Defra has announced it intends to introduce volume controls on a range of new water transfer licences that would apply where, for example, internal drainage boards (IDBs) transferred water from a main river into their district.
The NFU does not believe a sufficient case has been made to bring transfers of water into the licensing system.
Paul Hammett, NFU water specialist, said: "The proposed imposition of regulations on water transfers used by internal drainage boards (IDBs) to manage water levels for the benefit of farm irrigation in the drainage districts could have an adverse impact on the irrigated crop sector.
“There are many good examples where water levels are managed in collaborative partnership between the Environment Agency, IDBs and farmers - arrangements that work extremely well and should not be jeopardised," he said. "We are concerned that the introduction of transfer licences could destabilise existing arrangements.”
Water transfers are made for a range of purposes including environmental benefit, navigation and abstraction. When water is transferred for the purposes of abstraction, the ‘end use’ is subject to abstraction licensing so the consumptive element of the system is already well managed.
The water transfer proposals are included in Defra’s ‘New Authorisation’ programme to bring a range of currently unlicensed activity (including trickle irrigation) into the abstraction licensing system.
The NFU has called for a simple new registration process for water transfers that is charge-free.