Agriculture provides wildlife habitats, a well-loved landscape and a place for recreation but it also has some less desirable impacts on the environment.
We regulate farming through regimes such as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) compliance, water abstraction licensing, and the Environmental Permitting Regulations.
Parts of East Anglia are in drought status and other regions are experiencing near-drought conditions. We've activated our drought plans and produce a weekly drought management brief:
You can take the opportunity to abstract high summer flows (before 1 November 2011):
For more details about regimes affecting agriculture please visit the following web pages:
If your farm has a private sewage treatment system or makes any other discharges to water, you may require an environmental permit.