Geography in the News: England's river flow rates at their lowest since 2002

River-flow rates in England have been lower this summer than at any time in the past 21 years, data has shown, and could be much worse next year, with dire impacts on wildlife and the natural environment, conservation experts have warned.

https://www.theguardian.com/en...

Drought severity and general river health is measured by three key indicators - groundwater, reservoir levels and river flows. July recorded the worse figures for two decades, with river flows lower than normal in 88% of rivers, and reservoirs at about two-thirds of their actual capacity

Analysis since 2002 of England’s groundwater, reservoir levels and river flows – three key indicators for the severity of drought, and for river health – shows that July this year was the worst in that period. Groundwater was at its fourth lowest level, with about two-thirds of sites showing lower groundwater levels than normal.

Experts have warned that this could actually be the start of a three-year drought cycle, which we have seen previously in 2004-06, 2010-12 and 2017-19. If this is what we are seeing then water levels and river-flow levels would get much worse next year, which would spell disaster for swathes of England’s wildlife and the natural environment. This year's drought has already had a huge impact on fish and other aquatic life that depend on the river ecosystem. There is less water for marine life, but a low flow also leads to more concentrated pollutants, rivers choked with sediment, and lower amounts of dissolved oxygen, which leads to the death of fish and invertebrates.

Conservationists warn that some rivers will take years to recover from this drought, which is worsened by agricultural run-off and raw sewage that water companies have been discharging into rivers.

So it sounds like we need plenty of rain, but alas, this is also compounding to the problem of pollution - torrential rain will relieve the parched soil, however the soil has dried out over a long period of time meaning that much of the rain falling won't be absorbed and will just run off, adding to the sewage problem.

Read the full story here - https://www.theguardian.com/en...