A couple of weeks ago, an engineer paid me a visit to check I was not wasting water. Being a good journalist I asked “Why is this necessary?”. “There is going to be a water shortage in London soon”, he casually replied.
What? A water shortage in one of the wettest countries (in my opinion) on the planet? But this is actually happening, according to a report from Leonie Cooper, deputy chair of London’s environment committee, released this summer. Bursts from the Capital’s ageing pipes, the city’s loss of green space and a growing population are all factors, as is “the capital’s changing, and increasingly extreme, climate”.
Climate change has finally come home for me. No longer just a problem for emaciated polar bears stranded on rocks, Bangladeshi villagers having their homes washed away or Amazonian tribes trapped in a burning rainforest, it literally turned up on my doorstep in a Thames Water uniform.
And while I’m sure the gadget to strengthen the water pressure in my kitchen taps and the cute egg timer to measure how long I spend in the shower may help a little bit, it seems a long way from alleviating the problem facing London.
The big solution appears to be bringing forward the construction of a new reservoir in Oxfordshire. But wouldn’t that have an impact on the eco-system there? Shouldn’t we be thinking of big solutions in capital itself instead of sticking plasters outside of it? While replacing the pipes is the obvious (yet very costly and disruptive) solution, and limiting the city’s population would be contentious to say the least, surely addressing the loss of green space should be a long-term aim.
The capital’s parks, wetlands, forests and plains are well used - important places not just ecologically but socially. They are an essential source of wellbeing for London’s residents, who more often than not have no green space of their own. It is sad to see a succession of little patches of green being developed, more often than not into some new flats.
And while the demand for new homes in the capital is real, so is the impact of losing the green space they are built on. Instead of paying lip service to sustainability plans, councils and the Mayor of London should be held responsible for this decline and urged to make a significant commitment to reversing it. Change starts at home after all.