In February of this year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced that much of the Southern and Eastern regions of England are officially in a state of drought. In fact the groundwater levels in some areas within south-east England are already lower than in the infamously dry summer of 1976.
Seven water companies covering the South and East have already stated they intend to implement hosepipe bans effective from April, Thames Water's Sustainability Director Richard Aylard said:
"There is a high chance we will need to impose restrictions at some stage this summer unless either we get a lot of rain or fantastic co-operation from customers using less water."
He urged people to turn off taps while cleaning their teeth, take shorter showers, fix leaks and only...