No water restrictions for Sidmouth or SW as drought fears grow.

AS speculation about drought grows across the UK, South West Water is reassuring its customers that water restrictions in Sidmouth and the South West are highly unlikely.

Despite this spell of sunny weather, reservoir levels in the region are looking healthy and although river levels reflect the dry weather, regional groundwater levels remain average for the time of year.

Total reservoir storage is 85.8 percent, down from 92.8 percent at the same time last year.

There have been no hosepipe bans in the south west since 1996 and since the droughts of 1976, when customers in north Devon had to collect water from standpipes, South West Water has developed five new reservoirs – Roadford, Wimbleball, Colliford, Stannon and Park – increasing the region’s storage total by 87,383 megalitres.

Stannon, a former china clay quarry bought in 2008, will become a fully operational reservoir by the end of this summer. Some 60 metres deep, it holds over 8,000 megalitres of water.

Neil Whiter, South West Water’s Water Strategy Manager, said: “We have put in place a comprehensive strategy to ensure a continued secure supply of water for the region.

“2009 was the thirteenth consecutive summer with no water restrictions and it is most unlikely that there will need to be any restrictions in 2010.”