NORTH West Water was today warned to make sure it was properly prepared for future droughts.
The privatised company lifted its 14-month hosepipe and sprinkler ban yesterday. But the Environment Agency said it hoped that drought orders would not be needed if the region was hit by another dry spell.
Dr Sue Walker, the agency's regional water chief, said: "We meet regularly with North West Water to ensure that a product management strategy is in place and we are keen to ensure that progress made during the drought, on issues such as leakage control and better use of existing resources, is main- tained.
"The environment may recover from a short period of degradation, but will suffer permanent damage as a drought continues into a second year and beyond."
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