Ripples in water

The stream is low and the waterfall cascade just below is much reduced in volume. 
Dwr Cymru/Welsh Water have sent a letter to their customers about the situation generally and the forthcoming hoseban ban in particular.  Our water comes from a reservoir in the hills which is fed by a small river, Afon Syfynwy. Its deep valley (with resident farming community) was flooded 50 years ago  to meet Pembrokeshire's water needs but is now failing to do so. This year, the letter says,  rainfall was down 40% between March and July while demand for water has increased 20%.
"This combination of events is unprecedented" it says.

This visual image of an old packhorse bridge revealed by the drought conditions affecting a reservoir in Yorkshire brings the message home more starkly than words. This is the future. This is the climate emergency.


On a personal note, I've always tried to avoid being profligate with water, even to the extent of using left-over water in glasses and jugs to refresh pot plants or fill the animals' drinking bowls. I spent my first few years in a house with no piped water supply, pump or well. My father had dug a well two fields below where there was a boggy patch and he collected water daily in buckets which I remember standing outside our back door (I once experimentally dipped a cat in, not realising they disliked getting wet.)  Water for washing clothes and our bodies came from the rainwater butt which was an essential feature of all homes, catching the run-off from the roof.
Of course we didn't bath or shower daily as most people seem to do now (thanks to product manufacturers convincing us that we will be  socially unacceptable if we are not squeaky-clean at all times.) Likewise we didn't throw once-worn garments into the washing machine - why is that even necessary when simply hanging clothes up to air will remove lingering odour and most stains can be removed with a wet cloth?
In our grave new world we will have to discover these things afresh.

Oh - as I was writing this some raindrops fell. Maybe the water shortage will resolve. For now.