Water Situation Report - NFUonline

All data are provisional and may be subject to revision. The views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the

Environment Agency. Its officers, servants or agents accept no liability for any loss or damage arising from the interpretation or

use of the information, or reliance upon views contained herein.

www.gov.uk/environment-agency

© Environment Agency 2020

1

Monthly water situation report

Summary – May 2020 May was another very dry month with monthly rainfall totals falling in the ‘notably low’ category across the whole North East area. River levels have fallen and monthly mean flows have decreased with flows at all indicator sites classified as ‘notably low’ or lower for the time of year. Soils continue to dry and are now classified as ‘dry’ or ‘very dry’. Reservoir stocks have declined across the area and are below average for the time of year.

Rainfall Rainfall was below average this month with monthly totals classified as ‘notably low’ in all catchments across the North East. Most days in May were dry and raingauges in the area experienced an average of 25 dry days where less than 1mm of rainfall was recorded. The most significant rainfall totals in May were measured across the area on the 18th, 21st and 22nd of the month. The total rainfall for March to May made 2020 the driest Spring in the HADUK dataset (which starts in 1891), for the Tees, Seaham and Northumbrian Sea tributary catchments, as well as the North East area as a whole. The Wear and the Tweed recorded their second driest spring behind 1929 and 1956 respectively and it was the third driest in the Tyne catchment behind the drought years of 1929 and 1956.

Soil Moisture Deficit Soils across the area continued to dry out in response to the dry, sunny weather and increased evapotranspiration. The soil moisture deficit in all catchments across the North East is in either the ‘dry’ or ‘very dry’ category.

River Flows Monthly mean flows at all indicator sites in the North East were classified as ‘notably low’ or ‘exceptionally low’ in May. The monthly mean flows ranged from 12% of the long term average (LTA) at Rutherford Bridge in the Greta catchment to 55% of the LTA at Middleton in Teesdale in the Tees catchment. The monthly mean flows at Heaton Mill, Mitford and Rothbury on the rivers Till, Wansbeck and Coquet respectively were the lowest May flows in their historic records. The daily mean flows show all rivers started the month with either ‘normal’ or ‘below normal’ flows due to the late April rainfall. River flows receded throughout the month and by mid-May all had dropped to ‘below normal’ or ‘notably low’ levels for the time of year. ‘Exceptionally low’ flows were recorded on the Greta, South Tyne, Wansbeck, Coquet and Till. The rainfall during the third week of May increased daily mean flows slightly, although flow at all monitoring stations, with the exception of Middleton in Teesdale and Stanhope, remained at ‘notably low’ or ‘exceptionally low’ levels at the end of May.

Groundwater Levels Due to COVID-19 fieldwork restrictions no data was collected from the North East reporting boreholes for the month of May.

Reservoir Storage All reservoir stocks declined throughout May with the most noticeable changes observed in the Durham group and at Cow Green reservoir where decreases of 16% and 18% respectively were seen. All reservoir stocks in North East are below average for the time of year. Grassholme reservoir in the Lune/Balder group has been drawn down for essential safety work and the North Tyne continues to support the level in the Hallington Reservoirs via the Barrasford abstraction. The Waskerley airshaft abstraction was used from the third week in May to support levels in Waskerley reservoir.

North East Area

All data are provisional and may be subject to revision. The views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the

Environment Agency. Its officers, servants or agents accept no liability for any loss or damage arising from the interpretation or

use of the information, or reliance upon views contained herein.



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Current % Stocks Previous Month % Stock

Kielder 85.4 88.9 North Tynedale Group 67.7 79.4

Derwent 79.7 89.2 Durham Group 64.1 80.8

Lune/Balder Group 61.9 71.3 Cow Green 62.6 80.6

Environmental Impact The North East area Drought team announced that the Area had officially entered a period of ‘Prolonged Dry Weather’ on the 26th May. Water resource staff are closely regulating water abstractions and advising businesses and farmers on water usage and our teams are monitoring any environmental impacts such as algae blooms and fish distress from low oxygen levels in the rivers due to low flows. Author: GWHCL

mailto:[email protected]

www.gov.uk/environment-agency © Environment Agency 2020

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Rainfall

Total rainfall (as a percentage of the long term average) for hydrological areas across the North East area for the current month, the last three months, the last six months, and the last twelve months, classed relative to an analysis of respective historic totals. HadUK data based on the Met Office 1km gridded rainfall dataset derived from rain gauges (Source: Met Office © Crown Copyright 2020). Provisional data based on Environment Agency 1km gridded rainfall dataset derived from Environment Agency intensity rain gauges


