“By reason of an exceptional shortage of rain”, ministers have approved a temporary drought order for South East Water. The measure takes effect today, Wednesday 3 December 2025, and runs until midnight on 2 June 2026, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Defra says the order responds to a “serious deficiency of supplies” in the company’s Sussex area. It covers abstraction on the River Ouse at Barcombe Mills and releases from Ardingly Reservoir into the Shell Brook. For clarity to Northern readers: this is the Sussex Ouse, not the York Ouse that flows through the city of York.

Minimum “augmentation” and “compensation” releases from Ardingly Reservoir are being reduced from 4,000 cubic metres per day to 1,000 cubic metres per day - equivalent to a drop from 4 megalitres to 1 megalitre. The change is designed to conserve storage while maintaining public supply.

At Barcombe, the natural flow threshold at which South East Water may abstract falls from 20 megalitres per day to 15 megalitres per day. If Ardingly sits below 45.7 metres Above Ordnance Datum - defined as a usable storage of under 500 megalitres - the threshold drops further to 10 megalitres per day.

The company’s daily abstraction ceiling remains 90.2 megalitres, but the point at which that maximum is permitted shifts. Instead of needing natural flow above 196 megalitres per day, the cap now applies at over 184.89 megalitres - or 173.78 megalitres if the reservoir “trigger level” is reached. The order also increases the authorised take once natural flows exceed 40 megalitres per day.

Seasonal limits are eased as well. Abstraction that was previously allowed only from November to April under one schedule of the licence can now continue for the duration of the order. The affected abstraction licence is number 21/128, originally reissued by the Environment Agency on 30 March 2004.

Environmental safeguards are spelled out. South East Water must follow the monitoring plan in the October 2025 Environmental Assessment Report by Johns Associates, report weekly to the Environment Agency, and amend methods if the regulator instructs. Any indicators listed in Table 5.2 must be reported immediately with agreed mitigation put in place.

The order does not grant permission for harm: it states that nothing within it authorises environmental damage under the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2015. Records must be kept and provided on request, and the Agency may require changes at any point.

Defra records that no objections were lodged to the application. The licence and the environmental report can be viewed by appointment at Teville Gate House in Worthing via the Environment Agency. For Northern readers, the takeaway is clear: drought orders allow water companies to flex river rules to protect supply while regulators police impacts - a tool that could be applied anywhere in England if conditions demand.