Essex farmers call for "water guarantee" amid summer drought risk
England's had the driest start to Spring in 69 years, warns Environment Agency
With increasing risk of summer drought after the driest start to Spring in 69 years, Essex farmers are more concerned than ever and are calling on the Government for a water guarantee for livestock and crop production.
The Environment Agency has warned of a "medium" risk of summer drought leaving water companies under pressure to do more to cut leaks and help customers save water.
The regulator said while there were currently no hosepipe bans planned, it warned that water companies might have to implement measures including restrictions in the months ahead.
When asked about a potential hosepipe ban, Clacton arable farmer and NFU Essex Vice Chair, David Lord, told Greatest Hits Radio "it's definitely coming".
"Such a dry period for such early on in the year is unprecedented.
"Even if we have a normal summer now with average rainfall, we're still going to be short of water so we're going to need things to turn right around to prevent a hosepipe ban" says Mr Lord.
The Government's national drought group met on Wednesday 7 May 2025 to discuss the risk of drought with sustained rainfall.
From that meeting, the Environment Agency released their key actions which includes enhanced monitoring of river, groundwater and reservoir levels; coordination with water companies to implements statutory drought plans when necessary; and publication of irrigation forecasts for the agricultural sector.
NFU Essex says more needs to be done:
"If it carries on like this, you'll be struggling to find a farmer to talk about the weather in about 5 years time because we'll be doing other things" says Mr Lord.
The NFU is calling for access to water for livestock and crop production in times of shortages to be guaranteed:
"There are currently no mechanisms in place by which the agricultural sector is guaranteed access to water to fill winter storage reservoirs" says a National Farmers Union statement.
"The UK has enough water to produce the food we need, it’s just not always in the right place at the right time."
"As a nation, we must get much better at capturing and storing water, as well as moving it around. An abstraction system that allows for excess water capture and more on-farm reservoirs would benefit farmers, and wider society" writes the NFU.