Rapid showers and no flushing toilets: drought pushes Lundy island to the brink

Matt Scantlebury, Lundy’s manager, stands in shallow water at Pondsbury pond, one of the island’s freshwater pools. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The GuardianView image in fullscreenMatt Scantlebury, Lundy’s manager, stands in shallow water at Pondsbury pond, one of the island’s freshwater pools. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The GuardianRapid showers and no flushing toilets: drought pushes Lundy island to the brinkA dry summer has left the Bristol Channel island critically short of water, forcing visitor caps and talk of evacuating its 28 residents

Tom Carr was peering up at the clouds scudding around the island of Lundy, 10 miles off the coast of north Devon. “That one’s definitely got rain in it,” he said. “The mainland will be wet at the moment. And look over at Wales – it’s getting a real soaking just now.”

But above Lundy the sky was, stubbornly, blue. No significant rain has fallen here since the start of May, leading to perilously low water levels. Restrictions have been put in place, visitor numbers limited and there has been talk of the island – home to 28 people – being evacuated.

“It’s been a challenge,” said Carr, a conservation farmer who looks after sheep, cattle and ponies. He has been here more than 20 years and reckons the combination of the climate emergency and the topography of the granite outcrop, which soars out of the Bristol Channel, is the problem.

View image in fullscreenEngineer Tristan Howes inspects a water tank. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The Guardian“Climate change is here, it’s happening. We’re having hotter, drier summers. And when the rain clouds do come in, they tend to split as the approach the island and we stay dry.”

The three-mile long island, famed for its puffins and its pirate past, relies on rainwater and five boreholes. The biggest rain catchment area is in the south. From there – when it does rain – water tumbles down to a collection tank near the harbour. It is then pumped up to an array of tanks and a purification plant near the old lighthouse.

View image in fullscreenA tractor pulls water containers on Lundy. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The GuardianThe island manager, Matt Scantlebury, said a fortnight ago the tanks were at 13% capacity – only enough water to keep the island going for about a week. Tonnes of water was being brought over in 1,000 litre containers on the island boat, the MS Oldenburg, to top up the supply.

The campsite, which is popular with climbers once the cliff-nesting seabirds have gone, was shut. The toilets at the island pub, the Marisco Tavern, were closed. Bath plugs in holiday lets – up to 110 people can stay here – were taken away and people were asked to think twice before flushing toilets.

Happily, on the day the water reached its low point, the island received confirmation that the water in one of its freshwater pools – called Pondsbury – was of a good enough quality to be used.

View image in fullscreenVisitors arriving at Lundy, which is owned by the National Trust. Tourist numbers have been limited because of the water shortage. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The GuardianAbout 12,000 litres of water has been taken from there every day since and the levels are back up to 22.5%. But now the pond is starting to run dry. “And still no proper rain is forecast,” said Scantlebury. “We know we have to find ways of future proofing ourselves.”

To that end, a new 300,000-litre water tank has been ordered. The idea of a desalination plant – seawater is one thing the island is not short of – has been suggested but Scantlebury said it would be expensive and would probably need more energy than the island was capable of producing.

Tristan Howes, the island’s engineer, said finding ways of conserving the little water Lundy had was crucial. “A dripping tap can lose a lot of water,” he said. A broken pipe would be a disaster.

View image in fullscreenDepleted water levels at Pondsbury pond. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The GuardianStaff have got used not only to having a rapid shower but catching the water they use in a bucket and using it to flush the toilet. “It’s about being as efficient as we can.”

Luckily, visitors to Lundy, which is owned by the National Trust and managed by the Landmark Trust, tend to be the sort who don’t mind a little bit of hardship.

Michelle Phillips, an animal lover keen to see the island’s ponies, and her husband, Fred Bullinaria, arrived for a day trip with 1.6 litres of water, four Lucozades and a tube of hydration tablets in their backpacks. “I think that will keep us going,” she said.

Vick and Ed Crane were staying on Lundy for a few days to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. They had bought wet wipes to limit their water usage. “We don’t mind roughing it,” said Vick. “That’s part of the Lundy experience. It’s an adventure.”

View image in fullscreen1,000-litre containers have been used to replenish water supplies on the island, which usually relies on rainwater and five boreholes. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The GuardianThe residents are positive, always looking for the bright side.

Tara McEvoy-Wilding, assistant warden on the island, said some creatures had done well from the hot summer. “It’s been a good year for butterflies and moths.”

And it has also been a good summer for the Lundy cabbage, a primitive brassica that grows only on the island. “It’s quite a pioneering species and likes dry bare ground where there isn’t much vegetation,” said McEvoy-Wilding. “Hundreds of tiny cabbage plants have started to establish in areas where they wouldn’t normally. So that’s positive, at least.”

View image in fullscreenWorkers top up a water tank. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The GuardianMcEvoy-Wilding said residents had become accustomed to using less water. “You’re more mindful – you only have a short shower and you don’t always flush the toilet. In a way it’s not a bad thing. It makes you think about how much water you could be saving every day by just making very small changes.”

But that doesn’t mean that McEvoy-Wilding is not hoping for rain. “It’s amazing how little rain we’ve had. We had one day in August when it rained for an hour. Absolutely torrential. I was caught in it and got drenched but the ground was so dry it just poured off the island.

“I’ve got an allotment and it’s been hard to keep my vegetables alive. The pumpkins aren’t anywhere near as big as normal. Some nice, steady rain would be perfect.”