Abstraction reform should not be postponed and the next government must commit to implementing it as soon as possible, according to an alliance of MPs and civil society bodies.
The group wrote to environment secretary Andrea Leadsom on 20 April in response to the announcement that a water bill underpinning abstraction reform was to be shelved and that reform itself may not be undertaken until the 2020s.
The Angling Trust wrote to her a second time on 26 April.
Abstraction reform was first promised in the 2011 water white paper but was excluded from the 2014 Water Act with the promise of early legislation following the 2015 election. Despite much groundwork having been done since then, it will not be delivered any time soon.
The group, which includes the Angling Trust, Fish Legal, The Rivers Trust, RSPB, WWF and the MPs Richard Benyon, Charles Walker, Scott Mann and Angela Smith, said there is a “clear consensus that reform of the abstraction regime is necessary to enable effective business planning by farmers and to protect the water environment”.
The group says reform “cannot wait until the 2020s” and that as recent dry weather had “left reservoir and river levels exceedingly low, with water companies considering imminent hosepipe bans... abstraction reform is more urgent than ever”.
They are calling for the water bill to be included in the Queen’s speech or failing that, for reform to be enacted via secondary legislation as soon as possible.
The Angling Trust pointed out that climate change and the government’s commitment to building a million new homes “without any clear indication of where the water resources are to come from” meant that abstraction reform should be made a priority.
The letters were also sent to the environment teams across all major political parties “in the hope that consensus can be reached on the need to deliver much needed abstraction reform as soon as possible after the forthcoming general election”.
Richard Benyon said an abstraction regime that is “fit for today rather than 50 years ago when it was set up” was much-needed: the “work had been done... we now need legislation”.
WWF water policy manager Rose O’Neill said: “Water abstraction licences, given out over 50 years ago allow companies to take water even though we know it has a devastating effect on the environment and do little to encourage water saving... As our precious rivers and streams dry up this summer, the government can no longer delay.”
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