East Lancs reservoirs 'still below half-full' despite rain (From Lancashire Telegraph)

East Lancs reservoirs 'still below half-full' despite rain

4:40pm Wednesday 28th July 2010 in

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MANY reservoirs are still below half-full after two weeks of heavy rain in East Lancashire and the Pennines, it has been revealed.

United Utilities said that further heavy rain was needed to bring an end to the current hosepipe ban.

And the firm also revealed that 90 people in the region had been issued with warnings for breaking the ban.

Despite the heavy rain, bosses said not enough rain had soaked in to the local hills and reservoirs, as it had done in Cumbria.

Figures in East Lancashire show that there has been around three inches of rain in the past two weeks, far in excess of what had been seen in the previous period.

Bill Darbyshire, regional drought manager for the Environment Agency, said United Utilities would be closely monitored to ensure all was done to bring an end to the hosepipe ban.

He said: “The recent rainfall has provided a wel-come improvement to the reservoir levels across the region."

Dr Richard Blackwell, the water supply manager for United Utilities, said the Pennine reservoirs 'remained low at around 44 per cent full', when they would normally be at 70 per cent.

Reservoirs elsewhere in the North West are more replenished, particularly in Cumbria.

Dr Blackwell said: "We're monitoring the reservoirs stocks on a daily basis and the hosepipe ban will stay in place because even more rain is needed for Pennine reservoirs to make a full recovery."

United Utilities has more than 155 reservoirs and around 144 water boreholes to meet the demands of its seven million customers.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that the Leeds and Liverpool Canal through East Lancashire will be shut indefinitely from Monday because of low water levels.