South West Water has announced that it is confident that hosepipe bans will not be needed in Devon or Cornwall this year, even if the weather is hot and dry.

In 2022, South West Water introduced a hosepipe ban in Cornwall and parts of North Devon after the biggest drought in the region for over 130 years. This was extended to other parts of Devon in 2023.

Since then, a combination of record-level investment, periods of heavy rainfall, and customers’ efforts to save water has boosted reservoir levels across the South West.

David Harris, South West Water’s Drought and Resilience Director, said: “While it may seem obvious that recent heavy rainfall has led to increased reservoir levels across the region, over one-third of the additional storage has come from our own supply interventions and customers reducing their own usage.

“As a direct result of our investments, interventions, the weather and our customers reducing their use of water, we are confident that we are in a strong position to navigate whatever weather we face this year without the need for water restrictions. This does not mean we will stop our efforts there, we will continue to invest and deliver clean water supplies across our region and prepare as much as we can for climate change and unpredictable weather patterns.”

Roadford Reservoir is now at 100 per cent storage compared with 68 per cent last year, while Colliford Reservoir is at 98.5 per cent compared to 60 per cent last year.