51AVÊÓƵ

With climate change forcing farmers everywhere to battle flooding and drought more regularly, there has never been a more important time to manage water. Jez Fredenburgh looks at lessons the UK can learn from other countries.

The chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Neil Parish, has demanded the Environment Agency (EA) review its interpretation of the Farming Rules For Water.

NFU Cymru has branded Welsh Government’s decision to publish draft regulations of an all-Wales Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) ‘ill-judged’ in light of the Covid-19 crisis.

Plaid Cymru has called on the Welsh Government to put on hold its plans to introduce new water regulations until the coronavirus epidemic is under control.

The NFU has said leaving the EU provides England with an opportunity to take a different approach to reducing nitrate pollution.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has warned the Welsh Government that its proposed new water rules may have the ‘perverse outcome’ of making water quality worse.

NFU Cymru has blasted Welsh Government’s secretive approach to implementing its proposed new water rules, calling for key information surrounding the plans to be made publicly available.

The fight between Welsh Government and the UK Government over funding for farmers is likely to intensify in 2020, says Plaid Cymru Shadow Rural Affairs Minister Llyr Gruffydd.