Local water resources options screening studies: how to apply
How to apply for a screening study with the Environment Agency to assess and rank water resources options for farming.
Applies to England
You can apply for a screening study with the Environment Agency to assess and rank water resources options and increase your water supply resilience as a group of neighbouring farmers.
Who can apply
You can apply for a screening study if you:
- are a group of 2 or more neighbouring farms
- manage or operate arable, horticultural, aquaculture or livestock farms, including ornamentals or forestry nurseries
- currently abstract, or would like to abstract, water for irrigation or livestock husbandry located in England (you cannot apply with joint businesses or partnerships in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales)
The farmers in your group must either:
- own the land
- have a tenancy agreement with the landowner
You do not need to be a member of a Water Abstractor Group, farming facilitation group or similar to apply. We encourage you to consider joining or starting a group in your area to improve your water resilience.
What a screening study will do
The screening study will look at potential water resources options for your group of farmers to improve your water resource resilience.
It will screen and rank the water resources options based on:
- hydrology
- cost
- yield
- suitability for required water use
The study will be specific to your area and give location specific advice. Your group will get a report with outline requirements for the best options including:
- guidance and next steps for implementation
- potential barriers to progression
What a screening study will not do
A screening study will not:
- provide legal agreements for setting up a water sharing company between members of the group
- design engineering specifications for the local water resources options
- reduce or remove requirements for any abstraction licence applications or planning permissions required to develop and implement the local water resources options
- affect the likelihood of acceptance of any permit, abstraction licence or planning applications due to your involvement in a study
Taking part in a screening study will not affect any current abstraction or impounding licences you hold. You will also not be obligated to implement all or any of the recommendations in the local resources options report.
When to apply
Applications open on 22 April 2024 and close at 23:59pm on 16 June 2024.
How to apply
You will need to appoint a lead contact who will apply on behalf of the group.
The lead contact should gather all information before they apply. The lead will need to answer questions about:
- the farm names and addresses
- if water abstraction is being used for irrigation or other activities, for example, fish farming or supporting livestock
- if farmers are landowners or tenants, or have another agreement
- if farms have water abstraction licences, and any issues or concerns about the future of their licences
- water constraints (for example, recent section 57 spray irrigation restrictions or ‘hands off flow’ conditions)
- any existing water resource resilience measures that farms in the application group are using
- if farms are in a formal Water Abstractor Group, farming facilitation group or similar, plan to start a group, or join an existing one
The information you provide will help us build a picture of the farming businesses who wish to be involved in the screening study.
The lead contact must:
- complete the application form
- email: wrnationalframework@environment-agency.gov.uk
How the Environment Agency will assess applications
Applications for screening studies are competitive. The Environment Agency will prioritise approving applications by groups of farms that:
- are at risk of sustainability reductions to abstraction licences
- have water bodies with poor ecological status
- are in a catchment with either no, or restricted, water available for abstraction at low flows
- already have active Water Abstractor Groups, catchment partnerships or facilitation groups
Applications will be scored in accordance with public sector principles of transparency, honesty and fairness.
The Environment Agency may ask the Water for Food Group to help us review applications. Water for Food Group is an independent forum of stakeholders and policy advisors from the agricultural and horticultural sectors, which aims to raise the profile of water for food production.
If your application is successful
The Environment Agency aims to give you a decision within 20 working days of the application closing.
If your group is offered a screening study, we will send an agreement to the lead contact to sign and return. This will set out what is expected from the group in return for being offered a screening study, including use of data and requirements of the group in relation to site visits and meetings. See ‘How the study will work’ and ‘How the Environment Agency manages your data’.
There will be a wait between signing the screening study agreement and work starting while the Environment Agency appoints suitable water resources consultants.
If your application is unsuccessful
We will write to you and tell you why. If you’re unhappy with the decision, you should follow the Environment Agency’s complaints procedure.
If additional funding becomes available to the Environment Agency for screening studies, we may look again at your application and write to you at a later date.
How the study will work
The Environment Agency will procure and have contractual agreements with water resources consultants to provide each screening study. This is separate to the agreement we have with your farm group about what is expected from you.
The water resources consultants will arrange to visit the farms in your application. They will ask about your current water needs, use and future water-related business ambitions.
The consultants will build a conceptual model of the area using:
- summary information about water abstraction licences in your area
- records of recent actual abstraction
- information from the farming businesses on water use requirements and aims
- publicly available data on the local water bodies, hydrology, geology and climate
- other relevant information from your local regional water resources group about local projects
The consultants will then screen and rank potential water resources options in your area. These could include:
- farm storage reservoirs (new, resizing or change to multi-season operation)
- water rights trading
- water sharing
- water efficiency tools
- demand and leakage reduction
- improved connectivity of existing sources
- treated effluent reuse
- drainage water use
- managed aquifer recharge
- rainwater harvesting
- conjunctive use schemes, for example, a mix of groundwater and surface water
The water resources consultants will involve you in the process. Members may be expected to attend 2 or 3 group meetings to discuss and give feedback on the options before the consultants finalise and send you your local resources options report.
How the Environment Agency manages your data
See the Environment Agency’s Personal Information Charter to find out how the Environment Agency treat your personal information and what details are held.
The Environment Agency will share information on your abstraction and impoundment licences with the water resources consultants to complete the studies. This will be under a data licence which will define how the data can be used by them, how it is to be stored, and for how long.
The data that you provide to the water resources consultants will be used during your screening study and may appear in the local resources options report.
The Environment Agency, your regional water resources group, and the Water for Food Group may review the draft outputs while the study is ongoing.
Once the study has finished, we will share final outputs, including your local resources options report, with your regional water resources group to support regional water resources planning. We may also share outputs with the Water for Food Group to help inform the support they give the agricultural sector on water resources resilience.
The Environment Agency will aggregate all study outputs to consider trends and common barriers to the development of water resources.
We will share the aggregated outputs, study reports and summary documents with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC), and potentially relevant ministers. This will provide evidence for policy and regulatory change to help improve the long-term resilience of water supplies for agriculture.
We may, with your permission, create a case study from your area to promote the screening study process and its outputs. This will be shared with you for approval.