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Above average rainfall Below average rainfall

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

300%

Ju

n-1

9

Ju

l-19

Aug

-19

Sep

-19

Oct-1

9

Nov-1

9

Dec-1

9

Ja

n-2

0

Fe

b-2

0

Ma

r-20

Apr-2

0

Ma

y-2

0

1-Month Period for Tweed

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

300%

Ju

n-1

9

Ju

l-19

Aug

-19

Sep

-19

Oct-1

9

Nov-1

9

Dec-1

9

Ja

n-2

0

Fe

b-2

0

Ma

r-20

Apr-2

0

Ma

y-2

0

1-Month Period for Northumbria North Sea Tribs

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

300%

Ju

n-1

9

Ju

l-19

Aug

-19

Sep

-19

Oct-1

9

Nov-1

9

Dec-1

9

Ja

n-2

0

Fe

b-2

0

Ma

r-20

Apr-2

0

Ma

y-2

0

1-Month Period for Tyne

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

300%

Ju

n-1

9

Ju

l-19

Aug

-19

Sep

-19

Oct-1

9

Nov-1

9

Dec-1

9

Ja

n-2

0

Fe

b-2

0

Ma

r-20

Apr-2

0

Ma

y-2

0

1-Month Period for Wear

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

300%

Ju

n-1

9

Ju

l-19

Aug

-19

Sep

-19

Oct-1

9

Nov-1

9

Dec-1

9

Ja

n-2

0

Fe

b-2

0

Ma

r-20

Apr-2

0

Ma

y-2

0

1-Month Period for Seaham Area

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

300%

Ju

n-1

9

Ju

l-19

Aug

-19

Sep

-19

Oct-1

9

Nov-1

9

Dec-1

9

Ja

n-2

0

Fe

b-2

0

Ma

r-20

Apr-2

0

Ma

y-2

0

1-Month Period for Tees


5

Soil Moisture Deficit


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River Flow

Some features of this map are based on digital spatial data licensed from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, © CEH. Includes material based on Ordnance Survey 1:50 000 maps with the permission of the controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Environment Agency, 100026380, 2020.


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Exceptionally high Notably high Above normal Normal Below normal Notably low Exceptionally low ─── Latest data

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

31-Jul-19 30-Sep-19 30-Nov-19 31-Jan-20 31-Mar-20 31-May-20

Dail

y M

ean

Flo

w (

cu

mec

s)

HARTFORD BRIDGE, River BlythRanking used data from 05/03/1963 to 31/12/2017

MEAN MONTHLYFLOW0.301 cumecs 25% LTA

0

50

100

150

200

250


Dail

y M

ean

Flo

w (

cu

mec

s)

HAYDON BRIDGE, River South TyneRanking used data from 01/10/1962 to 31/12/2017

MONTHLY MEAN FLOW 2.20 cumecs22% LTA

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


Dail

y M

ean

Flo

w (

cu

mec

s)

HEATON MILL, River TillRanking used data from 25/04/2002 to 31/12/2017

MONTHLYMEAN FLOW 2.72 cumecs 46% LTA

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140


Dail

y M

ean

Flo

w (

cu

mec

s)

MIDDLETON IN TEESDALE, River TeesRanking used data from 01/05/1971 to 31/12/2017

MONTHLYMEAN FLOW 2.98 cumecs55% LTA

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90


Dail

y M

ean

Flo

w (

cu

mec

s)

ROTHBURY, River CoquetRanking used data from 01/06/1972 to 31/12/2017

MONTHLYMEAN FLOW 1.29 cumecs 37% LTA

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90


Dail

y M

ean

Flo

w (

cu

mec

s)

MITFORD, River WansbeckRanking used data from 05/03/1963 to 31/12/2017

MONTHLY MEAN FLOW 0.438 cumecs 24% LTA

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40


Dail

y M

ean

Flo

w (

cu

mec

s)

