OpenFields

Future water

A viewpoint paper by one-time Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food and Secretary of State for the Environment, on the the issues that farmers and landowners will face as water resources become more scarce and extreme weather more frequent.

Year of Publication2008

Nothing is more important for our survival than water and nothing is more directly affected by global warming. The combined effects of higher tides, more extreme weather, and river flooding threaten more and more homes, businesses, and farm land. Yet, when the growing world food crisis should demand that we protect every acre of agricultural land Government policy is to endanger thousands of hectares through ‘managed retreat’. Conflict over water resources is growing throughout the world and almost everywhere there is growing tension between town and country as industry and domestic pressures vie with the needs of agriculture. Unless we lessen the demand from the urban areas there will be real shortages for agriculture. Farmers will have to become increasingly judicious in their use of water too. We must sweep away the institutional barriers to farmers being paid to allow land to be used as wash meadows and flood repositories when extreme weather makes that necessary.

This item is categorised as follows

• Subject Collection > Soils & water > Rivers & lakes
• Subject Collection > Environmental impact > Climate change
• Subject Collection > Soils & water
• Subject Collection > Environmental impact
• Subject Collection > Soils & water > Water resource management
• Subject Collection > Environmental impact > Managing land for environmental benefit
• Subject Collection > Environmental impact > Flood & coastal defence

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