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Public are told to use water wisely as Caithness remains on 'alert' for water scarcity


By John Davidson

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The Wick River was reduced to a trickle in 2021. Picture: Alan Hendry
The Wick River was reduced to a trickle in 2021. Picture: Alan Hendry

People are being urged to use water efficiently after a prolonged warm and dry summer.

Scottish Water says it is working to maintain public water supply to customers in some parts of the country, but that nationwide reservoir storage levels remain average for the time of year.

In Caithness, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has kept the county at "alert" level in its latest water scarcity report, published on Friday.

It states: "There have been no improvements in areas already at moderate scarcity and alert status. Ground conditions have continued to be dry and long-term rainfall deficits remain, with river flows returning to very low conditions."

Last summer, Wick spent around seven weeks at "significant" scarcity levels, with whisky production forced to stop at Pulteney Distillery for the first time since 1976. It was the driest spell in the town for 66 years.

The situation this summer is less serious, despite a particularly dry start to the summer, as local weather watcher Keith Banks explained.

Mr Banks, who writes a regular weather column for the John O'Groat Journal, said: "In terms of rainfall here in Wick, June was unusually dry. Indeed it did look like it was a portent of yet another dry summer. Just 17.2mm of rain fell on the town – that's just 31.1 per cent of the long-term average for that month.

Keith Banks says this summer has been less dry than 2021.
Keith Banks says this summer has been less dry than 2021.

"However, July witnessed 64.6mm of rain, or 104.9 per cent of the long-term average for July here in Wick.

"August has been wet to date. We've already had 23.4mm of rainfall up to August 5. That's 33.6 per cent of the long-term average for the month."

He added that in summer 2021 there was just 61.8mm of rain from June to August, making it Wick's second driest summer on record, and the driest since that of 1955 when the total was 38.1mm.

This summer the total is 105.2mm up to August 5, which he said puts the current situation into context locally.

Water supplies remain under most pressure in the eastern and southern areas of the country, such as Fife and the Borders, Scottish Water said.

Householders are being reminded to use water as efficiently as possible all year round in order to reduce the pressure on supplies.

Scottish Water closely monitors and manages water resources and is taking several steps including tanker deployments to supplement supplies and adjusting the network to re-distribute water around the country.

Peter Farrer, Scottish Water’s chief operating officer, said: “We remain absolutely focused on ensuring customer supplies are maintained especially where the warm, dry weather has been experienced over a more prolonged period.

“Public water supply supports daily life around the clock and our national reservoir storage remains at a level where we can continue to meet requirements. We have seen water demand peaks, particularly around hot weekends, and customers can play an important role in how we manage our country’s water resources.

“Water is always worth saving, not just in the summer months, so we would ask all householders to do all they can in and around the home to help us maintain water flowing to their taps. By taking simple steps to reduce the volume used around the home and garden, we can make our country’s water go even further.”


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