National water resources planning

The EA (Environment Agency) is responsible for planning to meet the water resources challenge of the future and in 2020 introduced the NF (National Framework) with regional groups planning water resources in 2050.

These groups were expected to work with all water users – water companies, agricultural collectors and other sectors that rely on environmental water to develop their plans, but lack of funding has been a barrier. major role in integrating agriculture and other sectors in the development of their plans. date.

The NF is currently being revised after five years of practice and a revised version will be published in 2025.

The NFU, along with the Water For Food group, are represented on the three main water resources planning bodies nationally.

• Board of Directors – advises regulators and regional planning groups on the future direction of water resources planning and measures the success of regional plans.
• Regional Coordination Group – coordinates water resources planning activity and engagement at national level (England and Wales) between participants.
• Senior Steering Group – provides strategic guidance and engages all participants in national water resources planning to monitor progress in the implementation of regional plans.

We also provide representation within each of the regional planning groups:

• WRE (Water Resources East)
• WRSE (Water Resources South East)
• WRW (Water Resources West)
• WReN (Water Resources of the North)
• WCWR (West Country Water Resources)

By being part of these groups, we can advocate for agriculture’s water needs and help groups include agriculture in their plans.

We work to get EAs and regional planning groups to better include agriculture in their production so that agriculture has access to a fair share of available water to support economic growth and food security in the future .

As part of this national work, we support calls to include the following elements in the revised national framework:

• A complete description of pressures on water resources including food security, meeting environmental demands, population growth, business development and growth, and climate change.
• Plans that face uncertainties generated by the need to respond to a range of possible environmental scenarios and emerging demands, such as hydrogen production and AI data centers.
• Develop new options with water sources.
• Emphasize how the proposed plans can be implemented in practice on the ground.
• Clarity on decision making and evidentiary needs regarding the protection and allocation of future water rights and competing claims – the way decisions are made regarding abstraction licenses must be transparent and justified.
• A description of the water resources planning landscape across all sectors – a map of who does what.
• An explanation of how different timelines for environmental reviews of catchment permits, water company price reviews and regional planning work together..
• A commitment to working across all sectors with a drought plans so that the needs of agriculture in critical periods are met.

Funding on-the-ground water resources planning