Water scheme kicks in to boost Severn amid drought

Matthew Lawrence said the drought affected both wildlife and drinking water supplies

A groundwater scheme in Shropshire that pumps additional water into the River Severn has been switched on.

It comes after the Environment Agency (EA) last month declared drought status for the West Midlands, following the driest spring in 132 years.

The scheme, owned and operated by the agency, pumps groundwater stored naturally in sandstone underneath much of north Shropshire, and delivers it through an underground network of pipes into the Severn.

The scheme pumps almost 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools of fresh water every day into the river, with a total of 49 pumps and 53km (32.9m) of underground pipes.

Matthew Lawrence, from the EA, said the drought will have wide-reaching effects.

Supplies six million people

"The potential damage to wildlife in some of our other river systems - in the River Teme in south Shropshire, we've been having to rescue fish because there's not enough water for them to survive," he told the BBC.

"But it's the use, six million people rely on the Severn for drinking water, and we need to be able to make sure there's enough water to feed that need."

There are 49 pumps and 53km (32.9m) of underground pipes

Two reservoirs in Wales - Clywedog and Vyrnwy - are the first resources used to top up the river during dry weather.

The groundwater scheme is the last option to be brought into operation during dry conditions, because of how resource-intensive it is.

Heather at Cardingmill Valley has already dried up

The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the River Severn catchment received only two-thirds of the rainfall it normally does in June.

It added that the changing climate meant it had been used more frequently in recent years.

One of the areas noticeably affected by the drought is Cardingmill Valley on the Long Mynd.

'Heather is scorched'

Dominic Bowyer, countryside manager at the National Trust, said there had not really been a growing season this year.

"The heather, it's browned off, it's dry, it's scorched," he said.

"It should be in flower, it should be a sea of pink and purples, at the moment it's just a sporadic bits of pink and purple and brown.

"It's just halted everything… it's gone to seed sooner, it's sped everything up."