Beyond soil:
Why water is key to the future of UK agriculture
After a summer of prolonged drought across many parts of the UK, the critical role of water management in agriculture is increasingly evident.
Alice Gent, Deputy Head for Environment and Sustainability, reflects on our team’s time at Groundswell 2026, and considers how JBA’s services can support farmers’ and land managers’ decision making to find practical solutions for resilient water management.
How resilient is your water future?
The record breaking summer 2026 heatwave, the recent publications of the UK Farming Roadmap 2050 and the Agriculture and the Water Environment 2026 report, all highlight the critical importance of agriculture’s most essential natural asset: water.
Across the UK, changes in established rainfall and weather patterns, coupled with projections for further climatic change, means that plans to improve soil health now need to go hand in hand with plans for managing water to secure both resilient agriculture and resilient communities.
Agriculture is also a business and projections for a dramatically different climate leave landowners with increasing uncertainty about how best to adapt and ensure a sustainable and resilient business both now and in the future.
Water challenges: the next decade
Resilience was a key theme for this year’s Groundswell festival - the annual event for regenerative farming, which prioritises restoring and enhancing soil health and ecosystems. The event brings together landowners, policy makers, wildlife trusts, academic professionals, land agents, and nature finance professionals.
This year JBA joined the conversations at Groundswell, to discuss water resilience and pose the question:
What are the most significant water challenges facing you over the next 10 years?
We asked this year’s attendees at Groundswell, to take part in our survey and place 3 coloured dots on the 3 areas they considered to be the greatest challenges out of categories of Flooding, Drought, Water Quality, Regulation and Profitability.
As you can see from the survey board below, the greatest focus was on drought, followed by water quality and flooding.
How we support decision-making to adapt to water challenges
Here at JBA, our practical approach helps reduce uncertainty about future water challenges and find practical solutions. This embodies our company strategy: To lead in society’s pursuit for resilience to climate change.
We offer a holistic water management service to support informed decision-making and business strategies for farmers and landowners, whether by providing an evidence base, considering catchment restoration options or working out how to leverage nature finance funding.
Download our guide here.
Our expertise spans:
- Water resources
- Environmental modelling
- Climate risk assessment
- Asset Management
- Remote sensing
- Engineering design
- Water level management planning
- Nature-based Solutions (NbS)
Contact Alice Gent to find out more.
