could be badly hit.

“Wildlife in rivers will start to die off as water levels reduce,” said Matt Crump, Environment Manager for Cumbria.

“Environment Agency officers are increasing river monitoring to actively manage any environmental impacts from drought.

“We are asking the public to get in touch if they see areas where fish would be in distress in low flows.”

The dry weather conditions are already starting to impact on South Lakeland’s stately homes and public gardens.

Chris Crowder, head gardener at Levens Hall, said he would be forced to rely on a nearby borehole and resort to the traditional watering can to hydrate the 20,000 summer plants in the historic gardens.

“When it gets as dry as this we can’t water everything so we have to just let the grass grow brown,” he said.

Stephen Abbit, owner of Beetham Nurseries, said: “It (hosepipe ban) will definitely affect our plant sales. People will be reluctant to buy plants if they are unable to water them in.”

The Met Office says that although the weather is to become unsettled over the next few days, heavy showers are not predicted.

And with no rain expected and reservoir levels continuing to fall, UU may soon need to access more of the area’s water resources from lakes such as Windermere, Ullswater and Ennerdale.

The Environment Agency is expecting to receive an application from UU tomorrow to increase the amount of water it can remove from lakes and rivers in North West England.

After the very wet Autumn last year the weather pattern has changed dramatically and since December there has been only half the average amount of rainfall.

“It’s been an unprecedented period of dry weather since December 2009, and we need to take action now so we can tap into available water resources if the dry weather continues,” said John Sanders, UUs Water Regulation and Strategy Manager.

"We’re monitoring the situation day by day, but if we don’t have any significant rainfall by the end of this month we will need a hosepipe ban to conserve essential supplies.”

A UU spokesman said a hosepipe ban will prevent people from watering their gardens and washing their cars with a hosepipe but businesses will not be affected.

The lack of rainfall has also caused the fells to be “exceptionally dry” and the fire service has warned of the threat of wildfires.

There was a major grassland blaze over the weekend in the Muncaster area affecting 1,000 acres and the fire service also attended to a fire on an island in Thirlmere using buckets of water to bring the flames under control.

The re-appearance of Mardale has excited tourism bosses. A spokesperson for Cumbria Tourism said: “Sightings of Mardale are rare so if the low water levels continue and the village fully emerges we imagine many people will make a beeline for Haweswater to catch a glimpse.”