The Environment Agency has launched a new abstraction charging scheme, after consulting on changes to the regime last year.
The underlying principles of the charging regime have been unchanged for many years, although individual charges change from year to year. As part of the consultation, the EA said they would no longer allow the charging regime to fully recover costs to meet existing demands and future pressures.
According to FarmingUK, ‘The agency explained that it wanted to shift the focus so that charges better reflect the level and complexity of the services provided.’
Outgoing NFU water resources specialist, Paul Hammett warned that there would be “winners and losers” within the farming community if and when new charging proposals are implemented this year. “We are still working through the details of the EA’s proposals,” he said. “But it looks as if annual abstraction charges could be reduced for many members while application charges for new, varied or renewed licences could increase – in some cases substantially.”
Reports suggest that the consultation document makes it clear that the special two-part tariff agreement for spray irrigation licences will continue.