Defra

Under the first phase of the ECSFDI, there was support for Associate CSF Projects in catchments or sub catchments other than the first 40 priority catchments. All of these Associate projects were completed by the 31st of March 2008. An independent evaluation was commissioned by the ECSFDI and conducted by the Land Use Consultancy which focussed on six of the twenty projects in some depth. A copy of this report may be found below:

• Evaluation of Associate Projects - final report (PDF 1 MB)

The Associate Programme was aimed at existing projects which were tackling diffuse water pollution from water (DWPA), and which involved working with farmers in much the same way as the ECSFDI. Activities within the projects included:

• Organisation of farmer events;
• Workshops;
• Seminars;
• Farm demonstrations;
• Presentations by technical experts;
• Support for/from ‘champion’ farmers;
• Training for both farmers and farm advisers;
• Raising awareness of local DWPA issues;
• Mitigation measures.

The Associate Programme was advertised in early Summer 2006 and received 42 applications for funding. After assessments by regional and national panels, 16 applications were approved with minor amendment and a further 4 were approved subject to variation. The total cost of the 20 projects was approximately £800K.