...nor any drop to drink?

It was announced today, to surprise of absolutely no-one who understands our water situation, that parts of the UK are in drought status. As a freshwater biologist and environmental manager, this depresses me beyond words.

A brief lesson (should you require it).

For centuries, we in the UK have concentrated only on getting water as quickly from hills to the sea. We had so much of it falling from the sky that it just didn't matter. Water tables were always replenished and lakes refilled. Unfortunately, as the population grows and each person's water consumption increases (approximately 150 litres per person per day now) we meet the perfect storm of climate change and highest population in the driest areas. Like it or not (and I'll save the AGW argument for another time) in the UK dry parts are getting drier and wet parts getting their water in peaks as opposed to consistently. The result is water stress in some areas.

This could be addressed if the concept of SUDS (sustainable (urban) drainage systems) was adopted and forced upon developers. The resulting drainage systems would need to be "adopted", as the terminology goes, by local authorities otherwise they become counter-productive; but is it really beyond the wit of man to do this? It seems so. There are too many vested interests and bloody lobbyists.

Yet again, government dither and procrastinate because no-one has the bollocks to make a proper decision. That's what happens with career politicians instead of real professionally educated people. OFWAT and the water companies constantly play tennis with the idea of compulsory water meters. The latter feel hamstrung by the former and the former don't know shit from clay.

I used to work for South-Staffordshire Water. The MD used to come to work in a Ferrari. Need I say more?

The picture, by the way, is a glass of water. If you follow my logic! (I'm so happy I own a molecular model set for organic chemistry!) The title is, of course, from this beaut.