Project - Agricultural Diffuse Pollution
Partners - The Environment Agency and local farmers

The project carried out the following:

• 17 specialist farm advice visits, for either infrastructure audits or soil and nutrients reports
• £58,085 of grant aid was given to 12 landowners to reduce diffuse pollution through farm infrastructure improvements
• This grant aid resulted in over £116,000 of infrastructure improvements (grant support was on a 50:50 basis with the landowner)

The pictures below show the sorts of simple measures that the project was able to fund

Before: An opening in the cattle shed allowed slurry (high in nutrients) to seep out of the shed and into a clean water ditch.

After: The project provided funding to put in place a small concrete wall, to block off the opening and prevent nutrients entering the ditch. These nutrients can now be recycled on fields, to save fertiliser costs and a healthy watercourse can be maintained.

Click to enlarge

Background
Good quality river systems are vital for providing clean drinking water, bathing water, maintaining biodiversity and supporting local communities.

Diffuse pollution can have serious effects on rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters. Agriculture is not the only source but here in the Biosphere, agricultural run off can be a serious problem. It can cause increases in water course nutrient levels which affect the food chain that supports fish, animals and birds.

The Agricultural Diffuse Pollution Project focused on three sub-catchments of the river Torridge (Waldon, Pulworthy Brook and Whiteleigh Water) due to their failure to meet Water Framework Directive standards for ‘good ecological status’.

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