Protecting the water supply for your crops

Variable weather conditions highlight how important it is to protect your water supply.

There are a number of things you can do right now to ensure your water supply is resilient during times of severe weather.

This information sets out how to review water sources available in your area, audit your current water usage, consider options for recycling, storage or improving irrigation efficiency and offers information on negotiating a mains water contract.

It also covers why it's important to check your water abstraction licences are appropriate and shares advice on how to plan for water supply interruptions.

Water supply needs to meet both daily and annual requirements and may include one or more of the following:

• Mains water is supplied to farms by wholesalers as part of the public supply network
• Abstracted water/private water supply is taken from rivers, streams, ponds, wells, boreholes and even drains
• Water harvesting/recycled water is that caught from roofing or captured to be reused, potentially after storage
• Stored water is held in reservoirs, ponds and tanks
• Emergency water supplies can be obtained from specialist companies providing tankered water.

Who is the environmental regulator?

The environment regulator means Environment Agency (EA) in England, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in Wales, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland, and Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) in Northern Ireland.

Audit current water use

A water audit could help identify where water could be used more efficiently or captured and recycled. It could also suggest that storage or a backup source may be required. The audit should include:

• Recording weekly/monthly water use by different production areas
• Options for harvesting or recycling water, e.g. from buildings
• Available and potential water storage capacity
• Types of irrigation systems used and an assessment of their efficiency, based on crop growth/quality
• Consideration of how crop water demand is assessed and applications of water scheduled
• An assessment of how long the crops could cope if water was interrupted.

Mains water is supplied to farms by wholesalers. Changes introduced in April 2017 mean business customers (including farmers and growers) now have an intermediary retailer providing billing and other services.

Mains water is the most convenient source but also the most expensive. Prices can be up to 15 times that of abstracted water. Shop around different retailers to ensure you are on the best tariff (find information on the Open Water website). You may find that an interruptible tariff saves you money if you have a backup source or storage. Negotiating for a tariff without sewerage charges is also possible if water is only used for irrigation.

Trickle irrigation is no longer exempt from abstraction licensing in England and Wales. Growers using trickle or drip irrigation and previously operating under the exemption need to apply for a licence with the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales.

Water abstracted from rivers, streams, ponds, wells, boreholes and even drains may require an abstraction licence from the environmental regulator if volumes are above a certain daily limit (either 10 or 20 cubic metres). The cost of abstracted water is much cheaper in winter (November to March) than during summer (April to October).

Some ‘old’ licences were issued as a permanent licence of right but most new licences since 1991 are now time-limited and subject to regular review. In England, licences in the same catchment areas are reviewed at the same time. Renewal volumes are linked to past use, so you may be granted a lower annual volume.

Headroom is having a greater amount of water available in licence conditions than average use. It acts as an insurance policy for businesses against dry weather when water usage is higher. Unused or underused licences may be revoked or reduced by the environmental regulator to manage the potential risk to the environment.

You can review your licensed water and headroom using a software tool such as D-Risk which can also provide insights into abstraction-related risks in crop production.

Water shortage restrictions: What you need to know

• Hands-off Flow or Hands-off-Level conditions on licences may place constraints on abstraction when river flow or groundwater level is below those set for environmental protection. Daily permission from the environmental regulator may be required to continue abstraction
• Temporary Use Bans (TUBs but also known as Hosepipe Bans) apply to domestic or other non-commercial premises only
• There is a statutory exception from Drought Order restrictions for irrigating plants that are grown or kept for sale or commercial use
• The Government may issue a Section 57 emergency restriction on abstraction for spray irrigation. There is an exemption for crops grown under protection and container-grown crops.