Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making provision of data on water use rates a requirement for agricultural water licences.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency regulates water abstraction in England. The information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Environment Agency assesses water use for agriculture as part of the abstraction licence application process both when it first grants an abstraction licence and at renewal. The Environment Agency uses the following guidance to assess water need and use rates: Optimum use of water for industry and agricultural dependent on direct abstraction - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Environment Agency already receives information about how much water is used under abstraction licences in England. All ‘full’ abstraction licences must include requirements to measure or assess the amount of water abstracted. Licence holders must keep a record of how much water they abstract available for inspection. Licences that authorise the abstraction of 100 cubic metres per day or more must also send a return to the Environment Agency of how much water they have abstracted. The Environment Agency uses this information to assess compliance with licences and the environmental effects of abstraction. It also uses information about past usage to determine whether a time limited abstraction licence should be renewed on the same terms or for example have its quantities reduced.
The Environment Agency collates information about abstraction from all sectors and makes it available to Defra in a report called ‘ABSTAT’. The Environment Agency is currently producing an update to the ABSTAT report and will provide it to Defra in due course.
Defra and the Environment Agency are working to move the water resources licensing regime into the Environmental Permitting Regime (EPR). Under EPR, abstraction data will become public register information.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to reform the abstraction licensing regime in England.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Plan for Water, Defra and the Environment Agency are undertaking a programme of changes to modernise abstraction licensing in England. We are working to move the water abstraction licensing system into the Environmental Permitting Regime. This will provide a modern, consistent and flexible legal framework upon which the management of abstraction can be developed to meet the needs of today and the future.
Alongside the legislative changes, the Environment Agency is modernising its digital systems to maximise the opportunities the new legislation provides. This will bring new functionality to improve the way abstraction is managed, including a water abstraction eAlerts system which provides notifications directly to farmers. As the environment and our climate changes, the Environment Agency is adapting its policies in response. The Environment Agency has recently produced a regulatory position statement setting out how flood water can be abstracted for the benefit of abstractors but ensuring that the environment is protected.
The Environment Agency is also undertaking a refresh of the National Framework for water resources, which looks at how best to manage water resources across England. Through this, abstractors from all sectors will come together to identify water needs and the best way of meeting them.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to improve the collection of data in agricultural water use.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency regulates water abstraction in England. The information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Environment Agency’s ‘Managing Water Abstraction Service’ enables abstraction licence holders to submit records of how much water they had taken electronically rather than on paper. The Environment Agency estimates quicker, and easier submission of returns data digitally saves abstractors £247k each year. Some 95% of returns now come into the Environment Agency digitally.
Defra is working on rolling out a Water Farm Practices Water Survey involving crop types and volumes of water used. This will be an extension of the annual farming practices survey, which provides a snapshot of the farming landscape across England. It will give an opportunity to update data last collected in 2010 on agricultural water management.
Natural England is this week due to report on its latest phase of Catchment Sensitive Farming water advisory visits in the Southwest of England.
As part of the Prime Minister’s commitment at last year’s Farm to Fork Summit Defra has funded an agriculture project on supply demand balances which have been piloted in Cambridgeshire and will be rolled out to wider parts of England. The water data from this work will be used to update the next round of Regional Water Resource Plans on agriculture water requirements (together with the Environment Agency’s Water Resources National Framework which will be published next spring). A sister project funded by Defra will also include agriculture water use data to assess and screen local resource options (such as reservoirs and rainwater harvesting) to help groups of farmers improve their water resilience.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licences for abstraction in chalk streams have been rescinded in each year since 2010.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A total of 110 licences affecting chalk streams have been revoked since 2010. A further 158 have been varied or reduced.
The abstraction licence changes have returned over 37 billion litres of water per year to chalk catchments and prevented a further 110 billion litres per year being abstracted.
Number of abstraction licences, affecting chalk streams, that have been changed up to 30.09.23 | |||
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Year | Number of licences varied or reduced | Number of licences revoked | Total |
2010 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
2011 | 2 | 10 | 12 |
2012 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
2013 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
2014 | 14 | 6 | 20 |
2015 | 30 | 5 | 35 |
2016 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
2017 | 24 | 45 | 69 |
2018 | 43 | 16 | 59 |
2019 | 5 | 12 | 17 |
2020 | 9 | 5 | 14 |
2021 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
2022 | 1 | 1 | |
2023 | 10 | 3 | 13 |
Total | 158 | 110 | 268 |
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department holds data on the number of water abstraction licences that have been issued by the Environment Agency in each year since 2015.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The number of new water abstraction licences that have been issued by the Environment Agency (EA) in each year since 2015 is as follows (the data set may not be complete for December 2023):
Year | Number of abstraction licences |
2015 | 931 |
2016 | 815 |
2017 | 931 |
2018 | 815 |
2019 | 1357 |
2020 | 1014 |
2021 | 377 |
2022 | 369 |
2023 | 536 |
Grand Total | 7145 |
In addition to issuing new licences, the Environment Agency also processes applications to vary, revoke, reduce, lapse, vest, apportion and transfer abstraction licences. Under the Water Resources Regulatory Regime, as well as abstraction licences the EA also processes impoundment licence applications. In total the EA has processed 13,844 applications since 2015.
