Read the article
and choose the best option to complete the text – a, b, c, or
d.
The government has “no idea” how much water (015.
_____________) from rivers and groundwater, according to an
Environment Agency (EA) whistleblower, as swathes of England remain
in (016. ______________) despite recent heavy rainfall.
Abstractions were monitored on a (017. ______________) system but
the agency’s inspections were a (018. ____________), said the
whistleblower, because, in most cases, the abstracting individual
or organisation would report how much water they had removed based
on what they had noted down on a particular day – and “they have to
be taken at their word”. Abstractions of less than 20 cubic metres
a day became (019. _____________) from licensing in 2005 under the
Water Act. The move instantly deregulated 22,000 licenses, most of
which were for agricultural or private water supply purposes. (020.
_____________) on the beach at Bexhill, East Sussex Southern Water
(021. ____________) 493 times in eight days at bathing beaches’.
There are no plans to require abstractors (022.
____________) water meters. The EA insider said that
omission meant the system would remain seriously (023.
____________). “You can change how much water a license allows, but
it’s pointless if there’s no meter to record it,” they said. From
next year, the agency plans to “start investigations to determine
the changes that may be required to individual permanent
abstraction licenses”. Until then, it will “continue to seek
voluntary changes to abstraction licenses through (024.
______________) and adopting nature based and catchment solutions,
where possible”. An EA spokesperson said: “We are taking robust
action to end environmentally damaging water abstraction – and we
monitor the amount of water in our rivers and groundwater along
with assessments of the impact of water abstraction in all of our
(025. ______________). “License holders must monitor and record how
much water they abstract and our program of inspections ensures
they comply with these strict conditions. We will not hesitate to
take (026. ____________) in cases where conditions are not being
met.”