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A regional pilot in the east of England to share and trade water has launched between Anglian, Essex and Suffolk, and Wheatley Solutions as a prototype for a national model.
The project was designed to manage local resources in water-stressed parts of the country using a cloud-based platform to promote water trade and sharing between abstraction licence holders.
The online Watersource system shows users the water bodies, sources, statuses and active licences in a catchment area. Abstractors can advertise if they need water, want to share or trade water with other users with or without abstraction licences. It informs all licence holders in the catchment area of a request to facilitate trade.
Trade opportunities between parties are subject to licence conditions set by the Environment Agency and, where referral is necessary, Wheatley Solutions arranges the application to the permit office.
Water resources strategy manager at Anglian, Geoff Darch, said: “We are hoping that abstractors in the area will be a part of this exciting project, as this is a great opportunity to build a community who can help each other especially in dry weather.
“The project is set to benefit abstractors by providing easy access to a large audience of other abstractors, and quickly give confidence in trading opportunities that are possible.”
As well as the EA, stakeholders including Water Resources East, East Suffolk Water Abstraction Group and the National Farmers Union will cooperate with the trial in east Suffolk throughout 2021. There is scope to expand the model to other parts of the region and nationally if successful.
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