Lower Tweed Priority Catchment Solutions to Protect Water Quality – Event Summary
24 January 2018Protecting Water Quality
This Borders meeting focused on solutions to protect water quality and featured a demo of spring back fencing. The unique fence design allows a stock fence to be quickly lowered to prevent damage during flood events.
The meeting also demonstrated a solar powered water trough and provided information on other water and animal powered pumps such as a hydram & pasture pump. These alternative watering systems enable farmers to exclude livestock from open ditches, burn or rivers. This inturn reduces the incidence of animal poaching next to a watercourse, bankside erosion and faecal contamination which all impact on water qulity down stream.
Gavin Elrick, SAC, provided advice on steading diffuse pollution and benefit of clean and dirty water separation. Julie Holmes, SEPA provided advice on silt removal from field ditches and gravel removal from rivers was provided by SEPA (you can read these presentation slides here). Gavin and Julie also outlined the work procedure for silted removal from field ditches. 
Farmers also learned about the possible funding opportunities under the Agri-environment climate scheme (AECS) which can help to improve water quality.
Download the handouts available on the day from the downloads below.
The event was supported by Farming & Water Scotland and their website has a lot of information about how to prevent diffuse pollution.
- Technical Note (TN665): Alternative Watering for Field Grazed Livestock I – Abstraction Systems
- This technical note presents two different abstraction point designs to supply an alternative watering system, based on findings from Scottish Government funded trial work on three farms in Scotland.
- Topics: Water Management and Livestock
- Technical Note (TN666): Alternative Watering for Field Grazed Livestock II – Pumping Systems
- This technical note looks at the use of three alternative watering systems, based on findings from Scottish Government funded trial work on three farms in Scotland.
- Topics: Water Management and Livestock
- AECS – diffuse pollution AECS payment rates
- This handout outlines the payment rates within the current AECS funding stream to aid farmers mitigate diffuse pollution on their farms
- Topics: Water Management
- GAEC 1 – Buffer strips along water courses
- The aim of GAEC 1 rules is to protect water against pollution and run-off.
- Topics: Rural Business
- GAEC 2 – Abstraction of water for irrigation
- The aim of GAEC 2 rules is to protect water resources by licensing abstraction of water for irrigation.
- Topics: Rural Business
- GAEC 3 – Protection of groundwater against pollution
- The aim of GAEC 3 rules is to protect groundwater against pollution.
- Topics: Rural Business
- Lower Tweed Priority Catchment meeting – demonstration equipment information
- This sheet outlines the approximate costs of some of the demonstration equipment seen at the Lower Tweed Priority Catchment meeting in January 2018
- Topics: Water Management
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