Do You Need a Water Abstraction Licence on a Farm?
Published by SEO Dons · Last reviewed October 2026
Farms take water from boreholes, springs, streams and reservoirs for livestock, washing, irrigation and crop spraying. Whether that needs a licence turns on one number — how much you take in a day — and the threshold differs between England, Wales and Scotland. This guide sets out the rules and works through the volumes a typical farm uses.
The thresholds
England. The Environment Agency’s guidance (“Check if you need a licence to abstract water”, updated 2 July 2026) says that if you plan to take more than 20 cubic metres (20,000 litres) a day, you are likely to need an abstraction licence. The exemption applies to a single operation: if you abstract from the same source at several points, the combined total must be 20 cubic metres a day or less.
Wales. Natural Resources Wales does not require a licence for abstractions of 20 cubic metres a day or less, measured per source of supply.
Scotland. Since November 2025, abstraction is regulated under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations, known as EASR. Up to 10 cubic metres a day is covered by general binding rules — no application, but you must be able to show the abstraction stays under 10 cubic metres in any one day. Between 10 and 50 cubic metres a day needs a one-off registration with SEPA, and above 50 cubic metres a day needs a permit (Farm Advisory Service, “EASR explained”, 9 February 2026).
Boreholes and groundwater
A new borehole adds a step. In England, if you want to abstract groundwater you must check whether you need consent to investigate a groundwater source before you apply for a licence. That covers boreholes, wells and springs, and it applies if you intend to construct a well or borehole, extend one, or install machinery that abstracts additional groundwater. A pump test during drilling tells you what the borehole can sustainably yield — the figure every pump, solar or otherwise, should be sized on.
How much does a farm actually take?
The thresholds are easy to cross once the numbers are added up:
| Use | Daily volume |
|---|---|
| 100 suckler cows with calves at 55 litres each | 5.5 m³ |
| 150 milking cows at 115 litres each | 17.25 m³ |
| The same herd plus 70 litres a cow for parlour washing | 27.75 m³ |
| 25 mm of irrigation on 1 hectare | 250 m³ |
Livestock figures: Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (updated 6 May 2026) and Penstar water engineers quoted by Farmers Weekly. One millimetre of water over one hectare is 10 cubic metres.
The suckler herd sits under every threshold. The dairy herd is under England’s and Wales’s 20 cubic metres on drinking water alone but over once the parlour is counted, and over Scotland’s registration line either way. Irrigation is in a different league: a single 25 mm application on one hectare is more than twelve times England’s exemption.
Reservoirs and impounding
Building or altering a structure that permanently or temporarily changes a water level or flow — a dam or an embankment for an irrigation reservoir — needs a separate check for an impounding licence in England (and if the reservoir will carry panels, does floating solar reduce evaporation? sets out what the evidence says about water loss). Larger reservoirs also come under reservoir-safety law: in England a reservoir that can hold 25,000 cubic metres or more above ground level must be registered with the Environment Agency; in Wales the threshold is 10,000 cubic metres; in Scotland it is 25,000 cubic metres, registered with SEPA.
Does the power source change anything?
No. A borehole pump run from solar panels needs the same licence as one run from the mains or a diesel engine — the regulator is interested in the water, not the electricity. What solar changes is the cost of getting power to a remote pump. Our guide to solar water pumps for livestock and irrigation covers sizing a pump on the volumes above, and floating solar on a farm reservoir covers putting panels on the water itself.
Sources
- gov.uk, “Check if you need a licence to abstract water” (updated 2 July 2026).
- Natural Resources Wales, “Find out if you need a water abstraction or impoundment licence”.
- SEPA, EASR abstraction guidance; Farm Advisory Service, “EASR explained: updated rules for farmers drawing water from rivers and burns” (9 February 2026).
- gov.uk, “Reservoirs: owner and operator requirements” (updated 23 February 2024); Natural Resources Wales, “Register your reservoir”; SEPA, “Reservoirs”.
- Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, “Water requirements of livestock” (updated 6 May 2026); Farmers Weekly, “Guide to planning water requirements on your dairy farm” (updated 19 January 2021).