Duhallow Farming for Blue Dot Catchments Final Update

The Duhallow Farming for Blue Dot Catchments was a five-year (2019-2023) agri-environment scheme that worked with over 100 farmers in the Allow River Catchment. The aim of the project was to protect and restore blue dot (high-status objective) rivers, including the Allow, Dalua and Owenanare, and to create a blueprint of how to farm with nature to protect water quality. The project successfully trialled a hybrid results-based payments approach:

• Results-based Payments –farmers received a payment that was determined by the quality of a measure to protect water quality (e.g., wet grassland, riparian woodland, vegetated in-drain buffers)

• Additional Proposed Works –farmers could apply for capital funding to install measures on their farms that would reduce pollution potential (e.g., farm road upgrades, hedgerow planting, alternative drinking sources)

• Knowledge Transfer/Farmer Training – farmers received a payment for attending farm walks and training events relevant to catchment management (e.g., biological water quality, naturebased solutions, soil health)

• Biodiversity Bonus Payment

– In 2022, all participating farms were mapped and assigned a biodiversity percentage. Farms with a high biodiversity payment received a payment.

• Demo Farm – Participating farmers received a payment when demo farm visits were hosted on their farms

What are blue dot catchments?

Under the Water Framework Directive, all waterbodies in EU member states must achieve ‘good’ or ‘satisfactory’ ecological water quality status by 2027. However, some waterbodies have been assigned a highstatus objective which means that they must achieve the highest ecological water quality status by 2027. These high-status objective waterbodies are known as blue dots, and these represent around 9% of all waterbodies in Ireland. They are an important for several reasons. For example, they serve as an ark where sensitive species survive during pollution events and can then recolonise the polluted water downstream when it is restored. A good example of this is the Freshwater Pearl Mussel, whose survival is dependant on high-status water quality.

Results-based measures

There were four categories of results-based measures in the project: Buffers, Habitat Retention, Biodiversity, and Nutrient & Sediment Management. In 2023,

the final year of the project the project issued payments for:

Buffers

• 19km Watercourse Protection (fencing)

• 647m Hedgerow Retention (NFP)

• 2 x Coppicing of Willow

• 1342 trees in Native Tree Groves

• 1.9km Flailed/Grazed Buffer

Habitat Retention

• 95.5ha Wet Grassland

• 38.5ha Species-Rich Grassland

• 50 x Vegetated In-Drain Buffers

• 12 x Pond/Swale/Wetland Retention

• 22.48ha Riparian Woodland Retention

• 32.85ha Semi-natural Grassland Enhancement

• 1.9km In-stream Woody Habitat

• 5.67ha Riparian Scrub Retention

• 15 x Nutrient Flow Pathways

Nutrient & Sediment Management

• 2 x In-drain sediment pond

• 1 x Check dam

• 16 x Low emission slurry spreading

• 4 x Rainwater Harvesting Biodiversity

• 330m Grass Margins

• 6 x Sand Martin Colonies

• 1 x Dipper Box

• 15 x Barn Owl Boxes

Riparian woodland on the blue dot River Owenanare

Additional Proposed Works

Through the additional proposed works system, the following projects were part- to full-funded:

• 37 Farm road upgrades

• 12 sustainable crossing points

• 15 strategically located ponds/ sediment ponds

• 3000m watercourse protection (fencing)

• 138 water troughs

• 4 solar-powered pumps

• 6 solar-powered fencers

• 39ha multi-species swards trials

Water bars taking soiled water off a farm road and into a field and sediment pond

Tree Planting

The project team linked up with LAWPRO each winter to help with funding for additional tree and hedge planting. In addition to planting done by farmers through results-based measures, the project funded the purchase and planting of 2.4km of hedgerows (11,800 trees) and 7,000 trees in strategic locations to reduce runoff from fields to watercourses.

School Visits

Over 30 school visits to national and secondary schools in Duhallow were conducted during the project. School books were designed by the project team, printed, and distributed to schools. Through these visits, several hundred Duhallow pupils learned about the biodiversity and quality of their local rivers and streams, including their significance as blue dot rivers.

Improvements in water quality Four river waterbodies within the project catchment area improved in Water Framework Directive Status (WFD) from the beginning to the end of the project. This included three waterbodies that improved from good to high status (ALLOW_030, OWENANARE_020, OWENKEAL_020) and one that improved from poor to moderate (ALLOW_060). This means that 81% of the catchment area’s rivers are now achieving their WFD status, compared to just 57% of the catchment area at the beginning of the project, as well as 53% of total rivers in Ireland.

Upscaling the project

While the project has been a huge success for the catchment area, another important part of EIP projects is sharing the findings, lessons learned, and innovation with others as well as feeding into new policies and schemes. Many of the project’s measures have been replicated by new agrienvironment schemes and through different projects. The project team regularly hosted farm walks and talks to both agricultural and environmental agencies, in Ireland and further afield. The project was featured on the last ever episode of Ecoeye in February last, and the project team are currently finalising a video series that will showcase several demo farms. The team have also produced a book of measures that is available for free online and at the James O Keeffe Institute in Newmarket. A full project report is currently being prepared.