Water quality grant deadline for Devon farmers nears

Farmers can bid for funding to deliver a selection of measures on their farm
Farmers can bid for funding to deliver a selection of measures on their farm

Farmers in Devon are being encouraged to apply by 20 December for grant funding to help improve water quality and other benefits.

Local charity the Westcountry Rivers Trust launched an online auction on 2 December to support environmental improvements in the Lyd catchment.

Farmers and land managers can bid for funding to carry out interventions on land which will contribute towards improvement in raw water quality.

They will also support delivery of other benefits such as helping to regulate water supply, improve soils, enhance biodiversity and the ability for land management to contribute to carbon sequestration through natural processes.

Farmers can bid for funding to deliver a selection of measures on their farm by using the Lyd Catchment Auction online tool.

It allows farmers to select locations on their land in which they wish to implement these measures, and will allow them to bid an amount they could provide them for.

Farmers can bid for funding for 8 main measures, including: woodland planting; aerating/subsoiling; fencing; buffering; cover crops; ponds and wetlands; check dams and woody dams.

The most competitive bids will receive funding from the Westcountry Rivers Trust after a period of review to achieve the best possible balanced outcomes for the catchment.

The auction runs from 2 December to Friday 20 December and will then reopen Monday 6 January to Friday 10 January, before final decisions and closure.

The online auction is part of the Channel Payments for Ecosystem Services (CPES) Interreg EU-funded project.