Collaboration finding solutions to help protect food production from drought and flooding threats.
Lincolnshire County Council, through the Greater Lincolnshire Forum for Agriculture and Horticulture and UK Food Valley, has been working hard to represent the interests and ambitions of the county’s farmers.
A repeat issue identified throughout the county is the need for reliable water supplies in the face of increasingly common hot spells and droughts.
Lincolnshire is one of the UK’s most important food‑producing areas, but recent droughts have shown that farms without access to stored water are increasingly vulnerable to crop losses.
Recognising the need for a collaborative approach, the county council has helped bring farmers, water companies, regulators and other local councils from across the region together at an event to identify solutions that will protect crops, reduce flood risks, and safeguard future UK food production.
On‑farm reservoirs have provided a proven, practical solution, which allow farmers to collect water during wetter periods, when the demand for water is low, and store it for use during dry summers. They can help reduce pressure on rivers, create new habitats for wildlife, and lower flood risk by capturing peak flows during storms.
“With our farmers facing hotter, drier summers, water security now comes hand in hand with food security,” says Justin Brown, assistant director for Growth at Lincolnshire County Council. “And, in finding solutions to simplify the process for farmers to invest in on-farm reservoirs, we can help to make the sector more resilient to these pressures.
“After the costs for experts, assessments, and construction are factored in, a typical reservoir often exceeds £1m, which many businesses simply can’t afford. Add in stop-start grant funding, lengthy planning processes, skills shortages, and complex and uncertain licensing agreements, it becomes clear that there are far too many barriers for farmers considering reservoirs.
“By bringing all the relevant people together to find solutions, we have a real opportunity to drive forward policy proposals that will have an impact for farmers in Lincolnshire and across the UK.”
From initial discussions, several recommendations were discussed that could reduce the time and costs associated with on-farm reservoirs. Some of these included:
- Funding streams with simpler conditions.
- Greater transparency and clarity around abstraction license criteria.
- Tax relief on reservoir construction and pipework, with increased benefits for collaborative cluster groups.
- Information and evidence sharing across all stakeholders.
- Better use of real-time data, allowing more extraction at high flow peaks to increase the viability.
- More consistent national guidance around reservoir planning policies.
- Breaking out of silo mentality and closer stakeholder collaboration on regional and national levels.
Matt Riddington, Greater Lincolnshire Forum for Agriculture and Horticulture chair, particularly identified the need for collaboration, saying: “Aside from the asks of Government around polices and funding, a key theme throughout this event was the need for closer collaboration across all levels.
“We need everyone to be taking an active interest in maximising the value and potential from every drop of water. That’s not just farmers and government departments, it’s local homeowners who gain further protection from flooding, it’s consumers who have access to healthier and higher-quality local produce during extended droughts. Food and water security are global issues that affect us all through public health and the environment.
“We know what the issues are blocking on-farm reservoirs, and this event has pulled the best knowledge from our region to work on solutions to these. But this isn’t the end point of that work. We’ll continue to collaborate with all stakeholders to push regional solutions and outcomes, while lobbying the Government for more systemic change that we need to see.”
Lincolnshire County Council is committed to continuing work with partners, through the UK Food Valley and Greater Lincolnshire Forum for Agriculture and Horticulture, to shape future farming policy and bang the drum for our local farmers.
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