The government has published a new plan to reform abstraction management aimed at protecting the environment while improving access to water where it is needed most.

Increasing demand for water is putting pressure on supplies - latest data shows that five per cent of surface water bodies and 15 per cent of groundwater bodies are at risk from increasing water use by current abstraction licence holders that could damage the environment.

Announcing the proposal, the government said today’s new abstraction reform plan will improve better access to water by:

• preventing unsustainable abstraction by reviewing existing licences and introducing more controls to protect rivers, lakes and groundwater
• developing a strong focus on catchment areas for water bodies to encourage more partnership working between the Environment Agency, abstractors and catchment groups to protect and enhance the environment and improve access to water
• modernising the abstraction service to allow online applications for licences and bring water resources regulations in line with other environmental permitting regulations

Environment Minister, Thérèse Coffey said:

“The abstraction licencing system is in clear need of reform and I am very pleased to set out how we will do this in our plan. I believe our approach will work for all parties and, most importantly, will protect our precious water supplies.

“Our ambition is to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it and we will keep building on our successes by enhancing our environmental standards and delivering a Green Brexit.”

While good progress has been made in recent years, the plan emphasises the importance of the Environment Agency, the water industry and other stakeholders working in partnership at a catchment level to improve and protect the environment and improve access to water.

From January 2018 the Environment Agency will begin to regulate around 5,000 water users that have historically been exempt from regulation. This will create a fairer system and help protect the environment.

Other actions the Agency will take include:

• use the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP), due in March 2018, to make sure that water companies take a leading role in addressing unsustainable abstraction
• review more than half of time limited licences by 2021 (2,300 in total), adjusting them as necessary to make sure they do not allow environmental damage now or in the future
• adjust all permanent licences shown to be seriously damaging. This includes completing the Restoring Sustainable Abstraction programme, a list of 150 potentially damaging licences, by March 2020
• revoke an estimated 600 unused licences that are no longer needed, and work with abstractors to reduce under-used licences. This will prevent increased abstraction from these licences creating new environmental pressures
• regulate all significant abstractions that have been exempt historically (approximately 5,000) to make sure that they also play a part in protecting the water environment
• update ten abstraction licensing strategies by 2021 and all remaining strategies by 2027 to capture agreed solutions to environmental pressures

The Environment Agency’s work to address unsustainable abstraction should see around 90 per cent of surface water bodies and 77 per cent of groundwater bodies meet the required standards by 2021.

The Agency will produce updated abstraction licensing strategies that detail the solutions to environmental issues in local areas around rivers and groundwaters and set out approaches to help abstractors access the water they need.

Since 2008 the Environment Agency has made changes to over 270 abstraction licences to prevent over 30 billion litres of water per year being removed from the environment where abstraction is unsustainable.

In the New Year, the Environment Agency will begin piloting and testing a digital system for handling licence applications and data reporting. Modernising these services will improve the user experience as well as supporting reforms to better protect the environment and improve access to water.

A report will be made to Parliament by May 2019 on the progress made on abstraction reform.