With regard to a few posts on an earlier Test thread about low water levels on the Wylye, I saw this whilst catching up on back issues of T&S - February 2006 - a letter from Gordon Mackie of Salisbury. He is quoting from a January T&S article by Chris McCully:

" Chris tell us "abstraction was reduced from 16 megalitres (16 million megalitres) in 2004 to 2 megalitres in 2005". In fact these were not quantities taken annually but daily! What's more, the figures relate only to a single borehole complex. There are some 80 other groundwater abstraction points in the Wylye catchment, of which at least five more remove 11-15 megalitres per day and 75 are licenced to take varying amounts between one and ten megalitres per day."

He gathered this information from the EA's CAMS report of July 2005.

I find it almost impossible to comprehend the logic behind such massive abstraction levels - growing populations notwithstanding. The Wylye that I have just witnessed is a shadow of its former self - shallow, no weed growth and silt everywhere. I may well be wrong but it appeared to me to be dying?

Perhaps some greater thought needs to be given to alternative methods albeit expensive - e.g. reverse osmosis processing of sea water although that would of course only really cater for drinking purposes not agricultural needs.

It does seem an extremely short sited policy. I'd love to see the usage figures for this - where does it go and for what purpose? Are there any ludicrous "spring water" bottling plants? Also aren't chalk streams supposed to enjoy protection under SSSI status? Whatever status they "enjoy", it is a sham and a mockery and the EA should be ashamed of themsleves.

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I have that information for the nadder, give me a couple of days and I'll have the information on where the water abstracted from the Wylye goes and I'll post a summary here for you.

Malcolm

edit-- incidentally, the weed growth this year is thought to be 3-4 weeks behind normal. This should help bolster the current low levels when the weed grows if it can avoid being decimated by the over grazing of the unsustainable swan population.

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