Drought: Stoke Charity pond near the River Dever dries out

The River Dever is at its lowest level in many years and the pond at Stoke Charity, fed by the river, is also at its most empty in at least 20 years. Where usually there is water, ducks and fish today there is just mud and stones.

Its owner Ruth Guy, of Stoke Charity, said: “We have lived here 21 years. The pond is fed by two deep boreholes that are now a foot below the surface, and have not flowed for three to four months. The pond is drying out.

In 2005 the pond was very low but the river has never dried. The river never dried in 1976, there was still a trickle.”

The impact on wildlife can be stark. Ms Guy said she had recently found a 23-inch long dead pike and witnessed kingfishers desperately attempting to find food in the mud where usually they dive into the stream.

She lays the blame at the door of water companies: “The water companies are increasingly abstracting from the river. It is an easy way to get good clean water. The river does not stand a chance if there is a drought and over-abstraction.”

Ms Guy says she sometimes notices a definite drop when usually the river levels rise or fall gradually and questions whether that is because of abstraction.

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Parts of the Dever valley are a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It flows into the River Test. Hampshire chalk streams such as the Test and Itchen are highly unusual and only seen abroad in parts of France and New Zealand.

Lucy Dowson, chairman of Wonston Parish Council which covers Stoke Charity, said: “I have been here 25 years and have never seen the pond so dry. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the impact of global warming. It will have a detrimental effect on wildlife."

Southern Water have been asked about water abstraction but has not responded.

A spokesman for the Dever Society said: “We are very concerned at the low levels of the Dever, one of the sources of the internationally important River Test, and that increasing drought episodes due to climate change make it imperative that we safeguard this important resource by reducing extraction and consumption.”

Martin De Retuerto, Director of Nature Recovery at Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust: “The unusually hot and dry period this year has put our chalk rivers under significant stress and wildlife is suffering. These rivers are especially rich in wildlife because of the high quality, oxygen-rich, spring-fed water that create consistent flows throughout the year.

“The lack of rainfall and unusually hot temperatures has compounded the effects of water abstraction by water companies, depleting the aquifers which feed important rivers, such as the Dever.

“The drying and low flow conditions further compounds the effects of pollutants and is also leading to algal blooms and high water temperatures. For decades, investment in sustainable water supplies, efficient infrastructure and reducing leakage has been severely lacking.

“Globally renowned chalk rivers, which should have our highest protections, are not resilient to the changing climate and are being pushed to a tipping point by unsustainable water abstraction and pollution.”