Water Water management ‘will boost
resilience to climate change’ • Impact of climate change is ‘here to stay’
• Landowners are unsure about maintenance
• Government needs a proper strategy
B
etter water management is needed to increase resilience to drought and cli- mate change, says a new report. The Country Land and Business Associa-
tion says the impact of climate change is clear and here to stay. The first few months of 2021 saw one of the driest Aprils on record – fol- lowed by one of the wettest Mays. Some farms were submerged in water for over three months this past winter. This left many farmers unable to plant crops for an entire year. And the Met Office predicts that the risk of floods has increased by at least 20% and up to 90%.
Better vision The CLA’s Water Strategy: a vision for the water environment to 2030 ssays landowners could play a key role in improving the wider water environment by harnessing low-cost nature-based solutions.
Responsibility for flood defences is current-
ly shared by the Environment Agency and lead local flood authorities (LLFAs), along- side landowners and farmers. But the CLA says the agency is often too slow to respond to essential maintenance. This leaves rural communities vulnera- ble to serious flooding, says the CLA. Many
landowners are already stepping-up to pro- tect their local communities – but they are often uncertain whether they are allowed to undertake maintenance work. Community supported organisations like internal drainage boards, are often far bet- ter placed than the Environment Agency to maintain main rivers. And the CLA argues these organisations should be allowed to take over responsibility for them. Landowners have proven to be extreme- ly successful at using their land to mitigate flood risks through Natural Flood Risk Man- agement (NFM) projects.
These projects can involve creating wet- lands and saltmarshes, or planting trees to stabilise riverbanks, slowing the flow of wa- ter and helping it to be absorbed, while also improving biodiversity, water quality, water availability and carbon storage.
More support To support landowners in their desire to pro- tect local communities and mitigate flood risk, the government needs to have a prop- er policy, says the CLA. It wants the Envi- ronment Agency to make the rights and re- sponsibilities of landowners clear to allow for effective and flexible flood defence work – helping to avoid any unnecessary flooding of rural properties.
Maintaining flood defence assets – £75m of funding per year for maintenance of exist- ing flood defence assets, on top of the funding already earmarked for new flood defence as- sets, that would provide cost effective flood defences while improving the environment. Catchment-focused flood management – government to allow for regional approach- es and flexibility, including the effective use
Farmers should have a bigger role in river maintenance, says Mark Bridgeman.
of Natural Flood Risk Management projects to transfer flood risk responsibilities to the best-placed body to do so.
CLA president Mark Bridgeman said:
“Many of these land managers already play a crucial role in using their land to prevent local communities and businesses bearing the brunt of flood damage. “Of course, this needs to come with the
right government support and funding. But the solution to flood defences is sitting right on our doorstep at the fraction of the price of new infrastructure: natural flood risk man- agement.”
Farmers ‘in limbo’ after abstraction changes C
hanges to water abstraction licences have left farmers in limbo, says the NFU. The Environment Agency an-
nounced changes affecting 20 businesses in the Ant Valley on the Norfolk Broads. The agency says it plans to revoke, reduce or con- strain licences used by these businesses. Instead, it proposes that four new abstrac- tion applications for activity that was previ- ously exempt from the licensing regime – such as trickle irrigation – will also be refused. Li- cence holders will have until 2024 to adapt to the changes, said the agency.
Licences have been under review for sev-
eral years. The NFU has been working closely with irrigators, and commissioning external professional experts in representing mem- bers on the legal and technical aspects of the licensing review. NFU water resources specialist Paul Ham- mett said the affected farmers and the NFU needed time to study the Environment Agen- cy decision in detail before deciding on their next steps.
Mr Hammett said: “Throughout this lengthy process – one that has left many farm
businesses in limbo – we have sought to en- gage constructively with the agency, seek- ing solutions through collaboration not con- frontation. “We have suggested ways forward that would protect the environment, while still allowing our vital food and farming sector to thrive,” said Mr Hammett. “Its decision to revoke and change a series of historic water rights flies in the face of in- dependent evidence we and local abstractors have provided, which clearly demonstrates that the local fen ecology is improving.”
AUGUST 2021 • ANGLIA FARMER 43
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