The National Farmers Union (NFU) have secured 150 water abstraction licences for farmers in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
The NFU met with the Environment Agency on Wednesday (July 16) to urgently lift water restrictions.
The Environment Agency agreed to lift 150 of the requested 240 farmers impacted by the recent announcement to cease water abstraction.
As the internal drainage boards add more water into the system, new restrictions will be put in place.
Farmers received letters from the Environment Agency about the restrictions on Friday (July 18).
The new restrictions will allow farmers to irrigate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights only, from 6:00p.m to 6:00a.m.
The NFU have advised that this will be on a temporary two-week basis before the Environment Agency review the matter again.
NFU
The NFU added that they will work to find solutions for members who have not had restrictions lifted.
The organisation said farmers in the Cam and Ely Ouse catchments were are still in drought and need the vital water as a last resort.
NFU vice-president Rachel Hallos said: “This was a huge and very immediate concern for many of our members, who are already having great challenges due to the extreme dry weather we have been experiencing.
Hallos said that it is important keep working with the Environment Agency in a bid to find a long-term solution, adding “this problem will not just go away” with new extreme weather conditions.
She added that droughts are costing farmers to a point of no recovery, and without a solution the UK’s food security will be at risk.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “We are working with the National Farmers’ Union, internal drainage boards, and local farmers to manage water availability.
“In future we can expect to see prolonged dry weather more frequently, so we encourage abstractors to make their business as resilient as possible and ask water users to use water wisely.”
