Southern Water files for drought order for rare chalk stream

Southern Water has applied for a drought order that would allow it to draw larger quantities of water than usual from an internationally prized chalk stream and rare salmon habitat.

- Helena Horton Jasper Jolly

The environment secretary, Steve Reed, has been urged to intervene to stop the company from "significantly and potentially permanently damaging the river and the ecology within".

Southern Water has applied to Reed for a drought order to alter its licence on the River Test, a rare chalk stream in Hampshire that is home to endangered salmon and otters. The order would allow the company to draw higher than usual quantities of water, and would permit Southern to continue drawing from the Test, even when it falls below flow levels scientists have deemed ecologically safe.

When rivers fall to low flow levels, they can take years to recover, with potentially severe effects on fish spawning and river health. The river's ecosystem can die off owing to lack of oxygen, experts say.