On Sunday, April 29, 2012 8:36:02 AM UTC+1, Doug wrote:

What I cannot understand though is why the floods we are having are
not being used to fill up reservoirs and so eliminate the hosepipe ban
when we get the next lengthy dry spell, which will leave our gardens
parched of essential moisture. Why is the floodwater just being left
to go into the sea instead of being diverted into reservoirs? Aren't
reservoirs served by rivers anyway? It would,probably take only a
small fraction of the floodwater to fill up our reservoirs.

I suspect that most flooding is below the reservoirs. I also expect that
the volume of floodwater is small compared to the volume required to fully
replenish them.

--
Andy McC