10/08/10
Scottish regulator takes an old-fashioned route to help farmers clean up their act.
When staff from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) walked the banks of rivers and burns in May and June this year, they found breaches of pollution rules at the rate of almost one per kilometre.
The main causes of non-compliance related to storage and application of fertiliser, livestock, and methods of land cultivation, with livestock the most serious.
Reporting the findings to his board last month, chief executive Campbell Gemmell described his "innovative mitigation strategy" based on a national awareness campaign, farm inspections and targeted catchment walking.
The SEPA strategy is part of Scotland's determination to meet water quality targets in the country's river basin management plan. The plan was approved by government for submission to the European Commission in response to the EU water framework directive.
Diffuse pollution
Like environmental regulators all over Europe, SEPA knows that meeting the requirements of the directive depends as much on land managers, industry and the public as on regulated business. The reason is diffuse pollution - nutrients, bacteria, pathogens and chemicals running off land into the water environment.
Work on the ground (or burnside) is undertaken by priority catchment officers who work with farmers and landowners to point out the impact of poor river quality on beaches, wildlife and the public water supply and advise them on what needs to be done.
By combining "watery walks", to build knowledge of what is happening, with a collaborative approach to improvement, SEPA is tackling the double bind of diffuse pollution: finding out who is responsible and encouraging them to take action.
It seems that old-fashioned can also be innovative, and sometimes the quickest way to travel is on foot.
SEPA's watery walks
For more information please contact:
Water UK Communication
020 7344 1804 (out of hours 07833 450544)
