WBD2: Manage ditches

No substantive changes have been made to this action for SFI26 (compared with the SFI24 version). There have only been minor updates to standard wording which appears in all linear SFI actions.

This action’s aim is that there are ditches with:

• varied bankside and aquatic vegetation
• undisturbed wildlife habitat

The purpose of this is to:

• maintain vegetation that’s typical of wet ditches
• provide habitats for wildlife

What you must do

You must manage the ditch in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim, including:

• cutting vegetation at the top of the ditch bank in rotation, so you only cut up to half the length of the ditch bank in any year of this action’s 3-year duration
• carrying out in-channel management on any section of the ditch no more than once during this action’s 3-year duration – this includes cleaning out silt or vegetation and cutting vegetation in the ditch channel

To minimise disturbance to wildlife, you must only manage the ditch during the autumn, winter and early spring (usually September to late March).

You must not re-profile or increase the width or depth of the ditch.

When to do it

You must do this action from its start date, throughout each year of its 3-year duration.

If this action’s start date means it’s too late for you to do this action, you must start doing it within 12 months of the action’s start date.

Where you can do it

An eligible ditch for this action must:

• form part of the boundary of a land parcel that’s located below the moorland line
• be a man-made, long and narrow linear channel that’s cut into the ground for the purpose of draining the land or managing water levels
• have vegetated banks
• regularly contain standing or flowing water

The following features are not eligible for this action:

• ditches located in a severely disadvantaged area (SDA) below the moorland line
• culverts or underground drains
• natural watercourses, such as streams
• non-linear water features, such as ponds, lakes or reservoirs
• grips, gutters and foot drains

Rotational or static

This action is static. This means you must do it at the same location each year of this action’s duration.

Evidence to keep

Keep evidence to show what you’ve done to complete this action, such as:

• ditch management operations at a land parcel level and associated invoices
• photographs and other documentation

If it’s not clear that you’ve done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, we may ask for this evidence. You must supply the evidence if we ask for it.