23/07/2026
The Parish Council would like to bring to your attention the issue of water in the village.
Continuing a fine tradition of Lothersdale, water was once again a topic of concern for several members of both the public and council at the PC meeting on Tuesday. The same day, the National Drought Group stepped up its response after the third heatwave of the year. The Aire valley seems barely to have crawled out of the declared drought last year. While we had consistently wet days over winter, it was neither heavy, nor prolonged, and seems to have done little to fully recharge the groundwater. The hydrological outlook remains on the low side.
As a community solely reliant upon springs and boreholes, the PC asks each household/business to carefully consider its use of water at this time. Some areas of the village are more susceptible to water shortages so let's be community minded, sensitive, and sensible.
Spring or borehole, these are probably all connected by the groundwater aquifer, and we have relatively little knowledge about how use of one may affect another across the dale. Historical anecdote isn't much of an indicator for our current and future situations either given the combination of changes to our modern lifestyle / water consumption, land management, and climate.
Perhaps cut back on the more unnecessary activities such as watering lawns (especially via sprinklers) and washing cars, or using grey water to do so. Think about cutting the grass less; it'll stay greener for longer. Hopefully we'll get a bit of respite at the weekend.
