If there's so much water coming down the rivers, how come

Somebody forgot to put the plugs back in?

Aliens

Surely it must be possible for people to fill a watering can when they pass a river and pop it in a reservoir when they get chance. If everybody did this, problem solved.

Are you saying it's Aliens?

No, watering cans

Not you!

A reservoir fills up from the water over a set outflow.

You might have the tay flowing in one end but it also flows out the other they can restrict the outflow only so much.

If there’s so much water coming down the rivers, how come

The reservoirs are still empty?

I don't know about the rest of the country but reservoirs in London aren't empty - they are more than half full, probably due to all the rain that we have been having.

They are apparently below average though.

https://www.thameswater.co.uk/about-us/performance/reservoir-levels-and-rainfall-figures

Thames Water giving tips (on Ernie's link) on how to save water at home seems a bit like corporate gaslighting

Agreed, especially in light of their woeful lack of maintenance and repairs in the decades they've been a private company making vast profits...

The environment agency stipulate minimum water levels for rivers in England and Wales and if those rivers get too low, upstream reservoirs must release water down them to top them up. So the river looks like it's flowing well but the reservoir can't build its level up.

Ladybower is still low but I think thats because it public and so on message, the reservoirs above it are filling up,

It flows down the rivers and streams, into the reservoirs, and then out through the leaks in the pipes.

Its simple really. They have to keep using the reservoirs to flush the shite they are releasing into the sea.

Because reservoirs are really big. Like big, big.

Idly wondering this but would it have been useful to get a digger & dumper into these empty res's over summer and dredge/desilt them?

Every ride I do that heads out towards the nearest reservoir I still fill an extra water bottle up in the kitchen and drop it off in the reservoir when I get there later in the day. I know it's not much but if we all did it then every little helps.

So you are dumping plastic waste in the half-empty reservoir space? Doesn't sound sensible...

I drove past Llyn Celyn on my way to CyB and in the 55 years since it was built I've never seen it so empty. I should have emptied my hydration pack into it, obvs.

I drove past Llyn Celyn on my way to CyB and in the 55 years since it was built I’ve never seen it so empty.

Yeah, I was shocked when I was on my way to Porthmadog for a holiday the other week.

I have a theory that all the United Utilities ones in the North West are having their levels kept a bit low since that Whaley Bridge failure a few years ago. Even in the middle of winter since they all look to be about 20% low to me.

Because reservoirs are really big. Like big, big.

And they have a scary bit that once seen reminds you why you should never swim in one.

Every ride I do that heads out towards the nearest reservoir I still fill an extra water bottle up in the kitchen and drop it off in the reservoir when I get there later in the day. I know it’s not much but if we all did it then every little helps

Ah the water cycle in action.

Well I've spent the last 25 years digging a feeder to try and fill my local reservoir nobody will help me and the council keep filling it in, no wonder there's global warming

Clearly everyone should be pissing in them to do their bit. Should help with all the sewage in the sea too if we store as much as possible in the reservoirs

I have a theory that all the United Utilities ones in the North West are having their levels kept a bit low since that Whaley Bridge failure a few years ago. Even in the middle of winter since they all look to be about 20% low to me.

Toddbrook Res belongs to the Canals and River Trust, it's sole purpose is to keep the Peak Forest canal topped up. It is not an impounding reservoir for the water distribution system.  The Trust isn't rich so who is paying for the remediation work is a mystery to me. The Trust announced they would basically revamp the whole res but the scope of works has been cut back to just "fixing a few bits" to improve water flows, the spillway and a sprinkle of glitter on top.

Cos you isn't in Northumberlandavia that's why!!! Innit. 'We' (I'm technically incorrect here but WTF) just send water to everyone else in tankers. (all or some of that may have been made up, or may not have been, but again, at the risk of repeating myself, wtf🤷🏼‍♂️😂😂😂) I also may, or may not, have been drinking red wine

What we need are giant funnels, miles in diameter hovering just away from the reservoirs, with the ability to channel the captured water into said reservoirs.

Cos you isn’t in Northumberlandavia that’s why!!! Innit. ‘We’ (I’m technically incorrect here but WTF) just send water to everyone else in tankers. (all or some of that may have been made up, or may not have been, but again, at the risk of repeating myself, wtf🤷🏼‍♂️😂😂😂) I also may, or may not, have been drinking red wine

Keilder is a great example of where to put a reservoir! Don’t think it’s ever anywhere near ‘low’.

maybe they could pump it from the rivers back up the hills to the reservoirs?’

Funnily enough, that's how they fill Carsington reservoir in Derbyshire

I'm pretty sure most of the water's in the footwell of my mx5

Thing about reservoirs is they were quite often built a long time ago, for different reasons. We use them for flood control, for recreation, some were for heavy industry... The other thing is, at least up here, everything's just ridiculously wet, the ground's never been dry for a month and that means water pours straight off. It'll always take the route of least resistance and that's different depending on the ground conditions

Funnily enough, that’s how they fill Carsington reservoir in Derbyshire

And Rutland too. There used to be a video in the old church showing its construction, not sure if it's worn out now though.
Instead of wasting drinking water to fill them up, we should chuck a few rocks in to raise the levels.

Yep the level on Winscar is getting lower everyone I see it. So bad we had to postpone our round of the BUSA circuit.

as said above, because they aren't all part of the watercourse. As mentioned above, Rutland and Grafham Water for example are filled from nearby rivers - this has to be pumped up to them and can only be done if there's enough water to take, and then if there is they can only pump as fast as they can pump (and also within abstraction licence limits).

Its an added trouble that pumping needs to happen as much as possible when its allowed now, but this then means having to run energy intensive pumps when electricity is at maximum prices 🙁

Don't forget reservoirs get wider, the higher the level is. ie they need a lot more water when it gets near the top of the dam. Plus, we're talking about 6 months of evaporation, usage and not much rain. That will take a few months to replace!

I worked with some of the people who help build Rutland res. Pitsford res can also be topped up by pumping out of the river.

What we need are giant funnels, miles in diameter hovering just away from the reservoirs

Or giant catapults which can be moved round the country to where it is raining to catch the water and then launch it to the relevant reservoir.

Or giant catapults which can be moved round the country to where it is raining to catch the water and then launch it to the relevant reservoir.

Stupid idea, funnels would be better. I mean, where are you going to get giant catapults from? 🙄🙄

Keilder is a great example of where to put a reservoir! Don’t think it’s ever anywhere near ‘low’.

It's currently 3m down, that's a bit higher than it was at this time of year in 2017- 2019, but it never seems to drop more than 5m and since it's about 30m deep that's not much.  See https://riverlevels.uk/kielder-reservoir-northumberland

It hasn't actually rained that much in that part of the country. I was canoeing on the North Tyne on Sunday and it was almost too low. There was no release from Kielder so far as I could tell, and the rain that swept across the country mostly dropped on the West side of the Pennines, Northumberland was in the rain shadow.

Went past the top reservoir in Elan Valley a few weeks ago. It's been empty for long enough that there is a good flush of grass in there which was being grazed by about 60 sheep.

We've got excess water this year in Queensland. Some of the reservoirs are over 100% full. Now that's commitment!
https://www.seqwater.com.au/dam-levels

So, maybe we build a pipeline. When ours are full, we could send some back to the Old Country. And when the welly is on the other foot, reverse the flow.