UK
Irrigatio
n A
ssociatio
n Sp
ring
Semin
ar
Clim
ate chan
gin
g U
K irrig
ation
in a g
lob
al market
Ho
w can
irrigato
rs adap
t to th
e chan
ges?
Thu
rsday 1st M
arch 2007
East of En
glan
d Sh
ow
gro
un
d, Peterb
oro
ug
h
The d
rou
gh
tTh
is su
mm
er w
as a
difficu
lt o
ne
for
man
y bu
sinesses d
epen
den
t on
water in
the so
uth
east and
eastern reg
ion
s asth
e dro
ug
ht started
to b
ite. Man
y were
imp
acted b
y con
ditio
ns o
n th
eir licences
restricting
th
eir irrig
ation
ab
straction
,b
ut fo
r the 70 g
olf co
urses w
ho
were
sub
jected
to
a to
tal d
rou
gh
t o
rder
ban
nin
g irrig
ation
from
May 27th
the
situatio
n
was
of
cou
rse m
uch
m
ore
severe. For m
any o
ther g
olf co
urses, th
isw
as a ‘wake u
p’ call th
at agricu
ltural
abstracto
rs h
ad
experien
ced
in
1995w
hen
wid
espread
restriction
s were last
imp
osed
in
Eastern
En
glan
d.
As
aco
nseq
uen
ce mu
ch is n
ow
bein
g d
on
eto
help
this secto
r raise their aw
areness
of w
ater resou
rce issues an
d to
imp
rove
dialo
gu
e w
ith
bo
th
the
water
un
dertakers
and
reg
ulato
ry au
tho
rity(EA
) so th
at futu
re dro
ug
hts m
igh
t be
better m
anag
ed. Th
e next stag
e mu
stsu
rely b
e to
en
cou
rage
greater
com
mu
nicatio
n
and
co
llabo
ration
betw
een d
ifferent secto
rs; thro
ug
h, fo
rexam
ple,
the
form
ation
o
f n
ewab
stractor g
rou
ps in
areas wh
ere water
resou
rces are un
der p
ressure, su
ch as in
the so
uth
east.B
ut o
ne q
uestio
n b
eing
asked is really
ho
w d
ry was th
is sum
mer co
mp
ared to
oth
er years. In a p
reviou
s new
sletter Im
entio
ned
th
e variab
le p
oten
tial so
ilm
oistu
re deficit (PSM
D) an
d its ro
le inp
rovid
ing
an in
dicato
r of ag
roclim
aticvariab
ility. PSMD
takes into
accou
nt th
ed
aily b
alance
betw
een
rainfall
and
evapo
transp
iration
(ET)
du
ring
th
e
As an
oth
er year draw
s to a clo
se, it’sw
orth
briefly reflectin
g o
n th
e variou
sactivities th
at the U
KIA
were in
volved
ino
ver th
e p
ast 12
mo
nth
s. Th
e year
started w
ith o
ur an
nu
al Sprin
g sem
inar
‘The p
athw
ay to efficien
cy’. This w
as asell-o
ut
event
for
the
third
year
insu
ccession
, pro
vidin
g d
elegates w
ith th
elatest state o
f play o
n th
e chan
ges to
the ab
straction
licensin
g system
in th
eco
ntext o
f licence ren
ewal, as w
ell asin
trod
ucin
g
new
co
ncep
ts su
ch
asb
ench
markin
g
for
assessing
irrig
ation
perfo
rman
ce. This w
as follo
wed
later inth
e year by a tech
nical m
eeting
for a
po
st-mo
rtem o
n th
e 2006 dro
ug
ht, an
dits
imp
acts o
n
the
agricu
ltural
and
spo
rts-turf
sectors.
It w
as ag
ain
veryw
ell attend
ed w
ith 60 d
elegates. M
any
of
us
remem
ber
the
presen
tation
b
yB
illy McM
illan, C
hairm
an o
f BIG
GA
, wh
op
rovid
ed a very p
erson
al insig
ht in
toth
e imp
ortan
ce and
value o
f irrigatio
nw
ater for g
olf, w
hich
to m
any is still
perceived
a luxu
ry use o
f water. Th
ereare clearly o
pp
ortu
nities fo
r the U
KIA
toen
gag
e with
the sp
orts-tu
rf sector to
better
represen
t th
e in
terests o
f its
irrigato
rs at
variou
s reg
ion
al an
dn
ation
al fora o
n w
ater resou
rce issues.
