Shapwick and Sturminster Marshall Nitrate Reduction

Project background

The nitrate levels in the Shapwick and Sturminster Marshall catchment remain high and are close to exceeding the Drinking Water Standard of 11.3 milligrams of nitrate per litre (mgN/l). Drinking water compliance is maintained by blending water from all the boreholes across the site.

The combined site is one of our major public water supply sources. It needs to be operating at its capacity to provide resilience across our supply network.

We aim to reduce nitrate loading into groundwater to prevent the need to build a nitrate treatment plant or extend the lifespan of treatment works.

Over the last few years, our activity in the Shapwick and Sturminster Marshall catchment has been limited. However, given the site’s importance and increasing nitrate levels, we have allocated additional funding until March 2025 to support farmers to reduce nitrate losses to meet Environment Agency (EA) targets.

What funding is available?

We aim to support as many farmers as possible within the catchment. View our summary of measures, payment rates, and requirements.

The full specification for each of these measures can be downloaded from the list below:

• Overwinter cover crops spec
• Undersowing maize with grass spec
• Arable reversion to no-input grass spec
• Arable reversion to low-medium input grass spec
• Herbal leys spec
• Summer fallow spec
• Continuous spring cereal cropping spec
• Conversion to low-input grass spec

What areas are eligible for funding?

Funding for these measures is available to farms in the whole Safeguard Zone (SGZ). Some measures have higher payment rates for fields that are located in the high-priority area.

This map shows the whole catchment Safeguard Zone (SGZ).

This map shows the high-priority area based on source protecting zones (SPZ) 1 and 2. Some measures have higher priority payment rates in this area.

What is the application process?

1. Fill out the expression of interest form, stating an approximate area of land you wish to enter into the scheme for each measure.
2. Email your completed expression of interest form to catchment.management@wessexwater.co.uk or send it by post to:
   The Catchment Delivery team, Wessex Water, The Admiralty, Mill Street, Corfe Mullen, Dorset, BH21 3RQ.
3. Upon submitting the expression of interest form, your catchment adviser will contact you to discuss the scheme further.
4. Once the schemes and areas are agreed, a formal contract will be drawn up between the farmer and Wessex Water.

In the event of high demand for funding for certain types of measures, further limits may be placed on the amount of funding awarded per farm and funding may be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis.

Please note that the Shapwick and Sturminster Marshall Enhanced Catchment Management Scheme has a fixed annual budget and Wessex Water reserves the right to decline applications.

What are the project agreements?

In entering the scheme, you are agreeing to:

• allow a Wessex Water catchment adviser to visit your land for visual inspection before, during, and after the implementation of the scheme
• allow a Wessex Water catchment adviser to request farm records from you, demonstrating fertiliser rates, the change in cropping, stocking rates, etc (if required)
• allow Wessex Water to carry out soil sampling, porous pots, grain samples, and crop tissue samples for nutrient analysis (if required). Any data collected will be shared with the farmer. We will store data on an internal database, and it may be used to contribute to a larger aggregated and anonymised data set.

What are the project payment terms?

Payment will be made annually. To claim payment for the scheme, your Wessex Water catchment adviser will request you send an invoice directly to them.

The invoice will be paid at the end of the month it is dated, plus 30 days. For example, an invoice dated in January will be paid at the end of February.

To receive payment, you may be required to register as a “supplier” to Wessex Water Services Limited by completing and returning our supplier application form.