Winter water warning

Wednesday 31st December 2003, 12:00AM GMT.

THE Island’s water stocks are 20 per cent down on this time last year.

A dry summer and a drier than average autumn have left the Jersey New Waterworks Company faced with firing up the desalination plant in the next few weeks to get reservoir levels full for the summer.Queen’s Valley is particularly dry, but the company has denied continued speculation that the reservoir has been deliberately emptied because of high nitrate levels.’It is simply because there has not been enough rain,’ said managing director Howard Snowden.

‘Queen’s Valley is always the hardest and last to fill because we have more water resources in the west than the east.’

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