Farmers should be aware of a raft of changes to the water abstraction licence process.

A previous link to a water source used to be enough for automatic renewal but now licence holders who want to renew will be provided with details of historic uptake and will have to justify why they should have the licence again.

The motivation is to update the system to a digital one as well as closer monitoring of how much water is being taken from catchment areas.

Further changes mean farmers who haven’t used the water they were entitled to will lose their right to a licence and certain activities, such as trickle and drip, that were previously exempt will now require one. Defra will also be running four pilot schemes to test the concept of licence trading within a catchment area.

Farmers need to make sure they understand fully what licences they currently have, and when they need renewing. They also need to factor in enough time for the renewal process – it isn’t a two-minute job.

In the meantime, the Environment Agency has taken a small but important step by launching its online service, Manage my Abstraction Licence, which is hosted on Gov.uk. Licence holders are being encouraged to register in order to view licences and receive expiry alerts. If they want to they can grant access to agents to manage licences on their behalf.

The Environment Agency will continue to develop its digital service so that, in time, it will be able to be used to apply for licences, trade them, report water usage more simply and to link licences to relevant information on river flows and levels. By registering now, farmers can access these features as soon as they are made available.

Further information

Contact Savills Rural