Rutherford Bridge, River GretaRanking used data from 01/10/1960 to 31/12/2017

MONTHLY MEAN FLOW 0.147 cumecs12% LTA

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90


Dail

y M

ean

Flo

w (

cu

mec

s)

STANHOPE, River WearRanking used data from 01/10/1958 to 31/12/2017

MONTHLY MEAN FLOW0.79 cumecs 38% LTA


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Groundwater Levels (due to COVID-19 fieldwork restrictions no data was collected from the North East reporting boreholes for the month of May)

Some features of this map are based on digital spatial data licensed from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, © CEH. Includes material based on Ordnance Survey 1:50 000 maps with the permission of the controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Environment Agency, 100026380, 2020.


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Groundwater data shown below does not include any data from mid-March Exceptionally high Notably high Above normal Normal

Below normal Notably low Exceptionally low ─── Latest data

42

43

43

44

44

45

45

46

46

Aug-19 Oct-19 Dec-19 Feb-20 Apr-20 Jun-20

Le

ve

l (m

AO

D)

ROYALTY OBSERV.Ranking derived from data for the period Dec-1990 to Dec-2017

136

137

137

138

138

139

139

140

140

Aug-19 Oct-19 Dec-19 Feb-20 Apr-20 Jun-20L

eve

l (m

AO

D)

TOWNLAWRanking derived from data for the period Apr-1991 to Nov-2017

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

2

3

3

3


Le

ve

l (m

AO

D)

WEST HALL FARMRanking derived from data for the period Mar-1979 to Dec-2017

75

77

79

81

83

85


Le

ve

l (m

AO

D)

AYCLIFFE NRA2Ranking derived from data for the period Mar-1979 to Dec-2017

3

4

4

5

5

6

6


Le

ve

l (m

AO

D)

RED LIONRanking derived from data for the period Sep-1993 to Dec-2017


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Reservoir Stocks – Data from Water Company

0

10

20

30

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60

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80

90

100

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Pe

rce

nta

ge

of liv

e c

ap

ac

ity

Kielder

2020 Min Max Mean

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Pe

rce

nta

ge

of liv

e c

ap

ac

ity

N Tyne Group

2020 Min Max Mean

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Pe

rce

nta

ge

of liv

e c

ap

ac

ity

Derwent

2020 Min Max Mean

0

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20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Pe

rce

nta

ge

of liv

e c

ap

ac

ity

Durham

2020 Min Max Mean

0

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20

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40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Pe

rce

nta

ge

of liv

e c

ap

ac

ity

Cow Green

2020 Min Max Mean

0

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20

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40

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80

90

100


Pe

rce

nta

ge

of liv

e c

ap

ac

ity

Lune Balder

2020 Min Max Mean



Glossary Term Definition Aquifer A geological formation able to store and transmit water. Areal average rainfall The estimated average depth of rainfall over a defined area.

Expressed in depth of water (mm). Effective rainfall The rainfall available to percolate into the soil or produce

river flow. Expressed in depth of water (mm). Groundwater The water found in an aquifer Recharge The process of increasing the water stored in the saturated

zone of an aquifer. Expressed in depth of water (mm). Reservoir live capacity The reservoir capacity normally usable for storage to meet

established reservoir operating requirements. It is the total capacity less that not available because of operating agreements or physical restrictions. Only under abnormal conditions, such as a severe water shortage might this additional water be extracted.

Soil moisture deficit (SMD) The difference between the amount of water actually in the soil and the amount of water that the soil can hold. Expressed in depth of water (mm).

Categories

Exceptionally high Value likely to fall within this band 5% of the time Notably high Value likely to fall within this band 8% of the time Above normal Value likely to fall within this band 15% of the time Normal Value likely to fall within this band 44% of the time Below normal Value likely to fall within this band 15% of the time Notably low Value likely to fall within this band 8% of the time Exceptionally low Value likely to fall within this band 5% of the time

Units

cumecs Cubic metres per second (m3 s-1) mAOD Metres Above Ordnance Datum (mean sea level at Newlyn

Cornwall).

Documents

Water Situation Report - NFUonline