Wildlife under stress as dry spell shrinks rivers

Environmental groups say the prolonged dry spell is having a "serious" impact on wildlife in rivers.

With rivers already under pressure from pollution and use for drinking water, they say the looming drought is adding to the strain. Chalk streams, which support iconic species such as salmon, Common Kingfisher and Eurasian Otter, are of particular concern, according to the Rivers Trust.

Common Kingfisher is one of many species impacted by the dry summer (Richard Stonier).

Only 200 chalk streams exist globally, 85% of which are in southern and eastern England. "This is our Barrier Reef or our Amazon rainforest; it's our unique contribution to global wildlife and biodiversity," said Christine Colvin of the Rivers Trust.

She said some small chalk streams were starting to dry up, while larger rivers were experiencing low flows.

"The wildlife here is already stressed as a result of the hotter temperatures and their habitat is shrinking as the water levels are getting lower and lower," she added. "We don't want them to go any lower than they are now."

Jamie Marsh, reserves manager for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, warned of "a serious situation" for wildlife as rivers run low in parts of the region.

At one nature reserve on the banks of the River Itchen in Winchester, a pond has completely dried up, while low river flow is hitting food sources for fish, insects and invertebrates, with knock-on effects for animals higher up the food chain such as water voles and otters.

"Our water resources are under a lot of pressure and this long period of drought is exacerbating those issues," he said. What we can do to help is we as a society can look at our water consumption and try and reduce down our consumption.

"For many of our rivers, they're not in a natural state; they've been heavily modified and engineered. Many of our river systems are acting more like drains than actual rivers now."

Southern Water, which supplies water to Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, said the decision to introduce a hosepipe ban was a "vital step" to protect the habitats of the River Test and the River Itchen, where it extracts water.

The company has said river flows were about 25% lower than they should be for July. And according to the latest projections by scientists, river flows are expected to remain exceptionally low in central and southern England for the rest of the summer.