The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has put further abstraction licence restrictions in place as more of eastern Scotland reaches Significant Scarcity.

Ten river catchments in eastern Scotland are now at Significant Water Scarcity, as prolonged dry conditions continue across the east.

The Lower Spey (covering River Avon and Lower Spey catchments) and Berwickshire (covering Berwickshire coastal and Whiteadder catchments) reached Significant Scarcity on Monday 1st September.

Upper Don, Lower Don, North Fife, Deveron, Ythan, and Lower Tweed catchments were raised to Significant last week.

Letters explaining what abstraction licence restrictions are in place have been issued to all affected licence holders, detailing the action that needs to be taken, and the date these restrictions come into force.

This week’s report from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) shows that a number of other areas in the country also remain under pressure. Without sustained rainfall, further catchments are at risk of reaching Significant Scarcity in the coming week.

Current conditions

Much of the east coast currently remains at Moderate Scarcity, including the wider Tweed and Ythan catchments, Dee (Aberdeen), Esk (Angus), Firth of Forth, Almond and Tyne (Lothian).

Thurso, Shin, Conon and Inverness East have been raised to Alert, joining Helmsdale and Orkney.

Away from the east, conditions are improving. The Clyde, Tay and Earn catchments have recovered from Alert to Early Warning thanks to improved soil moisture and river flows.

Much of the southwest has also returned to Normal conditions.

Further catchments are at risk of reaching Significant Scarcity unless they see enough sustained rainfall to recover. These are more defined areas, linked to individual drought risk assessment stations across Scotland. In the north-east, the Findhorn, Findhorn East, South Ugie Water, Lower Dee, Water of Feugh and Lunan Water are all at risk. Further south, the Leven and the East Neuk (Fife), the Tyne (Lothian), Upper Tweed, Mid-Tweed and Lauderdale could also be raised to Significant.

August brought below-average rainfall across the east of Scotland, with some areas receiving less than a third of the normal amount. This continues a year-long deficit in places, reflected in record-low groundwater levels at several SEPA boreholes.

Newton of Falkland in Fife has recorded its lowest level in its 28-year record, while Muirton Nature Reserve in Angus has recorded its lowest level in its 17-year record

David Harley, SEPA’s Head of Water and Planning, said:

“This situation has been developing over many months. Groundwater, which usually recharges over the wetter months, and spring snowmelt are like a bank account that rivers can normally draw on to keep flowing through the summer. This year that account is running dry, leaving rivers without their usual baseflow. For example, the Lower Spey hasn’t had this many low-flow days since 1972. That’s having real impacts on people, businesses and the environment.

“Our decisions are guided by science and data, and our DRAT station monitoring plays a critical role in our ability to respond quickly, fairly and proportionately. Our ongoing monitoring over the summer has enabled us to anticipate risks and engage early with abstracters, ensuring that restrictions on water abstraction were implemented only when absolutely required. These will be lifted as soon as the situation changes and we are confident that rivers have recovered sufficiently.”