The Water Act 2003 included provision for the future licensing of currently ‘exempt activities’ such as trickle irrigation, to bring them in line with other abstractors. This means that growers who currently use trickle methods of irrigation without an abstraction licence will have to apply for, and obtain, a ‘new authorisation’ from the Environment Agency. Defra is working steadily towards producing a set of regulations, and new procedures will only be introduced following a further round of public consultation this winter. The new regulations will not be introduced until next year, and the General Election set for May 2015 could yet affect the timetable.
Ministerial approval will be needed prior to legislative change and so much of the detail about how trickle irrigation will be licensed is still not confirmed. This continued delay in telling growers what is going to happen, and when, inevitably increases business uncertainty.
Chris Wall manages Eric Wall Ltd, a family business growing tomatoes in Barnham near Chichester. During the Defra visit, he was keen to emphasise the link between reliable access to water, tomato production and business expansion.
Chris relies on a combination of water abstracted from the aquifer beneath the site and collection of rainwater from the roofs of his 30 acres of glasshouses. At peak times, plants need to be watered 30 times each day and the crop would die within two hours of any break in the application of water.
Chris said: “We’ve known about the need to bring in licensing of trickle for many years but, as time goes on and water availability gets tighter I feel increasingly exposed to future changes in legislation. I need assurance that I’ll get formal permission to continue abstraction practices that we started here back in 1977.”
Jonathan Zwinkels is a director at Madestein UK Ltd, specialist glasshouse lettuce and herb growers outside Chichester relying on a combination of groundwater, harvested rainwater and mains water to maintain production.
Jonathan said: “We’ve worked hard over the years to use water and other inputs carefully and sustainably.
“We have developed a highly innovative hydroponic system that limits water and fertiliser use to optimal levels, which we have now expanded to two hectares of our production of both basil and lettuce.
“We do take our water use seriously. It is one of the key resources that we require to grow crops and we must continue to have suitable - and cost effective - access to it!.”
Paul Hammett, NFU national water resources specialist, was pleased with the chance to build dialogue with Defra as slow but sure progress is made towards trickle licensing.
“We have always said that some ‘grandfather rights’ should apply to those growers who can show their historic use of water, but the growers who we visited demonstrated admirably the economic importance of water use in a rapidly expanding horticultural industry,” he said.
“Although we will have to wait a little longer for the details to emerge, it was comforting for Defra to emphasise that it considers established trickle use to be a legitimate operation and to confirm it will seek to introduce ‘light touch’ regulation to offer licences wherever possible.
“A number of questions remain. How many trickle abstractions will be caught by the relatively new ‘serious damage’ provisions; and how will the ‘new authorisations’ be absorbed into government proposals for abstraction reform?
“Everyone agreed that there is a need to get information to growers as soon as it becomes available so that forward plans can be made. I’m pleased that, through the efforts of members of the West Sussex Growers Association, that dialogue has now started”.