Water licences set to change

NEW WATER abstraction licensing rules are due to come into effect from April 1 this year and growers must be aware of the changes, the British Potato Council has warned.

The BPC outlined three key changes, which aim to bring existing licensing procedures closer in line with the Water Act and abstractor‘s local Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy (CAMS):

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  Licenses will become time limited, where they are renewed every 12 years, providing there is no environmental damage
  
  
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  License cost could increase by up to 10%
  
  
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  Abstractors using less than 20 cubic metres per day will not require a license

The Environment Agency and DEFRA are keen to replace existing ‘licences of right‘ with ‘time limited‘ licenses and will be consulting growers during 2005, said the BPC‘s Mark Prentice.

“We want businesses to be able to use water responsibly but this requires effort on the part of the abstractor to be involved in the water debate in their area, particularly CAMS.”

Further tightening of regulations means growers should keep as much information as possible relating to water abstraction and the wildlife/ habitats on farm, Mr Prentice advised.

“Rather than wait for the EA to ask for a raft of information, if you start collating information about what happens on your farm now, you will be better placed as the demand for information increases.”

Information about the Water Act and CAMS can be found at www.potato.org.uk or www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/waterres.