Water levels in rivers/reservoirs are frighteningly low here, and 99% of the country is officially in drought, but weirdly we don't have any sort of ban. Many people locally have their own well/borehole etc, and there are loads and loads of underground springs, but everyone keeps their water for veg, ornamentals have to survive or die, and nobody has a pond unless its for animals, although most old houses have an outdoor water tank (plunge pool size and depth) which doubles as a drinking spot for insects. Hardly anybody has rainwater butts either, and even gutters and downpipes aren't always to be found! Some people have a huge plastic cube instead of a butt, which is either filled from the well or the water tank or by very Heath Robinson wide diameter hoses coming down from roofs. We do have a lot of rain (normally) in Feb/Mar - its almost the same as the annual UK rainfall, but in 2-3 months - and we never have any to speak of during June/July/August. I have never seen the water situation like it is here, it is truly shocking. I use grey water the same as Lady A, as I do have a few ornamental perenials to establish, although most of them are drought tolerant, they still need fussing for the first couple of years. I also keep all scraps of water from showers/boiling kettle/running it to get hot etc. We don't flush the loo every time, like in Australia. I am about to give up my tomato beds, I feel I can't justify them, because we keep having 40+ temps as well, and they are not growing well, which is hardly a disaster in the global scheme of things, but its a local climate change marker for me.
