Thanks to Nathan Richardson for the heads up on this. This consultation covers a very wide range of natural resources issues suggesting that Wales may potentially go it alone in a number of areas including on abstraction reform in the absence of a Water Bill plus stronger measures around SUDS (see Chapter 6).
The Environment Agency has published plans ordering Southern Water to reduce its abstraction from the River Test by 40 per cent. New licence revisions will mean the level of abstraction permitted will be cut from 136 to 80 million litres per day. Abstraction will also be restricted when river flow drops below 355 million litres per […]
Freedom-of-information data reveals threat of drought that would devastate wildlife, with government slow to act on water management. WWF & Guardian A quarter of England’s rivers are at risk of running dry, with devastating consequences for wildlife, according to data obtained by WWF under freedom of information rules. Fish are most obviously affected when rivers slow […]
A cross party group of MPs, including the current Water Minister Therese Coffey, Sports Minister Tracey Crouch and former Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon, attended a chalk stream discovery day on the River Itchen last week to learn about problems facing all rivers and in particular the English chalk streams. These unique habitats are under […]
TWO Articles 1.Cross Party MPs headed by Richard Benyon call for a complete overhaul of the outdated water abstraction regime With the general election now likely to take place as drought conditions threaten parts of the South East of England, a cross party group of MPs headed by former Environment Minister Richard Benyon, and backed […]
Defra have published a report on the summary of responses to their proposals on water abstraction licensing: changes to exemptions in England and Wales: First published: 15 January 2016 Last updated: 29 September 2016, see all updates The voices for stronger action will be growing over time two examples: Angling Trust backs call for water […]
Changes to water abstraction licensing exemptions in England and Wales: New Authorisations Overview Defra ‘We invite your views on proposed changes to water abstraction licensing exemptions in England and Wales. Defra, the Welsh Government, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales are consulting jointly on our intended approach to remove most exemptions from water […]
NFU ‘Farmers have met with environment minister Rory Stewart today to explain how crucial a secure supply of water is for their fruit and vegetable businesses. A delegation of NFU members representing the field vegetable, soft and top fruit sectors were invited to Westminster by the minister to talk about the proposed changes to water […]