Southern Water applies for drought order to extract more from endangered chalk stream.
Southern Water has applied for a drought order that would allow it to draw increased volumes of water from the River Test in Hampshire, a rare chalk stream and key habitat for wild Atlantic salmon.
The order, submitted to Environment Secretary Steve Reed, would temporarily amend the company’s current abstraction licence, reducing the “hands-off flow” threshold—the minimum flow required for legal abstraction—from 355 megalitres per day to 265 Ml/d.
The application has prompted concern from environmental groups, campaigners and fisheries advocates. The River Test is internationally recognised as one of the world’s few remaining chalk streams, with just 200 globally—85% of which are in England. These rivers provide critical spawning grounds for salmon and other threatened species.
According to reporting by The Guardian, water campaigners, including former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey, have called on Reed to block the move, warning it could accelerate the decline of wild salmon populations. “This river has a flow limit and Southern Water wants to reduce that by a third,” Sharkey said. “You have now effectively banished an endangered species to oblivion.”
The Test is currently experiencing low flows, according to data from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Prolonged drought, exacerbated by climate change, has increased pressure on water resources, with several companies, including Southern Water, already enforcing hosepipe bans.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the application is being reviewed, with a decision expected “in due course”.
Southern Water stated that the drought order would only come into effect if flows drop below 355 Ml/d and that current levels remain above that threshold. The company cited customer water conservation, ongoing leakage reduction and network optimisation as contributing factors.
Longer-term proposals to build new reservoirs, water recycling facilities and inter-regional transfers remain under review.
