Story perspectives

Drought response expands monitoring, £15 million for reservoirs

By Drooid · Oct 17, 2026, 10:17 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Emma Hardy defended the government's drought planning as drought hit six English counties.
Drought declaration covered Dorset, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex.
Both Wimbleball Reservoir in Somerset (16% full) and Ardingly Reservoir in West Sussex (19%) were below the 75% norm.
Water companies must monitor reservoir and river levels daily and tighten checks.
Environment Agency will increase checks on abstractors and allocate £15 million for on-farm reservoirs.

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Story summary

Emma Hardy defended the government's drought planning as drought hit six English counties.
Drought declaration covered Dorset, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex.
Both Wimbleball Reservoir in Somerset (16% full) and Ardingly Reservoir in West Sussex (19%) were below the 75% norm.
Water companies must monitor reservoir and river levels daily and tighten checks.
Environment Agency will increase checks on abstractors and allocate £15 million for on-farm reservoirs.