Groups of farmers will be offered support to work together to
store water and protect against the impact of drought through a
new fund launched by the government today (Monday 22 April).
The £1.6 million fund will be used by farmers to investigate
different methods to manage water in their area. Projects could
include multi-farm reservoirs, treated waste-water recycling
systems, water trading and sharing schemes.
The fund will support around 20 studies and will also investigate
water demand and availability in the most water-stressed
agricultural areas over the next 25-year period.
It delivers on the Prime Minister's commitment at last year's
Farm to Fork Summit to support farmers to identify local water
resource schemes which will help to build resilience into the
water supply, support food production and safeguard food
security.
Applications open
today with groups of two or more neighbouring farms eligible
to apply. The closing date for applications is 23:59 on 16 June.
Water Minister Robbie Moore said:
Water is our most valuable resource, and we want to support
farmers to come together to manage it efficiently on their land.
By storing water when it's wet, they'll have more to use when
it's dry – helping to support food production and boost the
resilience of farm businesses across the country.
Philip Duffy, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said:
Climate change, increased demand, and the need to protect the
environment mean that up to 5bn extra litres of water will be
needed in England every day by 2050.
By working together, farmers can make a huge positive impact in
improving our use of water resources, making sure they have water
to use in times of drought and safeguarding our food security.
The fund will help to identify opportunities to build on the
success of existing projects, including:
- Felixstowe Hydrocycle - a multi-farm project currently
repurposing more than 0.5 million tonnes of excess land drainage
water per year – the equivalent of more than 225 Olympic swimming
pools which would otherwise be lost to sea, for agricultural
irrigation on six farms.
- Lincoln Water Transfer - a member organisation where 19 farms
share a single abstraction licence to take water from Fossdyke
Navigation to irrigate 4,600 hectares of land - using a pool
system to allocate water which creates greater flexibility in
land and water use.
The Environment Agency will also use the fund to work with
stakeholders such as farmers, landowners and Water Abstractor
Groups to safeguard a healthy farming sector in future and
highlight the needs of agriculture in Regional Water Resources
Plans.
The funding builds on existing support from government to help
farmers make efficient use of water resources – such as the Water
Management Grant – as well as setting strict targets for water
companies to deliver a 50% reduction in leakage from 2017/18
levels by 2050.
