UK WATER USAGE - PRESENT SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES
“Agriculture,
together with the associated food processing, distribution, retail and catering
sectors provides 358,000 jobs and over £12.9 billion to the economy of theeastern region, much of which would
be at risk if water supplies were limited. O1000 farms depend on irrigation to
supply high quality fruit, vegetables, potatoes and salads. 30% of all potatoes
and 25 % of all vegetables and fruit sold through the
multiples comes
from these irrigated farms.”Q
Whilst in LDCs people die from lack of water, in
the UK the damage done is mainly environmental and economic.
PRESENT: PROBLEMS
PROBLEM 1: WRONG PLACE
Although wet and dry regions are a
lot less pronounced in the UK than say Australia, It just so happens that the
most intensely arable regions of the UK are also the driest. This exasperates
the situation somewhat.
On the flip side areas receiving
the warm south-westerly have a great deal more rain fall, up to 3 times as much
in extreme cases.
If we picture the landscape in the
areas receiving most rainfall, we think of Moors (Southwest), Mountains
(Snowdonia), Mountains again, Lake District etc etc. These are not your typical
low land arable areas with high water needs, and although rivers run down from
these areas to localities where it may be abstracted, the bulk of this good
fresh water will go straight in the sea.
Average Rainfalls Anual 1971 - 2000 from The Met OfficeK
PROBLEM 2: WRONG TIME
Again the UK does not suffer from
seasonal variations as much as other countries, however, we are a densely
populated island, and the demand on water resources is high.
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Average Rainfalls Winter / Summer 1971 - 2000 from The Met OfficeK
It is an unfortunate coincidence
that the most important growing season is summer, which has the lowest rainfall.
It is therefore vital to manage water resource very carefully. In the UK the EA
have great powers to enforce the proper use of water, which can make food
production more difficult. In countries where there is no minimum flow to
maintain a higher % of the water in the rivers are available for use.
“PROBLEM” 3: HIGH ENVIRONMENTAL
STANDARDS
Environmentalists may not perceive
this as a problem as such, but in the UK large quantities of water are needed to
maintain the Statutory Minimum Flows, this filters down to hit farmers with
licensing, as all the licensed abstractions (managed with CAMS) in a given area
must not affect the SMF consultants.
This concept that the river itself
needs water, means there is less water available for irrigation. If in midsummer
the river drops below the Hands off Level (Usually set above SMF, then farmers
must stop pumping to avoid a fine. However, if there is a choice between loosing
£10k of potatoes or paying a £5k fine, you can guess what will happen.
J-
http://en.wikipedia.org/ (31/12/09)
K- http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/ukmapavge.html# (31/12/09)
