Water restrictions introduced to protect rivers extended despite heavy rain

Water restrictions that were put in place to protect rivers after prolonged dry conditions have been extended.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) warned last week that rivers across the Borders, Angus, Aberdeenshire and Fife were reaching “significant scarcity” in the coming days.

They have now introduced restrictions on a further 48 licences to abstract water from the environment, primarily affecting agricultural activities.

The restrictions apply to the Tay Estuary, North, River Teviot and Ettrick Water, after the areas reached a state of Significant Water Scarcity.

They follow restrictions already introduced in the Lunan Water, Lower Don, North Fife and East Neuk areas, which remain in place.

SEPA says it will continue to monitor river levels and will lift restrictions as soon as conditions recover.

Shona McConnell, SEPA’s head of compliance, said that forecast heavy rain does not necessarily mean river conditions will immediately recover.

She said: “It may seem surprising to be talking about water scarcity when heavy rain is falling, or Flood Alerts are in place.

“But the two can happen at the same time. After a prolonged period of dry weather, a spell of heavy rain can cause localised flooding without providing the sustained recovery that rivers and catchments need.

“We will continue to carefully assess the impact of rainfall on a daily basis to ensure that restrictions are appropriate and only in place for as long as necessary.

Significant Water Scarcity is declared when river flows remain below the recognised Q95 low-flow threshold for 30 consecutive days.

“River flows in Tay Estuary (North), River Teviot and Ettrick Water have now remained below the recognised Q95 low flow threshold for 30 consecutive days”, she added.

“At this point, temporary restrictions on licensed water abstraction are needed to protect rivers and the wildlife that depends on them.

“Our officers will be out in the affected catchments, working directly with licence holders to help them understand and comply with the temporary restrictions and answer any questions they may have.

“Our priority is to protect Scotland’s rivers while ensuring restrictions remain in place only for as long as they’re needed.”