Mo
re recen
tly, a
gro
up
o
f U
KIA
mem
bers traveled
to B
ari in so
uth
ernItaly
to
meet
represen
tatives fro
m
alo
cal water u
ser associatio
n (akin
to o
ur
abstracto
r gro
up
s). These farm
ers were
usin
g a system
of cred
it card h
ydran
ts toallo
cate an
d
pay
for
their
irrigatio
nw
ater. An
article on
this trip
is inclu
ded
in th
is new
sletter.
pag
e 4
UK
IAN
ews
New
s from
the U
K Irrig
ation
Asso
ciation
Decem
ber 2006
Issue 32
pag
e 1
sum
mer seaso
n an
d it can
be u
sed to
com
pare
irrigatio
n
need
b
etween
ind
ividu
al years.
Figu
re 1
sho
ws
the
calculated
PSMD
for th
e last 44 years atSilso
e (Bed
ford
shire). It sh
ow
s that 2006
was m
ore o
f an ‘averag
e year’ and
no
tas extrem
e as 1976, 1990, 1995 or 2003
in
irrigatio
n
terms.
This
was
becau
sealth
ou
gh
there w
as a lon
g p
rotracted
dry p
eriod
with
very little rainfall in
Jun
ean
d Ju
ly, man
y parts received
well ab
ove
average rain
fall at the en
d o
f Au
gu
stw
hich
help
ed to
temp
er the d
rou
gh
t.H
ow
ever, the real issu
e no
w is w
heth
erw
inter
rainfall
will
be
sufficien
t to
recharg
e th
e aq
uifers
over
the
remain
ing
w
inter
mo
nth
s. Th
e latest
repo
rts fro
m
the
EA
sug
gest
that
sign
ificant am
ou
nts o
f rainfall are still
requ
ired.
Ind
eed,
it seem
s th
at th
eh
eavy in
tense
storm
s w
e h
ave b
eenreceivin
g are th
e wro
ng
kind
of rain
;in
stead w
e need
gen
tle precip
itation
toin
filtrate the so
il and
perco
late, rather
than
h
eavy d
ow
np
ou
rs th
at o
nly
exacerbate so
il erosio
n an
d lead
to rap
idru
no
ff.
Ch
ang
ing
climate
Follo
win
g
pu
blicatio
n
of
the
SternR
epo
rt and
ano
ther very d
ry sum
mer, it
is timely th
at next year’s sp
ring
semin
arw
ill focu
s on
climate ch
ang
e. For so
me
of u
s, this year h
as been
a ‘tipp
ing
po
int’
in term
s of th
e pu
blic’s aw
areness an
db
elief that clim
ate chan
ge is h
app
enin
g.
We n
eed to
start acting
collectively in
dealin
g w
ith its p
ossib
le threats, b
ut w
em
ust also
realise that th
ere will b
e man
yo
pp
ortu
nities,
particu
larly as
water
beco
mes scarcer, less reliab
le and
mo
revalu
able.
Tho
se th
at p
rotect
and
u
seth
eir resou
rce to b
est effect will b
enefit
mo
st. H
ow
ever, w
e also
n
eed
torem
emb
er th
at clim
ate ch
ang
e is
hap
pen
ing
elsewh
ere and
in m
any w
aysth
e offsh
ore im
pacts o
f climate ch
ang
ein
oth
er parts o
f the w
orld
are likely toim
pact
to
a g
reater exten
t o
n
UK
agricu
ltural p
rod
uctio
n th
an U
K clim
atech
ang
e per se. Th
ese and
oth
er climate
chan
ge issu
es will b
e the fo
cus o
f ou
rn
ext semin
ar. As b
efore, it is likely to
be
well su
pp
orted
, so th
ose o
f you
wish
ing
to atten
d sh
ou
ld reserve a p
lace as soo
nas p
ossib
le.Fin
ally, m
ay I
than
k yo
u
for
you
r
UK
IA Irrig
ation
Asso
ciation
To jo
in th
e UK
IA co
sts just £40 a year
Ben
efits inclu
de:
•Tw
o n
ews letters an
d jo
urn
al on
curren
tirrig
ation
issues
•A
nn
ual co
nferen
ce, techn
ical semin
ars and
visits•
Web
site with
mem
bers o
nly lib
rary/info
rmatio
nsectio
n•
Reg
ular em
ail up
dates o
n cu
rrent issu
es.
