Farm reservoirs in four areas of England may not refill this winter, Environment Agency warns
The West Midlands, Devon, Cornwall and East Anglia have the weakest prospects even if winter rainfall is normal. A dry winter would bring wider restrictions on taking water in 2027.
By Daily Oracles News Team2 min read
Farmers in four parts of England face the weakest chance of refilling their storage reservoirs before next year's growing season, according to an Environment Agency outlook published on Monday.
The agency modelled three cases for rainfall between November and March: 100%, 80% and 60% of the long-term average.
In a normal winter, most reservoirs in England should refill before spring. The exceptions are the West Midlands, Devon, Cornwall and East Anglia, where prospects are only moderate and some reservoirs may still be short. Local limits on taking water from rivers could also be needed if flows and groundwater stay below normal all winter.
At 80% of average rainfall, prospects become poor in those four areas and moderate across southern, central and eastern England. The agency said Section 57 restrictions on abstraction were then more likely in some catchments during the 2027 irrigation season.
A 60% winter would leave many reservoirs unable to refill enough for 2027, and farms would go into spring in a weaker position than they did this year. Winter hands-off flow restrictions on abstraction licences would be widespread and could run into spring. The agency said soils might not fully wet, making spring-sown crops harder to establish, while vegetable growers would have less water to work with and Section 57 restrictions in spring would be a significant risk. Livestock farmers could see less spring grass, shortages of forage and higher costs.
Where things stand
The report follows a year in which drought and repeated heatwaves cut yields and crop quality and pushed livestock farmers into winter forage early. September rainfall was 65% of the long-term average, the third below-average month in a row. Some reservoirs have reached record lows, and four river monitoring sites were exceptionally low: the Ely Ouse, the Derwent, the Swale and the Tone.
The agency advised farmers to check that their abstraction licences cover what they need, sign up for abstraction email alerts, and be ready to take floodwater during high flows under its RPS 300 position statement. It also pointed to trading water rights with other licence holders. A Water Management Grant of up to £15 million for on-farm reservoirs was announced on 15 August, and Defra is due to publish details this autumn.
A fuller assessment of spray irrigation prospects is due at the end of February 2027.
