LOCAL councillor and Central Devon LibDem parliamentary candidate Ed Tyldesley has called on South West Water to invest in their infrastructure and protect the River Exe as the company seeks a drought permit for Wimbleball Reservoir.

This comes after a week in which their sewage overflow monitors triggered for 948 hours across the South West, with 1,038 separate spill events recorded.

South West Water has applied to the Environment Agency for a temporary drought permit.

This permit would allow them to temporarily suspend a release of 9 million litres of water a day into the river.

These water releases are important for maintaining the natural flow of the river, protecting them and the wildlife that rely on them.

South West Water says the proposed six-month permit would have a “negligible” environmental impact.

However, the company's own water-resources planning acknowledges that Wimbleball releases play an important role in maintaining flows in the River Exe.

The Environment Agency has also confirmed that large releases from the reservoir assist salmon migration.

The six months covered by this drought permit are peak salmon migration season, and salmon are a critically endangered species in the River Exe.

Ed says: “South West Water say the environmental impact will be negligible. But if these releases weren't important, why were they made a statutory requirement in the first place?

“Before changing the rules, South West Water should be doing everything they can to reduce the amount of water they lose through their own creaking infrastructure.”

“The purpose of the permit is to retain water in the reservoir during drought conditions, but they could save exponentially more water by fixing the leaks in their system."

According to the Environment Agency's latest industry figures, South West Water lost an average 98 million litres of water per day to leaks in 2024/25.

Wimbleball has a full capacity of approximately 21 billion litres. If South West Water fixed their leaks, they could save Wimbleball's entire capacity in just 8 months.

Ed added: “South West Water loses almost 100 million litres of water a day through leakage. But this drought permit application is seeking to retain around 9 million litres a day under certain circumstances. It's clear where their priorities should be."

“Obviously, fixing leaks isn't an immediate substitute for managing a drought. But climate change is making summers like this year's much more likely. South West Water need to start preparing for more dry, hot summers, instead of asking to change the rules that are in place to protect nature and the environment.”

"South West Water need to stop taking us for fools. They need to invest in the infrastructure, fix the leaks, protect our rivers, and stop filling them with sewage."

Ed Tyldesley is the county councillor for Chulmleigh and Landkey, and the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Central Devon.

Last week (September 7 to 13), Water-Watch.co.uk recorded 948 hours of sewage discharge across the South West.

The discharge events were at 293 sites.

Members of the public can object to this drought permit by emailing [email protected], quoting South West Water, NPS/DP/260017. The deadline is September 23.