They are considering it, but it will never happen .....
A drought order bans all non-essential use, so that would mean we would have to ....
A) Block all the weirs and stop all seepage
B) Stop navigation on the river
C) Close the fish passes
Now, A is hard to do as we may need to use the weirs at
any time , eg. following a big storm , if they are blocked and sealed, we can't do this ...
B) is almost impossible to do , as it is a little known fact that the river is the Queens highway upon which everyone has the right of unimpeded passage at all times, we can't even lock the gates of a lock at night without applying months beforehand, and then usually only in the winter ....The only exception i have ever seen was on July 7th after the bombings we closed the river , but that was on the issue of an emergency harbourmasters notice ... The passenger boat companies would be up in arms, people would demand licence fee refunds etc etc ...Basically restricting navigation is an absolute no-no, and all the river users groups know this ....
C) The 'fish people' will never let this happen, you know how eco-friendly everyone is now !
Thames may threaten a drought order but in reality it is most unlikely, as long as there is water in the river, they wont ( i wouldn't have thought
) however other water companies water comes solely from aquifers and boreholes they might ....
