RDE 311 Catchment Sensitive Farming Evaluation benefits to groundwater

Description

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.