The Water Catchment Partnership – Ten years on….

Ten years on and the WCP continues to deliver and due to the achievements is now widely recognised throughout Northern Ireland. The WCP has expanded relationships with plant protection product users across NI and has developed strong relationships with stakeholders.

The group is a working partnership made up of representation from the Ulster Farmers’ Union, NI Water, DAERA, NIEA, CAFRE and the Voluntary Initiative.

PPPs particularly those used for weed control are often detected in water courses by NIEA and NI Water. These not only pose a risk to aquatic life but increase the cost of treating drinking water by NI Water.

Graeme Campbell, WCP chairperson commented that the WCP are delighted to be invited to join the Amenity Forum updating event. This will provide an excellent opportunity to raise the profile of the WCP to the amenity sector within Northern Ireland. Graeme explained that the partnership has effectively worked together over the past ten years to tackle the problem of PPP’s detected in water. The WCP contributes to improving water quality and associated Water Framework Directive requirements by encouraging best practice near watercourses and raising awareness of local water quality issues for example, MCPA levels detected in watercourses. Over 400 detections of MCPA have been found in watercourses since 2018.

It is important to note that the WCP is not an enforcement body and that its role is purely advisory. The WCP are dedicated to advising all PPPs users about best-practice, safety and their obligations through a voluntary approach to improve water quality. Integrated pest management (IPM) should be the first port of call for pest control. Before PPPs are considered, follow the IPM principals including pest identification, establishing monitoring and an action threshold, implementing control and document results. The operator should then target any application to deal with the specific pest in question – only select the proper herbicide.

UFU deputy president John McLenaghan congratulated the WCP for having the foresight, vision, and professionalism, to embrace collectively some issues and challenges associated with plant protection product use. This model clearly illustrates that when partners learn together and share concerns then good workable, pragmatic solutions can be found. The UFU are delighted to have Bruce Steele as our UFU Voluntary Initiative representative on the Water Catchment Partnership, bringing professional agronomy knowledge, with years of practical experience to share and help all members collectively find solutions. UFU wish WCP members every success for the years ahead.

Over the past ten years the WCP has engaged with many PPPs users within the farming community, through attending targeted events such as agricultural shows, CAFRE Knowledge Transfer events, for example: Business Development Group meetings and Rush Management Demonstration Events. In addition to this NIWater have also provided tours of water treatment plants which have generated very positive feedback and as a result hope to host more of these tours in the near future. The WCP have been responsible for postal drops of leaflets promoting best practice, issuing press releases, speaking to suppliers and merchants, promoting the farm waste chemical disposal scheme and also have conducted three weed wiping trials in conjunction with NI Water to provide weed control alternatives for farmers in vulnerable water catchment areas.

Roy Taylor, NI Water Catchment manager commented: “We are delighted and proud to be involved with the Water Catchment Partnership over the past decade. It is our aim to ensure that plant protection products are used responsibly, so that both the environment and water quality are protected at all times. The partnership always aim to proactively work together to promote and raise awareness of best practice when using pesticides in the garden or on the farm, through a voluntary approach to improve water quality. There has been much progress made over this time and we look forward to working for years ahead with all the other organisations. I must also thank all the farmers, gardeners and landowners who have worked responsibly to help us to protect our valuable water sources.”

Going forward the WCP wants to continue to work with PPPs users on a voluntary basis and are also now keen to reach out to the amenity sector to encourage best practice.

For further information on the WCP or if you would like information on PPPs best practice please email [email protected] or [email protected]