SEPA praises Fife farmers after water abstraction licence suspensions lifted

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has praised farmers in Fife for their response after suspensions of water abstraction licences in parts of the Kingdom were lifted.

Last weekend, many licences had to be suspended affecting the River Eden catchment due to water shortage, or scarcity, issues after recent dry and hot weather.

But the agency says the suspensions were lifted at 1pm yesterday in Fife, although restrictions are being introduced in the Borders later tonight as recent rainfall there has been limited.

Meanwhile back in the Kingdom, there has been strong compliance from the farming community after recent wet weather.

There were no non-compliances in Fife, according to SEPA.

Rob Morris, Senior Manager for the organisation's Rural Economy Unit, said: "We are so pleased with how farmers in the River Eden catchment responded to the urgent water scarcity situation.

"We thank them sincerely for doing the right thing and complying with the abstraction suspensions.

"We saw a significant 38% rise in the river level in just a few hours from when suspensions were imposed at midnight to when rainfall started later on Sunday afternoon.

"This shows the impact their actions had, and their support has been critical in allowing water levels to recover to a point where suspensions are no longer required.

"Suspending abstraction licences is only done when necessary and is not a decision we take lightly.

"While we stress that the suspensions on the River Tweed will last for as short a time as possible, the science is telling us that without action there is a substantial risk of impacts on fish populations, natural habitats and longer-term damage to watercourses. 

"As shown in Fife, these will be in place for the shortest time possible.

"We’ll continue to monitor river levels across Scotland, and make our decisions based on science and the need to need to prevent long-term damage to local water environments that we rely on.

"With further dry weather in the forecast, it’s important that everyone abstracting water continues to manage their water use carefully."