Wheatley Watersource is a project developed in collaboration with Anglian Water and Essex and Suffolk Water, supported by Water Resources East and the Environment Agency. The NFU and the East Suffolk Water Abstractors Group (ESWAG) have provided agricultural input into the development of the project.
For growers of irrigated crops, the pilot will start in East Suffolk and will include many but not all of the groundwater and surface water bodies in the catchment.
The pilot seeks to facilitate and co-ordinate trades between different parties including farmers and other abstractors such as golf courses and water companies.
Although catchment specific for the purposes of the launch of the project, the NFU believes that abstractors across East Anglia with an interest in future water trading and sharing may wish to explore the new online tool and feedback comments to the project team.
The water trading pilot will run throughout 2021 and abstractors can explore Wheatley Watersource here.
More from NFUonline:
- Water sharing in Cambridgeshire fens offers dry weather respite
- Environment Agency launches a web-based mapping tool for water trading
- Research highlights water trading opportunities
