08/07/25: Water abstraction, Farm inspections, Oysters

As the UK heads into another period of hot, dry weather an investigative charity says urgent action is needed to monitor how much water is abstracted from rivers, lakes and aquafers, and to modernise the licensing system. Watershed produced a report together with the Guardian newspaper that showed the amount of water taken for farming has doubled in twenty years.
The Environment Agency is increasing the number of inspections on farms, to tackle pollution and poor practice. We join an inspector making a return visit to a farm in Shropshire where issues were identified in January, to see if improvements have been made.
And all this week we're looking at the shellfish industry. Today - a trial to selectively breed our native oysters to make them more resilient to climate change and pollution.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Sally Challoner.