The number of water abstraction licences issued each year varies due to the number of time limited licences that are due to expire in each year. If a licence holder wants to continue to abstract water after the date the licence expires, they must apply to the EA to renew the licence.
New regulations came into effect on 1 January 2018 to improve the management of water resources and to ensure protection of the environment. Licensing exemptions that previously allowed the use of water from ground or surface water sources without the need for a licence were mostly removed. This process is known as New Authorisations. Between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2022, the EA issued 1,322 New Authorisations licences. These are included in the table above.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives of (a) Thames Water and (b) local authorities in west London on Thames Water's proposed planning application for the Teddington direct river abstraction.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Thames Water has a statutory duty to consult with local authorities and water regulators on its Water Resources Management Plan, a long-term strategy for securing water supplies. The plan is further assessed by Government and water regulators before it can be finalised. The Teddington Direct River Abstraction (DRA) is part of this plan, and following robust review, the Secretary of State issued a direction on 22 December 2023 confirming the project is nationally significant.
However, this does not indicate that a Development Consent Order (DCO), which is required before construction can proceed, is more or less likely to be approved. When a DCO application is made, local authorities will have a key role in providing a local perspective on the proposals.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency has taken steps to ensure reservoirs can be filled during periods of heavy rain.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Reservoir licence holders can usually start abstracting when river flows reach a ‘hands off flow’ threshold designed to protect the river during dry periods. This year has been particularly wet, so flow thresholds were reached early and most abstractors have been able to fill their reservoirs. Some water companies, however, manage their reservoirs so they can capture excess water during flood periods. They may also reduce or cease pumping during floods when water quality is poor.
Historically, agricultural reservoir licences allow abstraction during the winter months only (November to March). This is usually sufficient, but if farmers feel that they would benefit from a longer abstraction season or higher pumping rates then the EA would welcome applications to vary their licences.
During the recent floods caused by Storm Babet, the EA allowed several farmers who had made requests to fill their reservoirs early, to take water before their licenced abstraction season had started. The EA is currently working on a Regulatory Position Statement to formalise this position.
We are also taking the following measures to support the development of new reservoirs to capture high-flow water after heavy rainfall.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to respond to Thames Water's s35 application for its Teddington Direct River Abstraction proposal.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Thames Water have requested that the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs gives a direction under Section 35 of the Planning Act 2008 for the Teddington Direct River Abstraction. The Secretary of State will respond to Thames Water in line with the statutory timeframe required.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration was given to the River Severn transfer option during the selection process which, identifying "best value", opted for Thames Water's proposed Teddington direct river abstraction; and what role any public support for the River Severn transfer option and any social, environmental and economic benefits of restoring heritage waterways played in that consideration.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Water Resources South East (WRSE) regional group has developed a regional water resource resilience plan for the South East region of England. They have modelled around 2,400 options to meet water demand in the southeast. These comprised many different types of options, including a Severn Thames Transfer alongside reservoirs, transfers, water recycling schemes, as well as options for developing new and existing sources of water. These options were put through a rigorous options appraisal process to develop a preferred best value plan to serve people and the environment in the southeast.
Thames Water are part of WRSE and are responsible for developing their statutory Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP) for their supply area, to provide the secure water supplies expected by customers. Thames Water’s WRMP is aligned with the WRSE plan and therefore proposes supply options that are best value, taking into account social, environmental and economic benefits. Thames Water have consulted on their draft WRMP, considered consultation responses and produced a statement of response (as attached).
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what range of impact assessments they expect Thames Water to provide regarding the consequences for local wildlife habitats arising from construction of their proposed Teddington direct river abstraction on green spaces categorised as Metropolitan Open Land, such as Ham Lands and Moormead Park in St Margaret’s.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Thames Water is required to provide further assessments through the RAPID (Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development) gated planning process to ensure that all potential impacts of the Teddington direct river abstraction (DRA) scheme are assessed and investigated, including any impacts on green spaces. The design and location of elements of the scheme are still at the conceptual design stage of development. Any scheme developed will have to meet environmental and planning requirements. The suite of assessments required will depend on the final design of the scheme and nature/location of impacts which are expected to be identified through the Gate 3 planning process.
The proposed Teddington DRA is expected to take the Development Consent Order planning route, which will require an Environmental Impact Assessment of the scheme’s impacts as part of the planning process. Where possible we expect environmental enhancements to be included in the scheme design.