The Garren and Gamber: Sustaining Soils project was an explorative study funded through the Environment Agency’s Water Environment Improvement Fund (WEIF). The main aims of the project were to ground-truth a number of erosion/runoff risk mapping tools (including the EA-created ALERT), create a field-scale risk map to be discussed with arable supply chain members and to engage with community members to promote use of these runoff mapping tools. The project was focused in the Garren and Gamber catchments, in Southern Herefordshire, as they are currently failing to meet Good Ecological Status, which is thought to be linked to diffuse pollution from agriculture. Our ultimate goal would be for these erosion risk maps to be embedded within the supply chain to incentivise growers to plant high-risk crops in lower risk areas, or to install erosion-mitigating interventions in high-risk fields.
WUF conducted walkovers of four farms in the catchments to ground-truth the tools. The tools we trialled were: ALERT (Agricultural Land Environmental Risk and Opportunity Tool), Scalgo, Scimap and RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation). Tools were evaluated for their pros and cons (accessibility, cost, resolution) and their accuracy was verified using existing evidence of erosion in-field.
The field-scale risk map was created using slope and proximity to watercourses as major erosion risk factors. These maps were then presented to supply chain members, or at events focused on regenerative agriculture and erosion mitigation, such as the Herefordshire Council Rivers Conference. Additional meetings to discuss the outcomes of this project and potential future collaboration were conducted with the Wye Salmon Association, Llangarron Flood Group and members of Herefordshire County Council. All attendees were very impressed with the potential of these mapping tools, and were keen to be involved in any work going forward.
