RDE 311 Catchment Sensitive Farming Evaluation benefits to groundwater

The Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) Project is a voluntary advice delivery programme in England designed to improve the environmental performance of farms and reduce diffuse water pollution from agriculture, reduce ammonia emissions to air and to promote natural flood management. It is run by Natural England (NE) in partnership with the Environment Agency (EA) and Defra. CSF advisors work closely with land managers through a combination of workshops, demonstrations, farm events and one-to-one advice, alongside supporting access to specific grants, to provide practical and cost-effective solutions to reduce agricultural pollutants. CSF delivery is focused primarily within the Countryside Stewardship (CS) Priority Areas for Water, covering ca. 35 per cent of England. The primary driver for CSF is the 25 Year Environment Plan (YEP), which includes the 'Clean and plentiful water' target of restoring at least three quarters of our waters to be close to their natural state as soon as practicably possible.

The CSF Project includes an extensive evaluation programme which aims to document the environmental benefits to the environment of CSF advice, to help maintain and build trust with stakeholders and inform future agri-environment policy. This comprises long-term tailored monitoring and modelling programmes, alongside existing EA core monitoring to assess benefits and gauge the potential contribution that voluntary land management measures can make to delivering the 25 YEP target.