Grantham RiverCare reflects on Lincolnshire’s water challenges

It is a well-worn adage that farmers always have something to complain about, writes Grantham RiverCare’s Ian Simmons in the latest Tales of the Riverbank column.

This may or may not be true, but they have a case this spring if they are bemoaning the lack of rainfall.

While blue skies and sunshine make a pleasant change from the overcast, chilly days just gone, anyone who has a garden or takes a stroll along the riverbank will testify to the dry ground and the meandering low flow of the Witham.

Indeed, river flows across the UK between October and March have been the lowest since records began in 1958.

Add to this the fact that no new reservoirs have been built for more than thirty years, and the issue becomes more serious.

To avoid a drought this year, we would need to experience deluges not seen since the record-breaking, flood-producing rainfall of 2012 — and (checks window) there doesn’t seem to be any sign of that happening.

Ironically, any rain we do get now will flow from the land to the river more rapidly because the ground is so hard.

This means our natural aquifers — which hold stores of water below ground — will not recover either. If you’ll pardon the pun, it is a perfect storm.

So, what can we do other than join hands for a Grantham rain dance (applications to the editor, please)?

A new reservoir is proposed by Anglian Water south of Sleaford in an attempt to address this problem.

It will be roughly five square kilometres (500 hectares), about the size of Grafham Water.

The plan would involve water diverted (in times of plenty) from the Trent via the Fossdyke into the Witham north of Lincoln, feeding into the Witham north of Boston and onwards to the reservoir.

Further movement towards Peterborough via Bourne and Stamford would cater for forecast population growth in Lincolnshire, the fastest-growing area in the UK.

The timeline is ambitious, with construction — if approved — starting in 2031, and an estimated capital cost of £2.6billion. It won’t be operational until 2039 and has a “whole life” expenditure expected to approach £6.9billion.

Meanwhile, management of our scarce water resources should be top of the list, as nature can’t wait 14 years.

Those of you old enough to remember similar times — ’76 anyone? — may recall the advice given then.

We were encouraged to bathe with a friend and brush our teeth in the dark — or was that due to power cuts?

Climate scientists have long predicted wetter winters and drier summers. They may have been on to something. Hoping they’re wrong isn’t, perhaps, the best strategy.

Take care over the coming months, conserve where you can, and reduce where you can’t.