Water minister Emma Hardy has defended the UK Government’s drought planning, as MPs raised concerns over the impact on farmers.

Severe drought was declared in parts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex on Thursday, with residents urged to ‘use water wisely’.

The South East and South West have experienced their driest April to September for more than a century, affecting reservoirs in the areas, officials said.

Water companies have been told to step up drought planning amid efforts to protect public water supplies.

Ardingly in West Sussex, which supplies about 95,000 properties served by South East Water in Haywards Heath, Uckfield and the surrounding areas, is at 19 per cent capacity. (Image: Eddie Mitchell)

placeholder image — Ardingly in West Sussex, which supplies about 95,000 properties served by South East Water in Haywards Heath, Uckfield and the surrounding areas, is at 19 per cent capacity. (Image: Eddie Mitchell)

The drought has been at a level not seen for decades and is putting immense pressure on water supplies, Ms Hardy told the Commons in an emergency statement on Friday.

Shadow environment, food and rural affairs minister Robbie Moore said the drought ‘should not have caught the Government off guard’.

He criticised Ms Hardy for failing to mention the impact drought is having on UK farmers and growers during her statement.

She had earlier said: “While the record-breaking heat and lack of rainfall have put our water resources under immense pressure this year, we must take action now to prevent this situation becoming the norm.

“We are at the start of a decade-long journey into a very different water system, including nine new major reservoirs to secure supplies. I will continue to take the action needed to protect essential public water supplies.”

Water companies have been told to conduct daily monitoring of reservoir and river levels and tougher water quality monitoring, and the Environment Agency will increase compliance checks on businesses that abstract water to check they are only taking permitted amounts.

The Environment Agency has been told to prioritise protecting public water supplies in areas affected by severe drought where there are unavoidable trade-offs with environmental rules, to allow water companies to keep more supplies in depleted reservoirs.

Mr Moore accused the Government of being “slow to react”, adding: “This is the third drought in five years. It should not have caught the Government off guard.

“But here we are on a sitting Friday, listening to the water minister roll out an emergency statement, effectively saying she’s been busy having meetings.”

“Our communities, our farmers, our businesses are facing severe challenges today,” he added.

Ms Hardy replied: “There are many things I can do, unfortunately, I can’t make it rain. But what I can do is ensure that this Government is prepared, and that is exactly what we’ve been doing.

“Going back to February this year, Defra and Cobra ran a cross-Government drought exercise to test the current response arrangements with lessons learned from the previous year.

“So we have been planning for this since I came into Government because this Government actually believes that climate change is real.

“We are not the Government of climate change deniers. We are not the Government that wishes to repeal the Climate Change Act and that thinks that actually, when it’s sunny, we should be just enjoying more barbecues.

“This Government has been preparing for drought from the time I became water minister.”

The severe drought declaration was prompted by concerns about two major reservoirs that supply hundreds of thousands of customers, and have seen water levels drop far below what would be expected at this time of year.

Ardingly in West Sussex, which supplies about 95,000 properties served by South East Water in Haywards Heath, Uckfield and the surrounding areas, is at 19 per cent capacity.

Wimbleball in Somerset, which provides for about 300,000 South West Water and Wessex Water customers in east and north Devon, Somerset and west Dorset, is 16 per cent full.

The Environment Agency said it would expect the reservoirs to be at 75 per cent at this time of year.

Mr Moore pressed the Government to publish a timeframe for each of the nine reservoirs the Government has committed to over the next ten years.

Liberal Democrat Al Pinkerton (Surrey Heath) urged the government to ‘act now and at speed’, adding: “Families, schools and businesses deserve to know that their taps will keep running, and this will not become the new normal.

Speaking from his party’s front bench, he called on water companies to ‘cut leakage’ and warned that the agricultural industry is in ‘jeopardy’.

Ms Hardy said the Government has allocated £15 million to on-farm reservoirs, adding: “It is this government that is making the planning system easier for them to build the reservoir.

“It is this government that is introducing and looking at flexible extraction so they can fill the reservoirs that we are helping them build.”