Co
ntact: M
elvyn K
ay Executive Secretary o
f UK
IA.
Tel: 01427 717623 Email: m
.kay@u
kia.org
Web
site ww
w.u
kia.org
The view
s expressed
in th
is New
sletter are no
t necessarily
tho
se of th
e UK
IA.
So far so
go
od
– irrigatio
np
rosp
ects for 2007
An
up
date fro
m th
e EA o
n th
e curren
t situatio
n in
An
glian
and
Mid
land
sreg
ion
s.Th
e Enviro
nm
ent A
gen
cy is con
tinu
ing
to m
on
itor rain
fall, river flow
san
d g
rou
nd
water levels in
the w
ake of th
e dry su
mm
er. Rain
fall totals
across m
uch
of th
e An
glian
and
Mid
land
s regio
ns
were at o
r abo
veaverag
e betw
een A
ug
ust an
d N
ovem
ber an
d th
is has h
elped
to kick-start
a reco
very. It
remain
s to
b
e seen
, h
ow
ever, w
heth
er th
is w
ill b
em
aintain
ed o
ver the rem
aind
er of th
e win
ter.R
iver flow
sare very resp
on
sive to sh
ort p
eriod
, inten
se rainfall an
d a
nu
mb
er of sh
ort-lived
, hig
h flo
ws h
ave been
experien
ced. Lo
ng
er-termflo
ws rem
ain very variab
le with
figu
res rang
ing
from
50% b
elow
average
to 100%
abo
ve average in
No
vemb
er.G
rou
nd
water levels
are a key ind
icator o
f the o
verall state of w
aterreso
urces an
d th
ese remain
sub
stantially b
elow
average in
man
y places,
altho
ug
h sig
nifican
t recovery h
as taken p
lace in o
thers.
Low
gro
un
dw
ater levels give rise to
low
river flow
s, especially d
urin
gth
e su
mm
er, w
hen
th
ere is
little rain
fall to
su
pp
lemen
t flo
ws.
Gro
un
dw
ater is therefo
re critical to an
y assessmen
t of th
e pro
spects fo
rirrig
ation
next su
mm
er. It is too
early to fo
recast the situ
ation
next year
bu
t if
we
con
tinu
e to
h
ave h
igh
rain
fall th
is w
ill h
elp
recharg
eg
rou
nd
water an
d fill w
inter sto
rage reservo
irs. A retu
rn to
dry w
eather
in th
e early part o
f next year, h
ow
ever, cou
ld o
nce ag
ain in
crease the risk
of p
rob
lems n
ext sum
mer. A
reason
able su
mm
ary of th
e curren
t situatio
nm
igh
t be ‘so
far, so g
oo
d’.
For a w
eekly up
date o
n ch
ang
es in th
e water reso
urces situ
ation
inyo
ur reg
ion
visit: ww
w.en
viron
men
t-agen
cy.go
v.uk/su
bjects/w
aterres/1014767/1131486/
Steve Dines, EA
Anglian Region A
nne Taylor, EA M
idlands Region
Hefce en
qu
ires into
land
-based
stud
iesC
on
cerns ab
ou
t the fu
ture o
f land
-based
stud
ies in U
K h
as led th
eH
igh
er Edu
cation
Fun
din
g C
ou
ncil fo
r Eng
land
(Hefce) to
un
dertake a
stud
y to
co
nsid
er o
ur
futu
re n
eeds.
This
is an
o
pp
ortu
nity
to
get
edu
cators to
thin
k abo
ut w
ater and
irrigatio
n.
