Southern Water supports Hampshire farmers to safeguard drinking water sources

Southern Water is working collaboratively with farmers and land managers, to develop more sustainable land management and ensure there are adequate supplies of clean water in the years ahead.

Some groundwater abstractions in Hampshire are showing increasing levels of nitrate. We’re working with farmers to help reduce these levels by supporting activities that enhance soil health and improve nutrient use efficiency.

Nitrate scheme

The chalk aquifers across southern England supply most of the region’s public drinking water. A Nitrate Measure Scheme has been co-developed by Southern Water with farmers and agronomists, whereby farmers are reimbursed for the costs of actions that will reduce nitrate leaching losses to groundwater. This “catchment approach”, in which threats to water quality are mitigated at source rather than relying on new treatment infrastructure and energy-demanding processes to remove them, not only saves money (from customers’ water bills) but also benefits the wider environment.

We target our scheme at those catchments where the risk from nitrates is highest. Many of the Winchester to R Test Cluster members farm in these priority areas and, already having a strong environmental focus, so have participated in the scheme. 

Hampshire’s Priority Groundwater Catchments in which Southern Water’s nitrate scheme is targeted

Nitrate scheme – what are the measures funded?

Key measures taken up by the Cluster are:

Cover crops 

 “Cover crops” are sown straight after harvest and maintained until late winter before the following crop is sown in spring. These are a mix of fast-growing plants that “scavenge” any nitrates remaining in the soil after harvest, and lock these up within the plants’ tissues where they are safe from leaching by autumn and winter rains. At the end of winter these nutrients are returned to the soil, ready for the spring crop to utilize.

Herbal leys

A mix of grasses, legumes and wildflowers are grown for 2-5 years between arable crops. Again, the plants mop up nitrates left over from the previous crop, but also build natural fertility in the soil without use of fertilisers. They may be sustainably grazed for livestock production, and also provide wildlife habitat.

Soil testing

Testing the levels of nitrates present in the soil allows fertiliser rates to be adjusted more precisely to meet the needs of the crop, without surplus.

We will also fund other soil analyses that enable soil health to be improved.

Variable Rate fertiliser application

Rather than spreading fertilisers at a set rate across a field, many of the Cluster’s farmers utilize GPS technology on spreaders that continually alter the rate delivered according to crop need in that particular patch. We subsidise such precision application of nitrogenous fertilisers.

Farm Capital Grant Scheme Grants and funding (southernwater.co.uk)

In addition to the Nitrate Scheme, Southern Water also offers grants for infrastructure or machinery that will protect groundwater and/or river water sources from nutrients and pesticides.

Cluster members have been assisted with the costs of a new sprayer handling area (left) to reduce the risk of pesticides reaching water, and a GPS-enabled precision fertiliser spreader.