According to The Guardian, residents near Haywards Heath in West Sussex are seeing a reservoir reach low levels after the UK's hottest summer on record. The Ardingly reservoir, managed by South East Water, currently sits at 19% capacity and serves about 95,000 properties in surrounding areas including Haywards Heath and Uckfield.
Local resident Caroline Allan, a lifelong inhabitant of the region, said she has never seen the reservoir so depleted in her lifetime. The reservoir's decline is visible to the naked eye.
The Guardian also reports that the next closest reservoir is unusable due to broken treatment infrastructure, leaving limited backup options for the region's water needs heading into what experts warn could be a prolonged dry period. South East Water has not yet commented publicly on emergency measures or contingency plans being implemented to address drought conditions affecting their service area in Sussex.
Source: The Guardian.
