The Environment Agency already sends out flood alerts and now it says abstractors in the two Midlands counties will receive more communications about the impact of low flows and levels on licences.
The NFU's view
The NFU鈥檚 Water Resource Specialist, Mark Betson, said: 鈥淔armers have been able to manage their abstraction licences online for a while now via the Manage Your Water Abstraction Service and receive an email alert when water levels trigger any Hands-off-Flow or Level conditions they may have on their licence due to low flows or levels.
Abstractors in all areas are encouraged to register to the online service as there are many benefits, including:
- 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Receiving timely alerts that allow you to make optimal use of available water resources (in accordance with the conditions on your licence)
- 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Seeing a summary of your abstraction licence online
- 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Seeing a log of communications from the Environment Agency
鈥淔or some areas, the missing element until now has been an alert to tell you when you can start abstracting again.
"The Environment Agency will soon put that right with alerts telling you when you can start abstracting again, when flows and levels return to above licence thresholds.
'Important step'
鈥淭his means agriculture being resilient and ready when dry weather hits reducing flow in rivers, but also for farming and regulators to be ready for us to use and store water when that switches to more intense rainfall and high flow conditions.鈥�
As part of the NFU鈥檚 Blueprints for Growth we have some clear asks of government on accessing water:
鈥淲e need to be using water more smartly as the climate changes and the weather becomes more unpredictable.鈥�
Dr Mark Betson
- Access to water for livestock and crop production in times of shortages to be secured through planning policies that support on-farm water storage, investment in water-use efficiency on farm, and innovation in more water-efficient crops and farming systems
- The value of access to water to be recognised in any future food strategy
- Government to provide support for agricultural water resource planning, to ensure fair access to water alongside public water supply and other sectors in regional water resource planning groups
- The Environment Agency to commit to timely communication and engagement with abstraction licence holders as they pursue abstraction reform programmes, and to demonstrate a transparent and fair process for any changes proposed
What happens next?
The Environment Agency will shortly be getting in touch with abstractors in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire by email and post to tell them about this change.
The Environment Agency advises all abstractors to carefully read and fully understand the conditions in their licence.
You can manage your abstraction licence, including how you receive alerts, online here: