Welcome rainfall and reduced water demand helps reservoirs

The welcome rainfall over the weekend (19 and 20 July) provided much-needed relief for dry ground, gardens and the region’s rivers. 

Some of the rainfall also made its way to reservoirs across the region, helping to slow the weekly decline of reservoirs. With stocks decreasing 1.8% over the last seven days.  

Reservoir stocks have declined since late January and are at 49.1%, still well below the 77.8% average for this time of year. 

Dave Kaye, director of water at Yorkshire Water, said: “The rainfall over the weekend was very welcome. It has the triple impact of reducing demand from our customers, providing relief for the environment and making its way into the region’s rivers and reservoirs. 

“While some parts of the region experienced more than 20mm of rain over the weekend, we’ve had five months of below long-term average rainfall in Yorkshire, so one weekend is not going to improve things to a level where reservoir stocks recover, as we continue to supply more than 1.2bn litres of water to customers every day. 

“Some of the rain has made it to reservoirs, reducing the amount stocks fell over the week. Crucially the rain has also replenished rivers and groundwater, meaning we can increase our abstraction from rivers and groundwater to reduce pressure on reservoirs. Despite the rain over the weekend and early part of this week, the hosepipe restrictions remain in place in our region. 

“We, once again, want to thank customers for their efforts to reduce water usage by putting away the hosepipes. All these efforts help to reduce demand and protect water supplies and the environment further into the summer months.”