The clo
sure o
f variou
s agricu
ltural co
urses an
d co
lleges u
p an
d d
ow
nth
e cou
ntry h
as led to
Go
vernm
ent co
ncern
s abo
ut ed
ucatio
n p
rovisio
nfo
r agricu
lture an
d lan
d m
anag
emen
t. Qu
estion
s are bein
g asked
such
as – do
we still h
ave a sustain
able ed
ucatio
nal b
ase to p
repare o
ur fu
ture
agricu
ltural an
d lan
d m
anag
ers? Can
we leave fu
ture p
rovisio
n fo
r the
market p
lace to d
ecide w
hat h
app
ens o
r is there a n
eed fo
r Go
vernm
ent
interven
tion
? Hefce is stu
dyin
g th
ese issues an
d lo
okin
g strateg
ically atth
e capacity w
e will n
eed in
the fu
ture an
d h
ow
it can b
e pro
vided
.Irrig
ators are stakeh
old
ers in th
is futu
re. So a recen
t stakeho
lder
meetin
g p
rovid
ed an
op
po
rtun
ity for U
KIA
to stan
d u
p an
d sp
eak abo
ut
the im
po
rtance o
f water m
anag
emen
t as a strategic issu
e in an
y futu
relan
d-b
ased ed
ucatio
n in
itiative. It is a sad fact th
at mo
st agricu
ltural
cou
rses pay little atten
tion
to w
ater, wh
ich is su
rprisin
g co
nsid
ering
the
imp
ortan
ce of w
ater for su
stainin
g m
any th
ou
sand
s of ru
ral liveliho
od
sth
rou
gh
ou
t the co
un
try and
its con
tribu
tion
to th
e enviro
nm
ent. Th
eg
row
ing
awaren
ess of th
e imp
ortan
ce of w
ater for h
igh
-value irrig
atedp
rod
uctio
n an
d th
e imp
lication
s of clim
ate chan
ge p
rovid
e us w
ith a
vehicle
for
a ch
ang
e in
th
e w
ay in
w
hich
lan
d-b
ased
edu
cation
is
structu
red
in
the
futu
re. Th
e rep
ort
is d
ue
in
Decem
ber
2006.w
ww
.hefce.ac.u
k/abo
utu
s/sis/land
.htm
Melvyn K
ay, Exec Secretary UK
IA
Dates fo
r you
r diary
Natu
ral Eng
land
Prom
otin
g Irrig
ation
Efficiency Farm
er Wo
rksho
ps
30th Jan
uary 2-5p
m C
row
n Po
int Estate, K
irby B
edo
n, N
orw
ich.
5th Feb
ruary 2-5p
m Easto
n Farm
Park, Wo
od
brid
ge, Su
ffolk.
6th Feb
ruary 2-5p
m O
liver Cro
mw
ell Ho
tel, March
.(d
ate to b
e fixed) R
ossi’s Sp
orts an
d Leisu
re Cen
tre, N W
alsham
,N
orfo
lk.(d
ate to b
e fixed) H
olt R
FC, H
olt, N
orfo
lk.
1st March
UK
IA A
nn
ual Sp
ring
Semin
ar Clim
ate changing UK
irrigationin a global m
arket.East of En
glan
d Sh
ow
gro
un
d, Peterb
oro
ug
h.
Edito
rial
Pe
ter W
hite
Wa
ter
Ma
na
ge
me
nt
•Irrig
ation m
anagem
ent for the 21st C
entury •
The sup
ply o
f top
quality so
il mo
isture mo
nitoring
equip
ment at excellent p
rices - perm
anent remo
tem
ulti-depth systems and portable m
ulti-site moniroitng
•IM
etos Internet w
eather stations at very keen p
rices•
Excellent Irrim
ax softw
are for view
ing and
interpretatio
n of d
ataN
ew fo
r 2006 the So
lo m
ulti-dep
th pro
be
Pe
ter W
hite
Wate
r Manag
em
ent
Clo
ve
rlea, N
utte
ry L
ane
, Ald
ring
ham
Le
isto
n IP
16 4
QW
, UK
Te
l: 0778
5 3
93
92
5O
ffice
Te
l and
Fax 0
172
8 4
54
83
9E
mail: P
ete
rWhite
Wate
r@ao
l.co
mw
ww
.irrigatio
nw
orld
20
00
.co
m
Mo
re irrigatio
n train
ing
in th
e New
YearIrrig
ation
trainin
g, fu
nd
ed o
ver the p
ast two
years by R
DS D
efra, isco
ntin
uin
g th
is year un
der th
e Natu
ral Eng
land
ban
ner in
East An
glia.
This is g
oo
d n
ews fo
r abstracto
rs and
dem
on
strates a con
tinu
ing
com
mitm
ent
to
the
imp
ortan
ce o
f im
pro
ving
w
ater m
anag
emen
tp
ractices in th
e regio
n.
