Amount awarded: £999,800
Led by: South West Water
Partners:
Westcountry Rivers Trust, Rivers Trust, South West Water, Duchy College, Environment Agency, Saputo Dairy UK, United Utilities, Severn Trent Water, Anglian Water, Portsmouth Water (Advisory Panel only), South East Water (Advisory Panel only), Southern Water (Advisory Panel only)
Water Net Gain is a catchment-scale approach whereby farmers are paid to store water on their land. Restoring natural sponges, like healthy soils, woodlands and wetlands, can passively contribute water to summer base flows, but the creation of additional smart ponds and lakes, can be used for farm demand management or active releasing flows during droughts. The impact of this distributive ecologically connected water bank, released to the river during droughts, dilutes residual pollution not managed through current agricultural water quality incentivisation schemes. Alongside water purification, water retention solutions are designed to provide additional flood protection and aquatic biodiversity benefits.
“Water Net Gain comes at a pivotol point for South West Water as climate change forecasts predict even more challenges for managing water. By making the most of the rain we receive we can ensure enough water for both our communities and for the habitats and wildlife in our rivers.” – Carolyn Cadman, Director of Natural Resources, South West Water
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WNG conducted four stakeholder engagement workshops with sellers (farmers and landowners) and buyers (water industry). This will shape the contract and trading mechanism development in the next phase. The project will also start the developing the pond design, looking at physical pond design as well as technological features.
