What the action involves
The aim of this supplemental action is to:
- carry out activities on your land to slow the flow of surface runoff from rainfall events
- enable more water to be retained in the catchment
The purpose of this is to:
- store more water for drought resilience
- reduce flooding
- reduce sediment losses from the land
- improve water quality
- increase ecological resilience
What you must do
Your Natural England adviser will assess your land. They’ll work with you to adapt and agree the activities you must do to achieve this action’s aim. All mandatory activities will be set out in your agreement document.
To get paid for this action, you must:
- create and maintain new topographical features throughout the action area to slow the flow and retain greater volumes of water for longer – these new features must cover at least 5% of the total land area
- remove or disable artificial drainage of the land (for example ditches, drains, grips, rhynes, field drains and pipes)
- remove non-biodegradable flood debris
The advice you’re given from Natural England is specific to your land which means (where relevant) you may also need to remove soil compaction.
Where a site is proposed that sits below a body of peat in poor condition, you should take action to restore the peat before, or alongside, this supplement. Natural England will assess this as part of the implementation plan or feasibility study you are required to prepare before applying for this supplement.
When to do it
You must carry out the works in year 1 of your agreement.
You’ll need to carry out the management for the duration of your agreement with maintenance every third year on average.
Evidence to keep
You must keep evidence to show what you have done to complete this action. If it’s not clear that you have done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) may ask for this evidence.
You must supply the evidence if they ask for it, including:
- management activity on the action area for each parcel
- receipted invoices, consents or permissions connected with the work
Where you can do it
You can only use this supplemental action in combination with Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier base action CUP3: General moorland management.
You can do this supplemental action within areas identified as either:
- high priority for natural flood management
- high priority (score of 5) for water resources recharge potential to support drought resilience by the Environment Agency – these are areas with the greatest potential for water to move through the soil and be stored within the ground water zone
Your Natural England adviser will agree with you what other supplemental actions may be needed to meet the intended environmental outcomes. This could include CSP9: Support for threatened species.
You can only do this action if you have an implementation plan or feasibility study agreed with Natural England.
You cannot use this supplemental action on peat soils.
Eligible land
Same as base action.
Available area
Same or less than the base action.
Rotational or static
Same as base action.
Consents and permissions
To apply for this supplemental action, you’ll need:
- to agree an implementation plan or feasibility study with your Natural England adviser
- Scheduled Monument Consent from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments
- consent from Natural England for any activity on land designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI)
You may need to:
- to agree capital item FM2: Carry out customised capital works to manage specific sites or species
- get the necessary consents from the Environment Agency, Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) or Internal Drainage Board (IDB), before starting any work
- get a wildlife licence from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat
- get advice from your relevant Natural England adviser if you have other archaeological or historic features on your agreement land
All archaeological and historic features (including scheduled monuments) are identified in your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER).
If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete what’s required in the actions you choose. You may need your landlord’s consent.
Capital grants that support it
If you need to complete an implementation plan or a feasibility study before you apply, you can apply for funding through CS capital grants plans funding.
You can also apply for capital items to help you achieve the action’s aims. Your Natural England adviser will discuss eligible capital items with you.
