Get to grips with extreme weather

EXPERT VIEW

Farming must address the twin challenges of food and water security, says Melvyn Kay.

“Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” wrote English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Penned in 1798, it’s a sentiment that echoes down the ages as water becomes an increasingly scarce resource today.

With so many issues facing UK farmers, there is seldom an ideal time to talk about water for agriculture. Yet we are experiencing increasingly frequent winter floods – often followed by summer droughts.

Each of these extreme weather events can have a devastating impact on food production – especially when they occur at the wrong time and in the wrong place. Dealing with all this gets more complicated by the day.

Keeping up with the jargon

Many farmers understandably think they have adequate access to water. That may be true now – but it may not be true in the near future. The sector is under increasing pressure – and not just from the weather.

Many growers seem unaware of the potential licence cuts coming down the track as the Environment Agency continues to review abstraction licences in an effort to balance future water supply and demand in key catchments.

When I ask farmers whether they realise the serious implications this has for their businesses, many are unaware. Understandably, the current economc climate means they are hard-pushed to think about the future.

Long term

But the Environment Agency does think long-term. And so do the five regional water planning groups, which are responsible for bringing together water plans from England’s 17 water companies.

They are asking what the aquatic environment will look like in the 2050s. Will we have enough water?  And if not, how do we avoid a water crisis?  For this reason, these groups are taking action now to reduce abstraction so we will have a sustainable environment in the future.

How are farmers responding?  Some in the most critical water-short regions are already facing licence cuts and some have had licences revoked. Others are  preoccupied with other here-and-now issues.

Water Abstractor Groups

Still others are joining force and working together in Water Abstractor Groups (WAGs) to tackle common problems. Some WAGs are well established in the Anglian Water region with more at an embryonic stage.

Last summer the Environment Agency called for small groups of farmers to apply for funding to investigate Local Resource Options to improve the resilience of farm water supplies without interfering with strategic surface and groundwater resources.

These include rainwater harvesting, scalping flood water in rivers, exploiting excess drainage water and sharing licences. In the past six months or so, 19 screening studies have seen 100 farmers working together to test this appoach.

The results are encouraging. Farmers are getting together as WAGs, increasing their awareness of the challenges they face, discussing them and looking for local potential solutions.

Taking control & responsibility for water

UKIA Conference • 5 March • Peterborough

www.ukia.org

Why farmers are the best people to manage water for agriculture

Regional response

The outcome from the screening studies – including next steps – will be a central theme for the UK Irrigation Association Conference on 5 March at the Orton Hall Hotel, Peterborough.

Traditionally, regional planning groups only focused on planning for public water supply. But this is changing because Environment Agency funding means they can take account of water for agriculture as they plan the next National Framework.

Agriculture now has a seat at table in terms of the planning process including representatives at a national level from the Water for Food Group and the NFU. New appointments are now in place in five regional planning groups.

As each region is different, each has developed their own approach  – reflecting their structure, development and regional needs. It all means things are beginning to look up for farmers and water.

Melvyn Kay is executive secretary of the UK Irrigation Association.

For details, visit www.ukia.org