‘You can see the water going down’: residents on edge as one of England’s worst-hit reservoirs dries up

“You can see the water level at Ardingly going down and down. I don’t remember ever seeing it this low,” says Caroline Allan, a lifetime resident of Haywards Heath, the nearest town to one of England’s most depleted reservoirs.The Ardingly reservoir, managed by South East Water and serving about 95,000 properties in and around Haywards Heath and Uckfield in Sussex, is currently 19% full.Pippa Neill on the reservoir’s shoreline. In normal conditions, she would be underwater. Photograph: Jill Mead/The GuardianThe day the Guardian visited, the weather was grey and rainy, incongruous with the muddy reservoir bed that should have been submerged under six metres of water.Earlier this month a severe drought was declared in parts of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex, with urgent measures being taken to secure public water supplies after the UK experienced its hottest summer on record.Severe drought is the highest level of drought and is declared when evidence shows drought is causing or will soon cause serious harm, and when emergency action is needed to protect people, water supplies, the environment, farming, infrastructure or other critical services.“They will probably never lift the hosepipe ban and it just seems so unfair that they’re making the area more and more crowded but they’re not increasing the capacity to store water,” said Allan.Ardingly reservoir is well below capacity after a dry summer. Photograph: Jill Mead/The GuardianThere has been a steady stream of new housing developments around Haywards Heath, sparking local opposition, with concerns that a growing local population is putting pressure on already strained resources.Water demand is increasing as the population grows and new industrial demands from datacentres and energy infrastructure require more water. Plus, the water available to supply those needs is reducing as the climate crisis worsens, resulting in greater variability and unpredictability of rainfall and greater water demand during hotter, drier summers. There has also been a lack of investment over several decades in fixing leaks and building new reservoirs.Most of Europe has endured back-to-back climate crisis-driven heatwaves this summer. The extreme heat, coupled with little rainfall, means almost three-quarters of England and large parts of Wales are still in drought or severe drought.The Environment Agency would expect reservoir storage to be about 75% at this time of year and yet supplies at several reservoirs are critically low. This includes Ardingly and Wimbleball, which supplies South West Water customers and is 14.5% full.Wimbleball in Exmoor has been declared one of the three lowest reservoirs in the country by the Environment Agency. Photograph: Yui Mok/PAThe low water levels have revealed the old stone Bessom Bridge (centre) in Wimbleball Lake. Photograph: Yui Mok/PAIt is estimated that 120% of average rainfall is needed between now and April for all areas to be considered out of drought. The government’s national drought group was told on Wednesday that despite the “weather whiplash” brought by Storm Austen and Boelo, the recent rain has not changed the drought outlook.Less than six miles away from Ardingly, Southern Water’s Weir Wood reservoir is 80% full because a water treatment works at the site has been out of action since 2018.“It’s crazy that they’ve got Weir Wood next door and they’re not using it. I think that’s madness,” Allan said.Graham Ward, who has lived in Haywards Heath for his whole life, also said it was “crazy” that there was a full neighbouring reservoir that cannot be used.During the drought in 2025, South East Water announced emergency plans to connect the Ardingly and Weir Wood reservoirs together by an overground pipeline. When the rain came and the drought conditions eased, these plans were shelved.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionSouthern Water is now seeking to rebuild the treatment works at Weir Wood by 2030, and South East Water is conducting a feasibility study of a buried pipeline to connect the two reservoirs.But after government guidance to stockpile essential goods, water scarcity has become a pressing concern for local residents. “We’re really not that far away from Weir Wood, and we’ve got Ardingly with hardly any water in it and we’re told to buy water. It’s just crazy,” said Allan.Ward said he has already been storing water for some time in anticipation.The Environment Agency would expect reservoir storage to be about 75% at this time of year. Photograph: Jill Mead/The GuardianArdingly supplies about 95,000 properties served by South East Water in Haywards Heath, Uckfield and the surrounding areas. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images“I am worried, but I also think there should be responsibility on the water companies to get the reservoirs working as they should be. The infrastructure is crumbling and it’s not fit for purpose any more; if we continually have hot summers, this is going to be a problem every year,” he said.Delphine Hazeldone, who has lived in Haywards Heath for more than 20 years, also said she has never seen the Ardingly reservoir so low.“Our relatives in Australia, they’re always asking for updates and they’re horrified. It is a definite worry, we’re approaching 80, but we think well, it’ll be our children and our children’s children facing the problem. The whole thing is a mess.”Delphine Hazeldon said she had never seen the reservoir so low. Photograph: Jill Mead/The GuardianA spokesperson at Southern Water said: “Weir Wood reservoir is being rebuilt to ensure long-term water resilience for the North Sussex region, in the face of climate change and population growth. The existing treatment works date from the 1950s and reached the end of its operational life, with significant reliability and water-quality challenges. The site was therefore taken out of supply in 2018. “While a number of options were considered, a complete rebuild was identified as the best long-term solution to provide a reliable and resilient water supply for customers in the area. While we already supply water to South East Water through an existing interconnected network, Ardingly’s current situation would not be resolved if Weir Wood treatment works were operational.”Water minister, Emma Hardy, who chaired a national drought group meeting on Wednesday, said: “Despite the recent rain, the situation remains serious. As we move through autumn and winter, we now face the challenge of having drought and flood simultaneously as the rain struggles to be absorbed by the hardened ground.“Resilience to our changing climate is key and we need to be thinking about next year now. Water companies must continue to take every available measure to secure current supplies while also ensuring that we start the spring in the strongest possible position.”South East Water declined to comment.