1

Ofwat MeetingCatchment Management

24th April 2012

Will Robinson

Water Resources Manager

Presentation Overview

• Water Quality Challenges for NWL

• AMP5: Catchment Management

• AMP6: What Next?

2

ESW Water Supply Areas

Intensively Farmed

3

Lowland River Catchments

Water Quality Challenges

Pesticides Nutrients Sediment and colour

Metaldehyde Nitrate

Clopyralid Phosphate

Propyzamide

Carbetamide

Pesticide DWi Undertakings

4

PR09 Business Plan

PR09 Business Plan

• To employ 4 Catchment Advisors

• 3 in ESW / 1 in NW

• To investigate Catchment Treatment Options

• Demonstration Biobeds

5

AMP5 Catchment Management

Catchment Management: Our Aims

• To reduce pesticide, nitrate and soil loss from the field to rivers

• To raise stakeholders’ awareness of water quality issues

• NWL owns little land and has limited control over how

land is managed

• To influence agricultural activities and advocate best practice

6

Working in Partnership

• Join or form partnerships with farming stakeholders and

regulators

• Principal Partner: CSF – via informal agreement

• Partnerships bring expertise, contacts and additional

funding

Our Catchments

• Trinity Broads & Lound Lakes

ESW, EA, NE, Broads Authority

• River Bure & River Waveney

ESW and Catchment Sensitive

Farming

• River Stour

ESW and Catchment Sensitive

Farming

• Rivers Chelmer and

Blackwater

Strategic Partnership with ESW,

EA, NE

7

Chelmer & Blackwater Strategic

Partnership Structure

CSF Stakeholder Meeting

Chelmer & Blackwater Agri-advice Delivery Partnership

(Steering Group comprises delivery partners)

Chelmer & Blackwater Agri-advice Delivery Partnership

(Steering Group comprises delivery partners)

Partner Offers to Farmers & Agronomists

using new Delivery Partnership Branding

Local Advice

Delivery

Workshops:

soil/nutrient/manure

management

Farm Demonstrations:

Biobeds; Fertiliser and slug

pellet spreader calibration;

Alternative soil cultivation

methods

One to one farm visits:

management plans &

whole farm visits (diffuse

pollution audit)

Newsletters: Highlighting issues, best practice

Soil & manure analysis:

Selective offer of free

P,K,Mg and PH, OM, and

manure/slurry/dirty water

Evidence

Base:

