By Andrew Quinn

SCOTLAND is at an increasing risk of drought and measures must be put in place now to ensure water supplies are kept at safe levels, researchers have warned.

They say public and private supplies of drinking water could be under threat due to drier summers and depleted reservoir levels.

The project, which investigated how people are affected by droughts in Scotland, was led by Kerri McClymont, a PhD student in Heriot-Watt’s School of Energy, Geoscience.

She worked with Professor Lindsay Beevers, from the University of Edinburgh, and the project was funded by Scotland’s Centre of Expertise for Waters.

They have now recommended that Scotland creates an improved early warning system for droughts and uses tourism campaigns to ask visitors to use water wisely.

They also said the perception of Scotland as a wet country may encourage people to waste water.

Scotland experienced water scarcity in 2018, 2020 and 2021, with the latter being the second driest summer in Scotland for 160 years.

At the time, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency said above average rainfall was required to see long-term recovery because a “significant rainfall deficit” had built up over the summer.

Water scarcity and droughts pose a particular risk to private water supplies, which supply communities and businesses.

Professor Beevers said: “In Scotland, lots more people have a private water supply than in the UK as a whole, especially in rural areas. This will pose a problem as droughts increasebecause it makes resilience planning more complex.”

Around 3 per cent of Scotland’s population is on a private water supply – more than 150,000 people.

Private supplies are more prevalent in rural areas. One-third of the population in Argyll and Bute is reliant on such a water supply, compared to 0.1% of the population in Aberdeen.

The research found rural communities on private water supplies may experience enhanced exposure to droughts compared to urban areas.

Ms McClymont said: “The focus of the research was on the social and environmental factors that affect people’s ability to prepare for or recover from a drought hazard. These cover everything from people’s age, how isolated they are, and what access they have to early warning systems.” The study found elderly or very young people are more vulnerable to droughts, as they are likely to have reduced mobility or poor health.

Poor health and low income also make people more susceptible to droughts, and less able to adapt in response to drought risk She added, “Scotland is really good at assessing flood and drought risk, but we need to understand the circumstances that can enhance people’s vulnerability to drought exposure, to better communicate drought risk and improve personal resilience. This can help to mitigate the impact these factors have on vulnerability.

“We identified policy recommendations to improve communication around drought forecasting, drought preparedness and drought response to increase resilience for people on a private water supply and more broadly for people across Scotland.”

The study also noted tourists can be unaware of their water use, as well as creating greater demand for water.

Each person in Scotland uses about 165 litres of water each day, and increasing water use, population growth and climate change will increasingly affect future water resources.

In October, Scottish Water said maintaining some public water supplies remained a “significant challenge”.

The company said it was “unusual” for it to ask customers in autumn to take “simple steps” to conserve water.

Researchers say the River Spey and the River Tay have been identified as drought hotspots in Scotland where the frequency of droughts could see a two-or three-fold rise.

Scotland experienced a drought in 2018, which caused large areas of the country to experience water scarcity, with more than 500 private water supplies running dry nationwide, particularly in the north east.

In 2019, the water level of a Highland loch is thought to have dropped to its lowest in at least 750 years. Loch Vaa, near Aviemore, had been mysteriously losing water since September the previous year.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency had suggested the loch had suffered due to a “relatively dry”

winter.

Last year’s drought meant that in July there were more than 30 tankers transporting supplies by road around the country. This was reduced through August, but continued in some areas where demand remained high, such as Tighnabruaich and Skye.

People with reduced private water supplies were offered free bottled water through a Scottish Government support scheme.

It came after some springs, streams and rivers used for private supplies, particularly in the north and west, were running dry and, despite the forecasts of heavy rain for parts of Scotland, it was feared many remained vulnerable.