Five half-d
ay wo
rksho
ps aim
ed at farm
ers and
gro
wers are p
lann
edfo
r Jan
uary
and
Feb
ruary
2007 in
key
catchm
ents
across
No
rfolk,
Suffo
lk and
Cam
brid
gesh
ire. This is n
ot ju
st mo
re of th
e same. Th
e aimis
to
bu
ild
on
p
reviou
s year’s
wo
rk w
hile
con
tinu
ing
to
fo
cus
on
practical an
d co
st effective mean
s of im
pro
ving
irrigatio
n efficien
cy and
water
man
agem
ent
practices.
Cran
field
Un
iversity, th
e w
orksh
op
org
anisers,
will
presen
tth
e fin
din
gs
of
their
(EEDA
fu
nd
ed)
researcho
n w
ater aud
iting
un
dertaken
with
farmers in
the reg
ion
this su
mm
er. So th
ere areso
me very p
ractical ou
tcom
es to talk ab
ou
t.Th
e ‘practical’ th
eme o
f last year’s wo
rksho
ps w
as greatly ap
preciated
. So m
ore
practical sessio
ns are in
clud
ed th
is time o
n im
pro
ving
soil an
d w
ater man
agem
ent,
evaluatin
g irrig
ation
systems, an
d u
nd
erstand
ing
the im
po
rtance o
f pip
es and
pu
mp
s.Th
ree areas are targeted
– three w
orksh
op
s will b
e run
in th
e Bro
adlan
d R
iversC
AM
S coverin
g b
oth
No
rth N
orfo
lk and
Sou
th N
orfo
lk, on
e in East Su
ffolk C
AM
San
d an
oth
er in th
e Mid
dle Level.
The w
orksh
op
s are free and
are prim
arily for ab
stractors in
tho
se areas. Bu
t as inp
reviou
s years if there are sp
are places th
en U
KIA
mem
bers are w
elcom
e to atten
d.
See – Dates fo
r you
r diary – fo
r details o
f time an
d lo
cation
. Details also
on
ou
rw
ebsite
ww
w.u
kia.org
Are irrig
ated cro
ps safe?
An
FSA stu
dy is u
nd
erway in
to th
e micro
bio
log
ical qu
ality of irrig
ation
water an
d an
assessmen
t of th
e risks to p
ub
lic health
from
differen
t agricu
ltural irrig
ation
practices.
The stu
dy aim
s to id
entify key p
atho
gen
s causin
g fo
od
-bo
rne illn
ess and
their m
od
es of tran
smissio
n, an
d h
ow
irrigatio
np
ractices imp
act the q
uality o
f water an
d th
e level of cro
p co
ntam
inatio
n.
The rep
ort aim
s to id
entify w
heth
er there is a n
eed fo
r furth
er ind
ustry g
uid
ance to
redu
ce risks, and
wh
ether su
fficient d
ataexists to
enab
le regu
lators to
do
this. If n
ot th
en areas o
f furth
er research req
uired
to ach
ieve this w
ill be id
entified
.If yo
u w
ish to
con
tribu
te to th
is stud
y from
an irrig
ator’s p
erspective o
r you
have d
ata that co
uld
assist in risk assessm
ent th
enco
ntact M
ike Payne o
n 01366 501068 o
r Mich
aelpayn
epart@
aol.co
m
Irrigatio
n th
e Italian w
ayA
successfu
l join
t UK
IA/IC
ID trip
to B
ari, Italy in O
ctob
er to see a ‘cred
it card’
irrigatio
n system
in actio
n (n
ewsletter Ju
ne 06). B
ut th
e experien
ce was m
uch
bro
ader th
an ju
st seeing
som
e auto
matic w
ater hyd
rants o
n a larg
e trickleirrig
ation
system. W
e also saw
ho
w a larg
e water u
ser associatio
n w
orked
.A
s on
e particip
ant p
ut it – ‘O
n a trip
like this w
ith o
ther p
articipan
ts in o
ur g
rou
ph
aving
a very wid
e rang
e of irrig
ation
kno
wled
ge an
d exp
erience, yo
u ju
st start tog
ain an
app
reciation
of th
e eno
rmity o
f the irrig
ation
market in
the rest o
f Euro
pe
and
beyo
nd
. Also
, in th
e UK
, you
see just h
ow
specific an
d lo
calisedare
ou
r cro
ps,
the
gro
win
gco
nd
ition
s, the irrig
ation
need
and
the m
ann
er in w
hich
it is satisfied.
