Bid to use river water is 'failure of planning'

The Environment Agency will decide whether Yorkshire Water can extract 120m litres a day from the River Wharfe to tackle the ongoing shortages.

- by Charles Brown

The company has applied for a drought permit, which would allow it to increase its stocks by drawing more water from rivers and preserving reservoirs.

Last week, Yorkshire Water said reservoir stocks had dropped to 42 per cent, well below the normal average of 75 per cent for this time of year.

The company brought in a hosepipe ban on July 11, after the driest and hottest spring on record.

The EA declared a drought in Yorkshire in June, which has since been described as a “nationally significant incident”.

As well as reservoirs, river flows have also been very low due to the dry weather.