North Northumberland
Agricultural Abstractors Group (NNAAG)

North Northumberland Agricultural Abstractors Group (NNAAG) represents the interests of about 25 abstractors along the River Till. The Group formed in 2004 in response to major changes in water consenting arrangements, and in anticipation that abstractions for irrigation would be reduced.

Historically, water abstractions from the River Till were not subjected to licensing  control. However, in 1999 when the river was designated a SSSI, English Nature took on responsibility for this activity and consented the catchment on the basis that they would be reviewed in the light of future survey work to identify sustainable abstraction levels. As there was little historical data, the consented volumes bore little relationship to historical irrigation use and many were issued to landowners who had never irrigated.

The Water Act 2003 allowed the Environment Agency to take over responsibility for licensing abstraction and this took place in 2008. In 2005 the catchment was already identified as being significantly over-consented and major reductions in consents (up to 70%) were needed as new licences were issued from 2005 onwards. This was a major issue for the small number of major abstractors in the catchment, who became the founder members of NNAAG. English Nature also recognised that having such a group, as long as it represented the majority of consent holders’ interests, would assist them during this transitional period. One of the first successes of the group was to negotiate a phased reduction in consented volumes between 2005 and 2008.

Originally, the group’s main objectives were to (i) provide a single point of contact for communication during the transitional period and beyond (ii) facilitate the licence application process and (iii) promote cooperation in water resources management amongst members. To date the group has had some successes – information channels have improved, there is more potential for trust and cooperation developing between the active members, the group has undertaken its own technical studies and training on irrigation efficiency.