Water ban for farmers as drought hits region

Around one in five farmers with abstraction licences in the catchment areas of four major rivers are likely to be affected by a “stop” notice in the coming weeks, the NFU said.

The Environment Agency said months of below-average rainfall and a forecast that the dry weather would continue had led to the decision to declare drought around the rivers Don, Rother, Hull and Derwent. The Hull and the Derwent have had the second driest 12 months on record since 1910.

The agency said it expected to see lower river levels, and some small springs and streams drying up.

Yorkshire Water said yesterday they weren’t ruling out imposing restrictions on customers. A spokesman said: “The longer this dry period goes on the more likely some sort of restrictions are.”

The NFU said restrictions, which only apply to so-called “Hands Off Flow” licences, wouldn’t come as a surprise to farmers. Most farmers would have other licences which they can use. A spokeswoman said: “It’s a worry and it is going to have an impact but at the moment it is manageable for most farmers.”

The dry weather is set to continue until Friday.