River Ems crisis: Westbourne villagers plead with Portsmouth Water to introduce a hosepipe ban

The company takes what Westbourne villagers have described as ‘huge amounts of water’ from the underground sources of the River Ems, a chalk stream and wildlife haven that runs from the South Downs into Chichester Harbour.

Even before the current drought, flow in the Ems was low. Now the river is in crisis.

The plight of the river, with dying fish and whole sections completely dry, has prompted Westbourne Parish Council and environmental group, Greening Westbourne, to demand a hosepipe ban. It comes after a drought was officially declared on Friday.

The Ems flows through Westbourne, on the West Sussex and Hampshire border, before reaching Emsworth and the sea.

In a letter to Bob Taylor, chief executive officer of Portsmouth Water, Greening Westbourne chair Richard Hitchcock says: ‘The river has dried up completely in sections and residents have been hard at work attempting to save the fish that have not already perished. It is surely not too much to ask that a hosepipe ban be imposed immediately in Westbourne and surrounding parishes.’

A campaign group, Friends of the Ems, which is part of Greening Westbourne, has been in talks with Portsmouth Water and the Environment Agency for two years in an effort to reduce the amount taken – or ‘abstracted’ – from the river’s sources, and to improve flows.

Portsmouth Water is obliged to pump some water back into the river at times of low flow, but Friends of the Ems wants this process improved.

In the letter, Mr Hitchcock adds: ‘Friends of the Ems had very much hoped that abstraction would be monitored closely and even reduced in order to restore the river to its original health. This would seem to be a somewhat time-consuming process and appears not to have been effected soon enough to protect the river in a time of very great heat and, even more importantly, no significant rainfall.’

Westbourne Parish Council has written to Mr Taylor on similar lines, echoing the plea on behalf of residents.

Chalk streams are known as ‘England’s rainforests’ because they are among the planet’s rarest habitats. There are only about 200 chalk streams in the world, and most of them are in the southern half of England.

The Ems is home to rare species including water voles and eels, and kingfishers, brown trout and many species of bat are regularly spotted.

Portsmouth Water said on Friday it was not introducing a hosepipe ban, even after a drought was declared in the south east.

To find out more about Greening Westbourne and to join the Friends of the Ems, people can go to e-voice.org.uk/greening-westbourne

Greening Westbourne and the parish council are urging residents to save water.

Tips on doing this are promoted by Portsmouth Water here.

They include:

 watering plants in the early morning or later in the evening

 collecting rainwater in a water butt

 letting lawns go brown – they will bounce back

 cutting down on washing the car

 avoiding letting taps run

 collecting running water while you wait for it to heat up, and use it to water plants or flush the loo

 making sure your washing machine has a full load

 having a short shower rather than a bath