Shropshire farmers urged to cut down on water

Farmers are being told to use less water for their crops as part of a bid to combat plummeting river levels on Shropshire's waterways.

Environment Agency officials have imposed restrictions on licences held by 48 farmers across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and beyond in order to reduce the amount of water that they take from rivers. In some cases farmers could be stopped from taking water altogether.

Depths on rivers across Shropshire are dangerously low due to the relatively dry summer.

There has been just 22.9mm of rainfall so far this month compared to an average for August in the region of 33mm.

Similarly there was just 45mm last month, compared with the usual 51.8mm and 53.6mm in June compared with the average 63mm for that time. However, Severn Trent said no hosepipe bans were planned in the region.

Levels on the River Teme are below their typical levels at Leintwardine and Tenbury Wells, and last week a flock of sheep was pictured crossing the river between Knighton and Ludlow.

Levels on the Rea Brook at Hook-a-gate, near Shrew- sbury, the River Tanat and on the River Roden at Roddington, are also below the expected levels.

An Environment Agency spokesman said farmers were able to take water from rivers if they held an abstraction licence. But they added in certain circumstances they can be told to take less or prevented from taking any water under the terms of their licences.

The restrictions are also in place across Worcestershire, Herefordshire and parts of Gloucestershire.

The Environment Agency spokesman added: "When river levels are low, farmers that use water to irrigate crops may be required under their abstraction licence to use less water or to stop ab- stracting water completely in places because the water is not there for them to take.

"We do give farmers plenty of warning before we introduce any restrictions on spray irrigation and we do remove these restrictions as soon as the river levels rise again.

"Restrictions on water use are put in place in order to protect the environment and other abstraction licence holders, including public water supply.

"Specific levels are set for different rivers and once the water level falls below these trigger levels water use may be restricted.

"In the longer term the risk to farmers can be reduced through winter storage reservoirs, rainwater harvesting and abstractors groups."

By Peter Kitchen