Does anybody here take the Greens seriously?

[BoldonLad]

Bloody Romans. What did they ever do for us?

slightly more than the BBC? 😂

 

[Pblakeney]

slightly more than the BBC? 😂

…but would we have that scene without the BBC?

 

[bobzmyunkle]

Bloody Romans. What did they ever do for us?

Lined their aqueducts with lead?

 

[Pblakeney]

Lined their aqueducts with lead?

One ponders what the alternative will be without oil.
Now there's a conundrum for the Greens.

 

[bobzmyunkle]

One ponders what the alternative will be without oil.
Now there's a conundrum for the Greens.

Possibly not the most important issue if it doesn't rain.

 

[Pblakeney]

Possibly not the most important issue if it doesn't rain.

Rain usually follows such comments. 😉

 

[BoldonLad]

Possibly not the most important issue if it doesn't rain.

Is there actually a “water shortage” nationally, or, is the water just in the “wrong place”?

 

[AndyRM]

Is there actually a “water shortage” nationally, or, is the water just in the “wrong place”?

The latter. For whatever reason the media sh!tes it when southern England/bits of Wales are affected by weather.

I still remember The Winter of 2010, when a few snowflakes had the temerity to fall on the M25, prompting front page news. The (actual) north of England and parts of Scotland had been frozen over for a month prior.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Is there actually a “water shortage” nationally, or, is the water just in the “wrong place”?

It's always in the wrong place. Up north and out west. Plus there has never been a real drive to build more reservoirs in the south.

It's unbelievable we are possibly facing restrictions when we had record rain at the start of the year.

 

[briantrumpet]

It's always in the wrong place. Up north and out west. Plus there has never been a real drive to build more reservoirs in the south.

It's unbelievable we are possibly facing restrictions when we had record rain at the start of the year.

I'm not sure it is that unbelievable, given that climate chaos does lead to extremes, and I could see when all of Devon's reservoirs were full (even Roadford, which rarely is) that is was equally likely that there would be an extended dry period.

That said, Devon is holding up remarkably well – I'd not checked for ages. Had it not been for the construction of Roadford and Wimbleball in the 70s/80s, we'd be stuffed.

https://www.swlakestrust.org.uk/current-reservoir-levels

 

[Pblakeney]

A lot of the problem is complacency. We've always (well, mostly) had a plentiful supply of water so we mismanage it.
A simple example would be for gutters to lead to water butts instead of down the drain. Now do that with all overflows and on a national scale.

 

[briantrumpet]

A lot of the problem is complacency. We've always (well, mostly) had a plentiful supply of water so we mismanage it.
A simple example would be for gutters to lead to water butts instead of down the drain. Now do that with all overflows and on a national scale.

I thought about doing that here, but the problem with that is that when the butts suddenly fill up is the time when you don't need to do any watering. So I've got a manual diversion system for the kitchen waste water which gives me about 4-6 buckets of grey water a day for the garden. Any other garden watering is verboten in drought periods.(Note - the water is distinctly 'whiffy', so the butt needs a lid to keep neighbours happy.)

It would be a different matter if the butts were big enough to hold a few weeks' worth of water for the garden, but(t) most would only hold a few days' worth (which is better than nothing, but not enough for any proper drought).

Rather delightfully, using my 'grey water' daily has saved a blackcurrant bush which looked as dead as a doornail when I arrived, the bay has perked up, and the gooseberry might *just* survive. I don't bother with fancy watering cans – a good bucket drenching does the trick.

 

[Pross]

It's always in the wrong place. Up north and out west. Plus there has never been a real drive to build more reservoirs in the south.

It's unbelievable we are possibly facing restrictions when we had record rain at the start of the year.

I guess flooding Wales won't work to supply the needs of the south east as well as it did when the industries of Liverpool and Birmingham needed water.

 

[briantrumpet]

I guess flooding Wales won't work to supply the needs of the south east as well as it did when the industries of Liverpool and Birmingham needed water.

I was also wondering about Lakeland's and Manchester's water needs these days.

All things considered, it's probably just as well there's not a big pipe taking water from Scotland to England.

 

[BoldonLad]

I guess flooding Wales won't work to supply the needs of the south east as well as it did when the industries of Liverpool and Birmingham needed water.

An idea with merit however 😂