Water abstraction during prolonged dry weather and drought

Current situation and forward look

See ourthe Environment Agency’s water situation reports for more information about the current situation in England.

See the Met Office 3-month outlook for an indication of possible temperature and rainfall conditions over the next 3 months.

Effects of prolonged dry weather and drought

Prolonged dry weather and drought can affect:

• the ability to irrigate and lift crops – see the irrigation prospects
• the quality and quantity of crops farmers and growers can produce
• the ability of licence holders to keep within their abstraction licence limits
• the reliability of normal water sources
• animal health and welfare – see the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board guidance on water supply problems for livestock farms
• private water supplies
• managed wetlands and other environmental features

How abstraction licence holders can get help

If you thinkdo younot willthink notyou’ll be able to keep to the conditions of your abstraction licence, please contact us. Wethe Environment Agency. They will discusstalk yourto you about short-term options for improving your access to water outside the conditions of your licence.

Normally, wethe willEnvironment expectAgency expects you to apply to vary (change) your licence to reflect any short-term options wethat maythey permit. This means you will not need to request similar options again in the future. WeThey are unlikely to approve repeat requests if you have not varied your licence.

Some examples of options wethey may consider are:

• extending your abstraction season
• allowing you to fillrefill your storage reservoirs at higher flows beforeafter yourthe licencewinter abstraction season startshas –ended but(normally please31 noteMarch thateach opportunitiesyear) – you will need to dotell thisthem maywhy beyou severelyhave limitednot duebeen able to currentrefill environmentalyour conditionsreservoir during your authorised winter abstraction period
• trading water rights – you will need to find someone to trade with (the volume of water available to trade may be less than you have on your licence)
• aggregating (joining) licences together to give more flexibility over where water can be used
• adding or moving abstraction points
• increasing the quantities on your licence to meet additional demand (where water is available)
• potentially using water and sewage company treated wastewater in certain circumstances (– contact usthe Environment Agency for more details)details

WeThe Environment Agency can only consider short-term options that follow ourtheir abstraction licensing strategies. The options must not damage the environment or affect the rights of existing lawful water users.

Please apply to change (vary) your abstraction licence – this will help you become more resilient to prolonged dry weather and drought in the longer term.

The Environment Agency currently has a large backlog of abstraction licence applications, so weplease encourage you to apply as early as possible.

Plan for the future

Climate change may increase the frequency of prolonged dry weather and drought.

You should plan how you will improve the resilience of your water supplies. For example, consider if you can:

• use the water you abstract more efficiently
• harvest rainwater
• change your cropping plans or build a storage reservoir to fill in the winter
• buy water from other abstraction licence holders – this is called trading water rights

See more information on water use for farmers, growers and land managers in Protecting our water, soil and air.

Check your abstraction licence

Check your licence before you contact the Environment Agency to make sure:

• you know how to comply with it
• it meets your needs – if not you should change your licence

You can manage your water abstraction licence and submit abstraction returns online.

Contact the Environment Agency

Please get in touch with us to discuss what options might be available.