By Abdullahi Lukman
Reservoir levels in the UK’s Yorkshire have dropped to just 32.6 percent following the hottest spring and summer on record, exposing a bridge submerged for over a century.
The current levels are far below the seasonal average of 72.7 percent, marking a severe drought that has lasted nearly three months.
The prolonged dry spell led to the rare re-emergence of Broomhead Bridge, also known as Cooper Carr Bridge, at Broomhead Reservoir near Sheffield.
The stone arch, believed to have last been seen when the reservoir was built in the 1920s, once spanned Ewden Beck near a corn mill before being submerged.
David Kaye, director of water at Yorkshire Water, noted that recent rainfall had little impact.
“While the rain, which was heavy in some areas but short-lived, has been welcome, the majority has been taken up by the extremely dry ground,” he said.
For the first time on record, both spring and summer have consecutively broken heat records, according to data from Weston Park weather station in Sheffield.
In response to the drought declared on 12 June, Yorkshire Water was granted permission to extract additional water from the Wharfe and Ouse rivers to reduce strain on depleted reservoirs.
However, environmental groups have raised concerns. Prof Beck Malby from the Ilkley Clean River Group warned that the Wharfe is already under stress.
“There is really very little water left for wildlife, for the natural habitats to survive here,” she said, describing the river as the lowest she’s seen in 30 years.
Yorkshire Water has called the river extraction an “essential step” to safeguard both water supplies and the environment, amid what is shaping up to be one of the most extreme dry periods in the region’s history.