Monitoring

and Field

Scale

Investigation

Project Deliverables

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Monitoring - Evidence Base

0.4200

0.0510

0.1300

0.0160

0.0750

0.01600.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

0.45

Hundred River @ Pooley

Street

Doit Bridge Denmark Bridge, Diss

Billingford Bridge

River Dove, Red Bridge

Needham Mill Homersfield Bridge

Tunbeck @ Wortwell

Earsham Mill Shipmeadow Intake

Co

ncen

trati

on

ug

/l

River Waveney Clopyralid Gradient07-Mar-1114-Mar-1121-Mar-11

29-Mar-1104-Apr-1111-Apr-1119-Apr-1126-Apr-1103-May-1110-May-11

17-May-1124-May-1131-May-1107-Jun-1114-Jun-1121-Jun-11

27-Jun-1104-Jul-1118-Jul-1102-Aug-1115-Aug-1130-Aug-1114-Sep-11

26-Sep-1104-Oct-1110-Oct-1117-Oct-1125-Oct-1131-Oct-11

08-Nov-1114-Nov-1122-Nov-1128-Nov-1105-Dec-1113-Dec-11

19-Dec-11

18th July 2011

9

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

Hundred River @

Pooley Street

Doit Bridge Denmark Bridge, Diss

Billingford Bridge

River Dove, Red Bridge

Needham Mill Homersfield Bridge

Tunbeck @ Wortwell

Earsham Mill Shipmeadow Intake

Meta

ldeh

yd

e u

g/l

River Waveney Metaldehyde Gradient 07-Mar-11

14-Mar-11

21-Mar-11

29-Mar-11

04-Apr-11

11-Apr-11

19-Apr-11

26-Apr-11

03-May-11

10-May-11

17-May-11

24-May-11

31-May-11

07-Jun-11

14-Jun-11

21-Jun-11

27-Jun-11

04-Jul-11

18-Jul-11

02-Aug-11

15-Aug-11

30-Aug-11

14-Sep-11

26-Sep-11

04-Oct-11

10-Oct-11

17-Oct-11

25-Oct-11

31-Oct-11

08-Nov-11

14-Nov-11

22-Nov-11

28-Nov-11

05-Dec-11

13-Dec-11

19-Dec-11

Late Sept – Oct 2011

Evidence Base: Field Runoff Study

Soil erosion by water can move large quantities of soil sediment and with it

large amounts of nutrients which are often washed into water courses.

10

Spreader / Pelleter Checks / Calibration

• Free Fertilizer Spreader Check and Calibration

• Application rates &

spread pattern checked

• Accurate fertilizer use

• Free slug pellet applicator calibration

Information: Manure Analysis

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One to One Advice: Pigs near boreholes

One to One Advice: Buffer Strips

Before After

12

One to One Advice: Borehole Protection

Project Branding

Farmer / Agronomist

Articles

Adverts for Events

13

Farm Scale Investigation

6 inch Land

Drain Outfall

Footbridge Ditch

Sample Point

6 inch Land

Drain Outfall

…including the farm

yard drain.

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• Recording: Cropping, Cultivation, Pesticide application

• Monitoring water quality in:

• Land drain discharge ditches (Through flow)

• Ditches (Surface run off)

• Farmyard drains

• Main findings to date:

• Peak concentrations found when soil moisture is high / drains flowing

• Peak concentrations in farm yard drains

• 40% of all pesticide leaving the farm is from the farm yard.

Farm Scale Investigation

Farm Pesticide Handling Areas

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

ug

/l

Date

Metaldehyde ug/l Propyzamide ug/l Clopyralid ug/l

0.1ug/l

EU

Drinking

Water

Standard

•Only a minority of farms have a pesticide handling and

sprayer filling area that is fit for purpose

•Generally on on bare soil, hardcore or concrete which

drains to an adjacent watercourse.

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Demonstration Biobeds

Biobed Irrigation

Area for

Clean

Effluent

Sprayer

Filling Area

Biobed Results

• Biobeds can remove up to 99% of pesticides put

through them.

Description Date Taken Clopyralid Fluroxypyr MCPB CMPP Propyzamide

ug/l ug/l ug/l ug/l ug/l

Influent 28/02/2012 0.058 0.14 0.016 0.16 6.6

Effluent 28/02/2012 <0.016 <0.013 <0.0092 <0.018 <0.0084

Influent 07/03/2012 51 0.19 0.32 0.059 28

Effluent 07/03/2012 <0.16 <0.13 <0.092 <0.5 <0.084

Influent 13/03/2012 93 0.27 0.52 <0.18 58

Effluent 13/03/2012 <0.16 <0.13 <0.092 <0.18 <0.084

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Other Pesticide Handling Options

• Biofilter

• Roofed Area

• Bunded Concrete Pad

• Drip Tray/Container Rack

PR14 Business Plan

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AMP6

• Catchment Management – Business As Usual

• All ESW Surface Water Catchments now defined as

Safeguard Zones

• Catchment Management Partnership will form key part

of Programme of Measures

AMP6: Up-scaled Biobed Pilot

• Biobeds now supported by EA

• Biobeds can remove over 99% of pesticide from the

influent

• NWL study has shown over 40% of pesticides are from

the farm yard

• Demonstration biobeds in a number of NWL

catchments

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AMP6: Up-scaled Biobed Pilot

• Install pesticide handling areas (hard

standing/containment, biobeds, biofilters) on all farms in a

sub-catchment

• Cost / Benefit: We are working on it!

• Measure of Success: For pesticide concentrations to be

below the PCV downstream of the pilot

• If achieved, results could be used to support all farms

having biobeds to ensure PCV compliance at the intake

Questions