Rural Payments and Services

To complete the field assessment it will be necessary to walk the fields with a view to identifying any diffuse pollution risks and to look for opportunities to reduce these risks.

Using a map of an appropriate scale record as a line, point or shape as appropriate any diffuse pollution risks identified.

Depending on the size and nature of your land and the risks identified, you may either identify the risks on the Farm Environment Assessment map or prepare a separate Diffuse Pollution Field Map, as shown in the example below.

Each of these points can be individually numbered on the map and noted in a corresponding table which will describe the diffuse pollution risk found and what action can be taken to deal with it.

The location of all surface waters such as burns, ditches, ponds and wetlands etc should also be recorded.

Diffuse pollution risk factors will vary depending on the type of farm (arable or livestock) and on local factors such as, proximity to watercourses, slope of land and soil types, access of livestock to watercourses, location of gateways and tracks etc.

Guidance on factors to consider when carrying out a field diffuse pollution risk assessment can be found in the accompanying guidance for the options such as ‘Alternative Watering for Livestock’ and the options for the ‘Rural Sustainable Drainage Systems’.

When the initial assessment is complete the next step is to decide what action and/or options might be appropriate to help reduce diffuse pollution risks.

On a map and using a similar approach to the risk assessment mark the various actions that are planned to deal with the identified diffuse pollution risks.

Number each of the actions on the map to show their location. On a corresponding table, describe the actions to be taken or the options to be applied for – see example map and table below.

As for the field map, you may not need to have to have a separate diffuse pollution management map if the actions can be clearly shown in the Farm Environment Management Map.

You can either complete the table below or incorporate the information within the map key.

You will need to produce a:

• Diffuse Pollution Steading Assessment Map
• Diffuse Pollution Steading Management Map

Many of the diffuse pollution risks on a steading are associated with surface run-off and drainage. Good management of drainage at the steading can help to significantly reduce these risks.

When assessing diffuse pollution risks from the steading consider the points below:

Using an appropriately scaled map of the steading, identify areas which produce:

• clean roof run-off and lightly contaminated yard run-off that currently discharges to a watercourse or clean water drain
• run-off that discharges to grassland
• midden run-off and run-off from open silos and indicate where the drainage goes
• dirty yards and run-off from silos and other drainage that discharges to the slurry store

Further information on identifying drainage types can be found within the guidance for the option – Managing Steading Drainage and Rural Sustainable Drainage Systems.

The map will help to identify areas of the farm where steps could be taken to help reduce the volumes of dirty water produced and reduce pollution risks.

Below is an example of how your map may look.

Produce a list of any diffuse pollution risks identified and what improvement could be made to reduce diffuse pollution risks, see example table below:

On another map of the steading identify what works are proposed to take place to help improve the management of steading drainage and the location of any rural sustainable drainage systems.

Diffuse pollution steading management – example table

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