In brief....
Under GAEC 2 (Water Abstraction), you must have a licence from the Environment Agency to take (abstract) more than 20 cubic metres (4,400 gallons) of water from an inland or underground source in a single day. Once you have an abstraction licence, you must comply with its conditions when abstracting water
You do not need a licence if you abstract 20 cubic metres or less in a period of 24 hours, provided your abstraction is part of a single operation. If you abstract from the same source at multiple points, the exemption only applies if the combined total of all abstractions is 20 cubic metres or less a day.
If you cannot meet the terms of this derogation then you must to hold and comply with the terms of a water abstraction licence.
You can find more information here about applying for an abstraction licence
You must check what your licence allows you to do and apply to vary your licence if activities are not covered.
This could include:
• extending the abstraction period following a dry summer or taking more water; and
• taking advantage of high river flows in summer to top up a reservoir
You can find more information here about managing your abstraction licence.
In times of water scarcity, the Environment Agency will produce water availability reports (called ‘prospects’) for some parts of England. These provide advance warning of potential seasonal restrictions on water abstraction.
You can find more information here about Environment Agency water situation reports for England