The regulations will affect around 5,000 abstractions known as ‘new authorisations’.
From 1 January 2018, it will be a requirement to apply for a water resources abstraction licence from the Environment Agency where more than 20 cubic metres a day is abstracted for a previously exempt activity.
Previously exempt activities include abstraction for trickle (drip) irrigation and other forms of horticultural irrigation such as hydroponics and flood irrigation of cultivated land.
It also applies to abstractions that support sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs), water level management plans (WLMPs), Environmental Stewardship sites, water meadows and managed wetlands where abstraction is taking place under an exemption and currently unlicensed.
The new arrangements also apply to farmers and growers in some parts of the country which have been ‘geographically exempt areas’, such as parts of the Scottish border.
Abstractors affected by these changes will benefit from a two year window to apply for a licence, beginning on 1 January 2018 and closing on 31 December 2019.
The Environment Agency will then determine the new licence application before 31 December 2022.
The NFU is recommending early engagement with the Environment Agency where members need a new abstraction licence for a currently exempt activity like trickle irrigation.
Paul Hammett, NFU water specialist, said that the NFU will be working closely with the Environment Agency when the application window opens to both raise awareness and signpost members towards the guidance and advice they need.
“Farmers and growers should make an early start in understanding what they will need to do to secure their long term access to water,” Paul said.
“Our advice to members is to take time in preparing their application, especially the evidence they will need to collect to support it – some of which might be site specific”, he said.
“And don’t lose sight of the statutory deadlines. Don’t rush, but don’t leave it too late!”
The NFU has consistently called for simplicity with the ‘new authorisations’ process and we are expecting the Environment Agency take a light touch, risk-based approach to the licensing process.
This approach means that the majority of licences will be granted based on existing abstraction requirements. However, applicants will need to demonstrate their abstraction requirements, and show that abstraction has taken place within the previous seven years.
More information is available here on applying for a new abstraction licence for a currently exempt abstraction.
Until the Environment Agency (or Natural Resources Wales) makes a decision on the application, farmers and growers can continue to take water based on their historic rates of abstraction.
However, when the current exemptions are removed, the rule changes will also affect activities where abstraction has yet to commence.
So for water users planning a new abstraction or intending to increase their current abstraction volumes then, after 1 January 2018, they will need to have a new abstraction licence in place before the abstraction can commence or increase.
The transitional arrangements do not apply in cases where, for example, a new site installs trickle irrigation for the first time, or an existing site expands so that more water for trickle irrigation is needed than has been historically used.
In these cases, farmers and growers will need to allow sufficient time to make the necessary ‘conventional’ application which can take the Environment Agency several months to process.
More information is available here on applying for a water abstraction or impoundment licence
Once a licence has been produced, previously exempt abstractors will be subject to water charges for the first time.
More information is available on the Environment Agency abstraction charges scheme here.