Water is essential for drinking, farming, industry, wildlife and recreation. Managing our rivers, lakes, estuaries, wetlands and groundwater properly ensures the needs of society, the economy and nature can be met over the long term.
2026 has seen the driest July in 190 years, with just 5 per cent of expected rainfall.
This has placed significant demands on abstraction, particularly for irrigation, and agricultural reservoir stocks have declined rapidly, especially where abstractors rely heavily on storage. If you own, operate or are planning to build a reservoir, our new planning guides explain the requirements. Sustainable water abstraction is essential to ensure that river flows and groundwater levels support ecology and natural resilience. We work with abstractors to balance the needs of the public, industry, farmers and the environment.
What are abstraction licences?
Abstraction is the process of taking water from a river, lake or groundwater source for uses such as irrigation, industry, recreation or drinking water. The Environment Agency grants abstraction licences to protect the environment and the rights of existing lawful water users.
Those with abstraction licences are allowed to take water in line with the conditions of their licence.
Abstracting more than 20 cubic metres a day generally requires a licence, though some activities, such as firefighting, are exempt. If you take water from the same source at multiple points, the combined total must be 20 cubic metres or less a day to qualify for exemption.
If you don't hold a licence, you may be able to agree a trade or share with an existing licence holder, permanently or temporarily, provided all licence conditions can still be met. Where an abstraction is moved to a different abstraction point, the buyer of the abstraction right would normally have to apply for their own licence or change their existing licence if they have one.
Not all activities require an abstraction licence to take place with some being exempt.
Abstraction licence holders can manage their accounts online to see a summary of their licence and past returns.
How can the Environment Agency restrict abstraction?
There are two main types of restrictions that the Environment Agency can implement on abstractors at times of pressure: hands-off flow conditions and Section 57 restrictions.
Hands-off flow conditions on licences reduce or prevent abstraction to protect other abstractors and the environment. Many of these restrictions have come into effect in 2026 due to very low river flows. Licence holders who have hands-off flow condition on their licences will be notified when the condition comes into force, with as much advance notice as possible.
Section 57 of the Water Resources Act 1991 allows formal notices to be issued to holders of spray irrigation abstraction licences to protect river flows during drought throughout a catchment.
Spray irrigation abstraction licence holders can help make the most of the water which their licence authorises to take by:
Monitoring water consumption, ensuring water measurement devices are installed to accurately measure the quantities of water abstracted; Preventing and dealing with leaks; Maintaining equipment, making sure it’s properly set up; and Irrigation scheduling – ensuring the correct amount of water is applied at the right time.Environment Agency updated prospects for irrigation report for summer 2026 can be found on gov.uk.
We work closely with farmers, the National Farmers Union (NFU), Water Abstraction Groups (WAGs) and Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) to give as much advanced notice as possible before cessation conditions are needed on abstraction licences to protect the environment.
We continue to carry out irrigation patrols and other compliance checks to ensure all abstractors are complying with their licence conditions to help protect water availability.
If abstractors believe that they may not be able to comply with their abstraction licence or have issues accessing water supplies, they should contact their local area office for further advice as soon as possible.
What support is available for those with abstraction licences who may have restrictions in place?
General guidance is available for abstraction licence holders affected by prolonged dry weather and drought, alongside short and long-term options to improve water access and resilience.
For short term support:
Speak to us about options outside your licence conditions. Consider water rights trading between licence holders. includes a link to Help for Water Rights Trading Data. includes a link to Help for Water Rights Trading Data.Managing abstraction for the long term
In the longer term, there are a number of schemes for abstractors that can help generate water resilience listed below.
We’re encouraging the establishment of Water Abstractor Groups (WAGs) to work together to understand and jointly plan for their future water needs. Defra provided funding to Regional Water Resources Groups to support these activities and updated guidance to help farmers setup Water Abstractor Groups. We recently launched the latest round of Local Resource Option (LRO) Screening Studies, helping groups of farmers identify practical solutions for long-term water resilience. The 2026/27 application window is now closed and projects selected, but further projects may be offered on a first-come-first-served basis if funds remain. Contact WRAgriculture@environment-agency.gov.uk for details. Defra are also supporting farmers specifically through their schemes: the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and their Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) fund provide farmer-led, smaller-scale grants, including projects trialling new technologies for conserving water on farm. For more information on these schemes and how to manage your land and farm in dry weather, including information on looking after livestock, managing farm reservoirs, storing flammable materials and creating firebreaks please visit the Defra Farming Blog.Reporting incidents
If you are out and about, please report incidents to our hotline - 0800 80 70 60.
It's free and open 24 hours a day.
Incidents you should report include:
fish in distress; collapsed or badly damaged riverbanks and beds; unusual drops in river flow; and people taking water illegally from rivers, streams, canals or underground sources such as wells.More information on other incidents and how to report can be found on gov.uk.
For any further questions you can call our National Customer Contact Centre on 03708 506 506.
seen at 16:48, 12 August in Environment Agency: For homes and habitats..