As the latest water situation report for September is published, Yorkshire Water repeat their statement that they have ‘no plans for water restrictions’. Levels hit 45.5% for September, coming very close to the 46% levels of September 2025, when the region was under a hosepipe ban. Readings remain well below the 68.7% average for this point of the year.
Last year, the September reading was the beginning of levels going back up, however, we have not seen this climb this year- monthly levels are still dropping.
On a more granular level, which tracks weekly readings, Yorkshire Water posted last week that, ‘Reservoir stocks in Yorkshire have risen for the first time in 13 weeks, following recent rainfall and the usual autumn reduction in water demand.’
Andy Shaw, head of water production, treatment and energy at Yorkshire Water, said: “It’s encouraging to finally see a bit of an increase in our reservoir levels after a long, dry summer. Our reservoir stocks and the Hull aquifer remain some way short of where they should be at this time of year and will need rainfall above long-term average to recover to where we need them to be going into 2027.
This summer has been a challenging one, and our teams have worked around the clock to manage the water supply to ensure all our customers have the water they need, without the need for any usage restrictions.
Avoiding restrictions in such a hot, dry summer is testament to the work we’ve done since last summer to increase the resilience of our operation. However, we also recognise that there is much more to do to improve and deliver the service our customers expect, and we’re committed to doing that as part of our largest ever upgrade of our network by 2030.’
All rivers in the region are also ‘below critical level’ at present. Increases are reliant on sustained wet weather, which may appear mid- October, but with increased rain, also comes sewage discharges into the rivers and waterways of Yorkshire, with the River Wharfe below, one of the rivers significantly impacted by sewage pollution.
Current levels do not appear close to the drought control line at present, but this is very dependent on the amount of rain that the region receives. As Andy Shaw noted on the 24th September, ‘We are expecting a drier spell to end September, so it is important people continue to take steps to review their water usage and make any changes to water use where they can. This, combined with our efforts to improve the network, will help the reservoirs and groundwater levels recovery over the next few months so we can enter 2027 in a healthy position.’