It w
as also
g
oo
d,
and
a
bit
surp
rising
, to g
et an in
sigh
t into
ho
w o
ur Italian
cou
nterp
arts app
ear to h
ave fewer co
ncern
s with
regard
glo
bal
warm
ing
and
less red tap
e on
the en
viron
men
t and
local eco
log
y.It also
seems th
at by ag
reeing
collectively th
e extent o
f the availab
le water
resou
rce and
an am
icable m
echan
ism fo
r its distrib
utio
n, th
ey have avo
ided
go
vernm
ental ag
ency co
ntro
l of th
e water fo
r this p
roject. A
h w
ell, back to
reality’.Th
ere will b
e a fuller rep
ort o
n th
e visit in th
e next Jo
urn
al. Bu
t make su
re you
are on
the n
ext majo
r UK
IA visit w
hich
is plan
ned
for Sp
ain in
the N
ew Y
ear.M
elvyn Kay, Exec Secretary U
KIA
pag
e 2
con
tinu
ed su
pp
ort th
is year and
ho
pe th
at you
will m
aintain
you
r mem
bersh
ip o
ver the co
min
gyear.
As
always
we
welco
me
sug
gestio
ns
on
ho
w w
e can im
pro
ve the ran
ge o
f services we
offer o
ur m
emb
ers. I firmly b
elieve that th
eU
KIA
is go
ing
from
streng
th to
streng
th
and
yo
ur
sup
po
rt is
central to
this su
ccess. We are
also o
pen
to o
ffers for site visits,
ideas fo
r techn
ical meetin
gs o
rarticles
for
this
new
sletter o
rjo
urn
al. You
r con
tribu
tion
s areall w
elcom
e.B
est Wish
es for 2007.
2005 Survey o
f Irrigatio
n o
fO
utd
oo
r Cro
ps - En
glan
dTh
e natio
nal resu
lts (for En
glan
d) o
f the 2005 Irrig
ation
Survey, fu
nd
ed b
yD
efra, are abo
ut to
be released
as this n
ewsletter g
oes to
press.
All ag
ricultu
ral ho
ldin
gs th
at repo
rted th
ey had
irrigated
1 ha o
r mo
re in th
eD
efra 2005 Jun
e Ag
ricultu
ral Survey o
r had
repo
rted irrig
ating
in th
e 2001irrig
ation
survey w
ere asked to
com
plete a vo
lun
tary po
stal qu
estion
naire. Th
eresu
lts iden
tify trend
s in irrig
ated areas an
d w
ater use b
y crop
type, w
aterso
urces, irrig
ation
meth
od
, sched
ulin
g m
etho
d, an
d th
e overall p
ositio
n o
nw
ater reso
urces
and
reservo
ir sto
rage.
This
info
rmatio
n
is im
po
rtant
for
plan
nin
g an
d fo
r emp
hasisin
g th
e imp
ortan
ce of irrig
ation
as a water u
ser.Th
ank yo
u ag
ain to
everyon
e wh
o g
ave of th
eir time to
reply. W
e will
no
tify mem
bers w
hen
the resu
lts are available an
d h
ow
to o
btain
them
.K
eith Weatherhead, C
ranfield University
Fun
din
g fo
r water-related
pro
jectsTh
e Ru
ral Develo
pm
ent Service m
anag
ed th
e Ru
ral Enterp
rise Schem
e and
was
a recog
nised
fun
din
g so
urce fo
r storag
e reservoirs in
man
y regio
ns. It ran
for
five years befo
re closin
g in
Jun
e 2006. Wh
at is go
ing
to rep
lace it?Th
ere is curren
tly a gap
bu
t the n
ext rou
nd
of th
e Ru
ral Ag
end
a sho
uld
add
ress this. In
the n
ext ph
ase of th
e Ru
ral Develo
pm
ent R
egu
lation
s (RD
R)
2007-2013, as part o
f Defra’s R
ural Strateg
y 2004, Reg
ion
al Develo
pm
ent A
gen
cies will
be tasked
with
man
agin
g fu
ture fu
nd
ing
. So it is im
po
rtant to
loo
k at the reg
ion
alap
pro
aches acro
ss the co
un
try – they m
ay be d
ifferent d
epen
din
g o
n n
eeds an
dp
riorities.
