Even though parts of Wales have seen fairly heavy rain over the past few days, the whole of Wales is still in a drought. Natural Resources Wales has confirmed that the drought status first declared in early September is still in place for the whole nation.
Additionally, the hosepipe ban - or rather, a 'temporary use ban' - imposed on parts of Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, introduced due to the drought, is still in place. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water confirmed that there hasn't been enough rain to lift the ban.
The drought status and the hosepipe ban, to be clear, are two separate things. The drought is set by NRW, who said that although there has been heavy rainfall over recent weeks, this hasn't been consistent across all of Wales.
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As the rain followed the driest seven months in 150 years (from March to September), a NRW spokesperson said: "People should not assume that the need to act against drought is over." Some concerns, including risk to wildlife, have decreased due to lower temperatures, but environmental and water concerns remain across Wales.
The spokesperson added: "Given that groundwater, reservoirs levels and some rivers across Wales remain low in places, it will take consistent and prolonged rain to help them recover to normal flows/levels for the time of year."
NRW doesn't have a single definition for drought, but the threshold is met when a number of environmental factors - including low river levels, low rainfall, impacts on ecosystems and agriculture, and risks to wellbeing - are met. While some droughts are short and intense, others are longer. As a result, all of Wales is still in a state of drought.
As for when this might end, NRW says it's hard to know. It's difficult to predict the weather far enough in advance, meaning it's difficult to predict when the drought conditions would end. The spokesperson explained that springs, rivers and ponds might recover quickly after rainfall, but reservoirs and groundwater levels will need days and weeks of rain to recover - meaning the impact of the lack of rainfall in early 2022 could be felt as far in the future as early 2023.
Natalie Hall, sustainable water manager at NRW, said: "The dry weather and hot temperatures we saw over spring and summer have put extreme pressures on ecosystems and habitats, water supplies, land management and agriculture all around Wales – those concerns still remain.
"It will take more prolonged, significant rainfall to fully replenish rivers, reservoirs and groundwater levels so we’re urging the public and businesses to be very mindful of the pressures on water resources and continue to use water wisely."
Speaking of using water wisely - parts of Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, as mentioned, still have a hosepipe ban in place. The problems described above, relating to rainfall and reservoirs, are especially bad when it comes to the reservoirs in Llandegfedd and Pontscilli in south east Wales.
Wales had the joint driest year on record, drier than 1976, and September only saw 50% of the long-term average rainfall. This is why Dwr Cymru Welsh Water is encouraging people to avoid wasting water. A spokesperson said: "This will help all of our reservoirs refill more quickly and have the best chance of being full ready for next summer."
However, the hosepipe ban is down to the fact that the Llys y Frân reservoir in Pembrokeshire is also low. It applies to the western part of Carmarthenshire and the majority of Pembrokeshire, although it doesn't extend further north than Newport.
To explain the issues with distribution, NRW provided some key statistics - Wales, in general, received 99.5% of its average monthly rainfall in September, but this varied massively in different areas. In the Valleys and Vale of Glamorgan, the figure was just 68.9%, whereas in Pembrokeshire it was 133.1%.
During the period from March to December, rainfall was only at 63.8% of the expected level. The Met Office also confirmed that this was the eighth warmest summer for Wales since 1884.
The Dwr Cymru Welsh Water spokesperson said: "As soon as we are able to lift the hosepipe for our customers who are served by the reservoir we will do so."
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