While living through two exceptionally hot periods with no rain in Southern England for 40 days, we are all wondering, “Will it happen again next year?” “Could it really get worse in future years?” It may be that climate change is now out of control and unstoppable.
So however quickly we try to de-carbonise, it will not make any difference to these summer heatwaves. They may be here to stay. However, another effect of climate change is more rain in the winter so now we might have something to work with.
Climate change means wetter winters
With more rain in winter, obviously we must store more of it so that we can use it during the droughts that are to come. Some of us gardeners have been doing this for years and most people with a greenhouse will already store the water off its roof in a handy water butt.
This summer I started in May with four full water butts, but by mid-July I had no water left, even though we had a small amount of rain in June. This involved carrying cans to the canal and filling up there. I could only manage two cans a day, so I could only water the greenhouse, polytunnel and some items that I had just planted out. I also have a small pond, which is almost dry and today’s task is to clean it out completely. I wish I knew where the frogs have gone.
Fill up your butts!
It seems that we will need to store much more water from the winter months. For years, in my part of Southern England they have been trying to build a large new reservoir, but there is much opposition to it. Maybe that opposition will now evaporate. However, it does take a long time to build and fill, so it is hardly going to be ready for next year. Maybe hosepipe bans will encourage people to get more water butts; that can certainly help. Now people have got used to brown lawns, it is becoming unfashionable even to have a lawn.
Use ‘grey water’
Inside our houses, the most wasteful use of water is flushing the loo. We all must learn to flush only when it is strictly necessary. Unfortunately, this is not part of our education. Although I think most people do realise that having a shower uses up less water than a bath.
A lot depends on whether you can use that water twice. Some gardeners do use their washing up water for watering plants in the garden. We would all be wise to store some drinking water in a five gallon (22.5-litre) can, as one day your water might be cut off. This came home to me when watching films of people in war-zones, where having a container for carrying water is truly vital.
Industry and agriculture
Now we come to industrial and commercial water use. There seems to be a drama going on in France because they do not have enough water to cool their nuclear reactors. That is not too good in the middle of a power shortage. In the UK, plenty of water is used in industry, but whether that industry can be switched off in a drought is another matter.
Farmers are now finding it difficult to give their livestock enough water. This may well have a consequence in future years where farmers decide to grow different crops, or rear different animals – or stop farming altogether.
When hosepipe bans are proposed, people are not happy to obey them because they point out how much water is lost by water companies through pipes leaking. In my area there was a very large water main going under a bridge with the water going into the river (not too serious). But it took them a good three years to attend to it. What about the leaks that are underground which they don’t know about?
