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.”