Statement on Government backing farm reservoirs

The Eastern Powerhouse welcomes the Government’s new £65 million package of drought support for farmers. This includes up to £15 million for on-farm reservoirs, an additional £50 million for the Sustainable Farming Incentive, measures to reduce planning barriers and more flexible access to water during drought conditions. These are practical steps towards helping farmers capture water when it is available and protect food production during increasingly hot and dry summers.

It is very gratifying to see the government moving so swiftly. Eastern Powerhouse published "The East cannot wait for rain" on 14 August; the Government responded on 15 August. A 24-hour turnaround is certainly encouraging. 

The announcement is nevertheless only a beginning. The East still needs substantially greater investment in individual and shared agricultural reservoirs, more flexible abstraction licences, real-time water management and stronger coordination between farmers, Internal Drainage Boards, water companies and public authorities. Above all, it needs a comprehensive strategy that treats water security as essential economic infrastructure for the whole Fens - not simply as a constraint on Cambridge’s growth. The direction is now right; the challenge is to turn this welcome intervention into sustained investment and delivery.