of the upper rhine has become. in fact, the river levels have dropped so far here that they have exposed an old stone footbridge. you can see people picking their way across it to the island in the river, which was previous to now only accessible by boat. a lot of those people, i think, rather enjoying the novelty of the new landscape, but there is serious concern here. that s because this is one of europe s great working rivers. goods go up and down this river, and we have seen barges here today. just a few of them making their way very slowly through the remaining water channel that is left there. to the factories, the industrial complexes, fetching and carrying raw materials and manufactured products. the levels are now so low that some of those barges simply can t get through. the people who run the barges are telling us they re having to lighten the cargo in order to make sure the vessels sit higher up in the water. they re keeping a close eye on the forecast, which is that there
over the last ten years, we have spent £500 million and we are at the forefront of some leakage technology, including satellites. at the moment, we have got additional gangs on working 24/7. we are fixing around 200 leaks a week at the moment, trying to get all visible leaks done within 48 hours. but, of course, customers will still see some leaks and we are prioritising those and getting round to them as fast as we can. what happens if it doesn t rain this autumn and winter? that s exactly why we are asking now for customers to take action. when we look at our model, and we have to model forward, we don t know and can t be certain that it will rain. so that is why we take action now. that allows us then to apply for drought permits and drought orders, which mean we can t reduce some compensation flows from reservoirs, it means we can extract more water from rivers during the winter. and that will all allow us to sustain water supply into next year, but also help recovery. and when we
weather, there is a drag on hosepipe ban across much of the country for england, ourwater ban across much of the country for england, our water companies doing enough to fix the leaks? there is a drought. enough to fix the leaks? there is a drou~ht. ~ . enough to fix the leaks? there is a drourht, . ., , enough to fix the leaks? there is a drought- enough to fix the leaks? there is a drought. water companies are not doinu a drought. water companies are not doing enough a drought. water companies are not doing enough to a drought. water companies are not doing enough to deal a drought. water companies are not doing enough to deal with a drought. water companies are not doing enough to deal with leakages| doing enough to deal with leakages and other problems we saw, the sewage going into rivers, and i think some of the regulation should have been better used, i would have liked to see greater fines against those companies that are not doing what is necessary. but ther
and all we re asking retail is that returns are sustainable so we can afford to invest in the crops for next year and continue to make sure we are producing the food of the country needs. what restrictions do various parts of the agricultural sector face when it comes to water usage? the farmers that have irrigation are the only ones that rely on applying water on a large scale. many of them have irrigation reservoirs that are now empty. if they re not able to extract more water during the summer months anyway. where it s impacting is those with flexible licenses. there is also the chance that there is with permanent licences will be stopped from taking water out of the rivers. we are really asking that food production is prioritised and the significance of water to underwrite our food security is recognised so we can make sure we grow as many crops as possible
this is bbc news. i m martine croxall. the headlines. millions of people face restrictions on their water use as a drought is officially declared across parts of england. the declaration covers parts of the south west, southern and central england, and the east of england after prolonged dry weather. this is an exceptional summer and we could all think about how we use our water. in fact, even think about where it comes from. when you have a shower, that water is coming from the environment, from rivers like here. there s extreme heat elsewhere in europe, too firefighters are tackling huge blazes in france, and rivers are drying up in germany. the uk s economy shrank between april and june according to official estimates. england s health chiefs say they