ENVIRONMENT : England’s Green Fades to Brown in Record Dry Spell

England’s “green and pleasant land,” as poet William Blake described it, is brown around the edges this spring as much of Britain experiences the most severe drought in memory. The dry spell--the worst in a century--also has affected France, Spain and Italy.

Rivers and reservoirs are barren, trout and salmon streams are disappearing, marshes are emptying, wildlife is vanishing, once-lush pastures are parched and water rationing is widespread.

England has seen four dry winters and 41 months of below-average rainfall; parts of France, Spain and southern Italy are undergoing their fourth consecutive year of drought.

The rain-carrying meteorological depressions that normally cross Britain and Western Europe in winter have been swept north toward Scandinavia, leaving the affected regions critically short of water. The shift in weather patterns remains a mystery.

In southern England, ground water levels are the lowest since reliable records were introduced two centuries ago; Thames region water officials say it is the worst drought since the 1930s; and in East Anglia, it is seen as the worst this century.

“It would need to rain from now until October just to bring ground water levels in some areas back to normal,” a Water Services Assn. spokesman said.

Sir David Attenborough, president of the Royal Society for Nature Conservation, said, “Throughout the country, rivers, lakes and wet areas are literally dying of thirst and our wildlife assets are shrinking.”

The water shortage is compounded by the fact that consumption has increased by 70% over 30 years ago; the average person used 30 gallons per day last year.

Britain has an excess of water in northern England and Scotland, but there is no distribution system to pump supplies to the drier south. The government says building a network would be too costly.

The affluent south, though, has more bathrooms, showers, washing machines and dishwashers than the rest of the nation; there has been a population shift to areas like East Anglia with the least water available.

To combat the water shortage, officials such as the Prince of Wales, in a speech this week, and Environment Minister Michael Howard have called for tough measures to save the country from the crippling drought. These include a ban on garden hoses and sprinklers (about 6 million residents are now covered by this); urging people to take showers rather than baths; repairing leaking mains (thought to lose 25% of the water they carry); installing meters, and more efficient use of farming and industry supplies.

The government has been condemned by opposition politicians for reacting too slowly to the water crisis, particularly for farmlands and wildlife habitats.

In drought-stricken regions in western France, according to the French weather service, residents have been forbidden to water lawns, wash cars or fill swimming pools. But French farmers, who account for 40% of water use, demonstrated in the streets when restrictions were announced.

In Spain, where 17% of the land is already desert, the government has compensated farmers hit by the drought and deferred tax and insurance payments to help them through a financial crisis.

In Italy, the south has been hardest hit, with reservoirs around Bari and Naples badly depleted. Some towns in Sicily have water only at night.

In Britain, deep green lawns are beginning to be seen as evidence that people have defied the watering ban, and the National Rivers Authority has launched a small plane in East Anglia to detect farmers illegally irrigating.

“If we have another dry summer,” said Mike Woodley of the Meteorological Office, “then the situation will be perilous. But even if we have a wet summer, I don’t think it would help the water industry that much.”