If, as increasingly expected, the new ministerial team at Defra is preparing legislation to bring ‘new authorisations’ into the existing licensing regime next year, then a public consultation must be on the cards this autumn.
Trickle irrigators have certainly been expecting regulation for many years but, time and time again, the regulatory step change has never materialised. Growers may, therefore, be forgiven for thinking that trickle licensing is more talk than action.
However, those looking for signs that, this time, things could be different point to the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), combined with government ambitions for water abstraction reform.
The argument runs that, if currently unlicensed activities are to be properly and fairly absorbed into any new licensing regime in the early 2020s, then Defra and the Environment Agency must begin the transition process of providing trickle irrigators with licences without further delay.
Ministerial approval will be needed, so much of the detail about how trickle irrigation will be licensed is still not confirmed. But NFU members representing the ‘trickle irrigation sector’ received some reassurance when they met Environment Minister Rory Stewart in July.
He set out his commitment to support business growth in the soft and top fruit sectors (which is wholly dependent on a secure supply of water) while meeting the needs of the environment.
When seeking clues about what the licensing process for trickle irrigation might look like, the NFU is reassured by Defra’s desire for a ‘light touch’ approach, but what might that look like in practice?
Paul Hammett, NFU water resources specialist, believes that the case has been firmly made about ‘grandfather rights’ applying to growers able to show their historic use of water.
“It is comforting that Defra considers established trickle use to be a legitimate operation, so any forthcoming consultation exercise and subsequent regulation is likely to focus on the volume of water to be permitted and the restrictions on that use,” he said.
“But while the NFU is working on the presumption that all existing trickle operations will be brought into the licensing system, we are conscious that environmental regulations such as the ‘serious damage’ provisions of the 2003 Water Act and the ‘no deterioration’ requirements of the WFD are already constraining activities of existing spray irrigation licences. Those constraints will presumably have to be accommodated in trickle operations in some water bodies.”
If all, or at least the overwhelming majority, of existing trickle users can expect to be granted a licence in due course, a crucial issue for all will be the volume offered.
“We don’t yet know what sort of evidence of existing use will be required but it’s reasonable to suppose, for example, that licensed volumes could be based on recent actual use of the applicant,” said Paul Hammett.
Another crucial element of trickle licensing for the NFU and its members will be any conditions that could be imposed on surface water abstractions at low flows.
Indoor and container grown crop production is specifically excluded from ‘Section 57 restrictions’ that can otherwise be imposed on spray irrigation operations when low river flows pose a threat of environmental damage. Meanwhile, ‘hands off flow’ conditions on surface water licences are becoming more prevalent and Defra has flagged up its ambition to restrict abstraction of all classes of user at ‘very low river flows’ as part of its reform proposals.
Mr Hammett said: “We need to understand how existing regulatory exemptions, designed to recognise that regular applications of water are vital for glasshouse and container grown crops, will be reconciled with the wider regulatory regime designed to protect surface water ecology in times of drought.”
So what happens next? If Defra presses ahead with regulation in 2016, then the next few years will be busy for ‘new authorisation’ growers. The application time table is still to be decided, and will feature in any consultation, but is likely to include an application window for the grower, possibly two years, followed by a determination deadline for the Environment Agency, possibly three years.
We could be on the verge of a five or six year process taking us into the early 2020s, by which time abstraction reform could be upon us.