Each reg
ion
has b
een tasked
with
pro
du
cing
a Reg
ion
al Imp
lemen
tation
Plan (R
IP)settin
g o
ut th
e regio
n’s o
bjectives an
d key p
riorities o
r them
es. The h
igh
level them
esw
ill determ
ine w
here th
e mo
ney is sp
ent an
d w
hat p
rojects w
ill be su
pp
orted
– water
resou
rces man
agem
ent is likely to
fit into
a nu
mb
er of th
e them
es.It is u
nd
erstoo
d th
at som
e of th
e fun
din
g w
ill be targ
eted to
ward
s collab
orative
pro
jects – situatio
ns w
here a n
um
ber o
f existing
, or p
rosp
ective, licence h
old
ers areab
le to w
ork to
geth
er brin
gin
g w
ide b
enefits acro
ss an area.
The En
viron
men
t Ag
ency is keen
to en
cou
rage h
igh
-flow
(win
ter) storag
e, wh
ich in
turn
m
ay red
uce
the
pressu
re o
n
sum
mer
resou
rces. Sto
rage
reservoirs
requ
iresig
nifican
t investm
ent an
d fin
ancial aid
can o
ften m
ake the d
ifference as to
wh
ether
or n
ot a sch
eme is viab
le. The EA
is lob
byin
g to
inclu
de th
is detail w
ithin
the R
DR
.Fo
r mo
re details ab
ou
t fun
din
g m
ake con
tact with
you
r local D
evelop
men
t Ag
ency –
details availab
le on
web
site ww
w.en
glan
dsrd
as.com
. Fun
ds are u
nlikely to
be availab
leb
efore th
e end
of 2007 at th
e earliest. Bu
t man
y Ag
encies w
ill no
w h
ave staff in p
laceth
at will b
e able to
han
dle yo
ur en
qu
iries.D
arren Sm
ith, a U
KIA
Co
un
cil Mem
ber w
ho
wo
rks with
the EA
based
in Lin
coln
, ish
app
y to
act
as a
po
int
of
con
tact o
n
this
for
UK
IA
mem
bers.
darren
.smith
@en
viron
men
t-agen
cy.go
v.uk D
arren Smith, Environm
ent Agency
Jerry Kn
ox, C
ranfield
Un
iversity
Co
un
cil mem
ber p
rofile
Tim Jo
llyTim
started
farm
ing
in
east
Suffo
lk wh
en h
e too
k over th
efam
ily farm in
the 1980s. In
1989h
e mo
ved to
No
rfolk an
d n
ow
farms
1000 acres
of
ligh
tb
reckland
soil g
row
ing
irrigated
vegetab
les and
po
tatoes, su
gar
beet, an
d m
alting
barley.
Tim’s fath
er, Philip
, was a p
ion
eer of farm
scaleirrig
ation
in th
e early 1950s first usin
g m
arketg
arden
equ
ipm
ent, th
en h
and
-mo
ve sprin
klers,b
efore m
ovin
g o
nto
raing
un
s – ‘no
t the easiest o
fjo
bs m
ovin
g p
ipes th
rou
gh
4ft po
tato to
ps! H
isN
orfo
lk farm
h
as five
centre
pivo
ts w
hich
certainly m
ake life easier.Tim
is very mu
ch in
volved
in w
ater resou
rces. He
is a mem
ber o
f his lo
cal abstracto
r gro
up
and
isth
e spo
kesman
for th
e NFU
’s water p
olicy g
rou
p.
He is p
articularly co
ncern
ed ab
ou
t energ
y use in
irrigatio
n as h
e believes th
ere are po
ssibilities fo
rred
ucin
g co
nsu
mp
tion
for th
e ben
efit of b
oth
farmin
g an
d th
e enviro
nm
ent.
pag
e 3
Figu
re 1Po
tential so
il mo
isture d
eficit (PSMD
)fro
m 1962-2006 at Silso
e (Bed
ford
shire), w
ith2006 h
igh
ligh
ted in
a darker sh
ade.
LAN
DSC
APE W
AT
ERIN
G SY
STEM
S LIMIT
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