Why are farmers and businesses banned from taking water from the River Tweed?

Water restrictions on taking water out of the River Tweed have been imposed in the Scottish Borders.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has said water levels had dropped to levels that were not sustainable.

Around 30 farmers and other businesses will face a ban on being able to take water from the river from midnight on 18 August 2022.

Nathan Critchlow-Watton, Head of Water and Planning at SEPA said after multiple earlier warnings, they have made this decision as "not enough is being done."

The River Tweed Commission, the body responsible for protecting fish within the River Tweed and Eye catchment, has also welcomed SEPA’s decision to suspend abstraction licenses.

Jamie Stewart, Clerk to the River Tweed Commission said: “Climate change is already leading to significant variations in weather patterns with drier summers and wetter winters predicted to continue.

"While the River Tweed Commission welcomes the suspension announcement from SEPA, we believe that the current water scarcity plans are inadequate to protect fish stocks both in the short and longer term.

"We are deeply concerned at the significant problems being created by low water levels and high temperatures for Atlantic Salmon, sea and brown trout and are raising these concerns with SEPA and The Scottish Government in order to encourage a review of the system allowing the damaging extraction of water from the river by industry and agriculture during prolonged dry conditions.”

What are water abstraction licences?

Water abstraction licences are licences held by businesses which allows them to take water from local rivers to for use in their commercial enterprises.

They are given out by SEPA which is the Scottish equivalent of the Environment Agency.

Businesses must apply for a licence if they extract water from inland sources and use between 10 and 50 cubic metres a day, or if they use water from rivers or coastal waters.

The water environment in parts of the River Tweed catchment reached significant scarcity last week, the highest category for water scarcity defined by SEPA.

Last week Mouthbridge at Blackadder Water dropped to its lowest flow since records began in 1974. Lyne Station recorded its fourth lowest flow in 53 years, only 2003 was lower.

It has been said that the recent rainfall has not been enough to reverse the current situation, which has been building up over a long period of time.

The long-term forecast is a return to dry conditions.

SEPA said they will continue to monitor conditions and take appropriate action until the risk of water scarcity has reduced.

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