| Irrigation
Lots of uncertainties in managing water for food
Not only are there uncertainties with the weather but 2018 brings many changes in the way water resources will be
managed in the future. Just how this will affect abstractors is not yet clear. But the changes will be profound and so
farmers must engage with this process if it is to benefit them.
his is the theme of
the UK Irrigation
Association Spring
Conference on 28
February in
Peterborough.
New regulations are now in force
which bring exempt abstractions,
such as drip irrigation, into the
licensing system, and Defra has
now published a plan which sets
out how government will seek to
reform water abstraction
management over the coming
years and how this will protect the
environment and improve access
to water.
The main message in Defra’s
plan is about changes in future
water management. A catchment-
based approach is proposed
(CaBA) with existing local
organisations taking responsibility
for water management and solving
local water management
problems. In 2011, Defra
introduced CaBA essentially to
improve water quality through
better land management in line
with the requirements of the WFD.
Defra now want to strengthen this
T
by enabling catchment groups,
such as The Rivers Trust, to take
on a more central role in
managing catchments and
developing local solutions to local
water availability issues.
So how does this affect
abstractors? At the UKIA
conference, Paul Hickey, Head of
Water Resources at the
Environment Agency (EA) will
present an overview of the
licencing and water management
proposals, and Paul Hammett,
NFU Water Policy advisor will lead
a response with thoughts and
concerns from the farming
community. But there is lots of
room to ask those key questions,
such as – What kind of new
framework is envisaged for local
catchment management? and
Who decides who gets what and
when, particularly when water is in
short supply?
We have presentations from
John Adlam, Dover Associates,
who brings in the concerns of
nursery growers, whose water
needs are relatively small but
vitally important in terms of
38 | Farming Monthly | February 2018
investment per hectare. As John
points out – 24 hours without water
can bankrupt a nursery business!
We will also focus on making
best use of available water
resources looking at the
practicalities of irrigation systems
and their management. Also, the
latest cosmic ray soil moisture
monitoring which is described as a
‘game changer’ for managing crop
water requirements.
Our special guest this year is
Wiehann Steyn from HORTGRO
Stellenbosch in South Africa. You
may know that Western Cape in
the grip o