Dry reservoirs

[anotheoldgit]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1 246243,00.htmlbr />
I have just watched Sky news, and they were reporting on the lack of water in our reservoirs. It was reported in the usual doomsday scenario way i.e. all down to season change, global warming, last year was the hottest on record, could be a permanent hose pipe ban in the future.

They also stated that underground water souces were in a worst state than the reservoirs. How can this be surely water reaches lower levels first, and it is not prone to surface evaporation or am I missing something?

Why do we have such a problem in this country, at the first signs of a dry spell? Other far hotter countries such as Spain, seem to manage with a fraction of rain than we get in this country. But then look what happens when we get a rare dusting of snow, grid lock on our roads etc. A few leaves on the rails in Autumn, trains delayed or cancelled. Where do we go wrong?

[Booldawg]

3 problems; 1) We dont have enough reservoirs. 2) Poor response by water boards to fix or replace faulty pipelines 3) We are one of the most over populated countries per square mile in the world.

[jake-the-peg]

Well Booldawg Thames Water has been trying to build reservoirs for years with constant planning issues. There's a huge one south of Oxford they're trying to build now but guess what nobody wants it next to them.

Poor pipe maintenance is the case for some authorities but not others Thames is especially bad.

As for saying we are one of the most overpopulated countries per square mile in the world - well that is simply wrong!

We are number 48
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries _by_population_density

Funny you should mention Spain - they are very worried about water supply. They have plans to divert a river to help get water to the Med area and there's uproar about it.

It's pretty clear that climate is changing, we are starting to get lots of rain in the winter and much less in the summer. At least in the South East. This will probably continue and we need the reservoirs.

As for the trains why not do some research and find out what percentage of trains are really cancelled for leaves on the line? Rather than going on Sky News - Personally I wouldn't trust them to report on a tiddley-winks contest

[samuel23]

Way back when I was at school the Physics master told us that water is never lost and is always totally recycled ending up back eventually into water. He was overly pleased to inform us that we were, as he so elegantly put it, 'drinking dinosaur piddle'. With global warming supposedly increasing the volume of water available by melting the polar ice caps, the salient point to ask is 'why is there still a shortage'?

[Solarjunkie]

It can take thousands of years for rainwater to seep through layers of rock to the underground water reserves.

[ianess]

As usual there is mass panic whenever the South-Eastern sector of England identifies a potential problem.
If it doesn't affect the London area then the problem doesn't exist, or alternatively if it does exist it gets blown up out of all proportion.
As most of our Parliamentarians hang around there, why don't they get a life and start sorting out the entire country's problems instead of just spouting a lot of hot air?
Watch out....in February we'll be in the middle of the severest winter on record....or so we'll be brainwashed into believing.