Yorkshire Water has applied for its third drought permit over concerns that reservoir water levels may not be replenished by winter rains.
The Bradford-based company has written to the Environment Agency asking whether it can change permits on the River Derwent at Elvington and at Loftsome Bridge for the 2018/19 licence year.
Yorkshire Water has already applied to extract more water from the River Wharfe and the River Don because it was in danger of breaching its annual abstraction limits for these watercourses.