From Field to Tap: Working Together to Protect the Eastern Yar
July 1, 2026

This month’s feature advisor article is provided by Southern Water, focusing on their work within the Eastern Yar catchment.

Welcome to our first annual update. The Eastern Yar is an important source for the Isle of Wight’s drinking water, delivering approximately 25% of the total supply. This catchment, upstream of our Sandown Water abstraction point is the main focus for Southern Water’s catchment activity 2025-2030.

We aim to increase the resilience of this source during our five-year business plan spanning 2025 to 2030, while also benefitting the wider environment.

Our Catchment team have been busy with projects across the Eastern Yar, which are now entering the delivery phase as well as planning new projects. We’re excited to continue building relationships and working with farmers.

Climate change is already driving hotter, drier summers alongside significantly wetter and more intense winters in southern England. We are already experiencing these extremes, with the late June heatwave likely to break records.

On the Isle of Wight, heavy rainfall events are causing sharp increases in river turbidity in the Eastern Yar, disrupting water treatment at Sandown and occasionally forcing abstraction to stop, as the high sediment levels in the water prevent it being treated successfully. These turbidity spikes result from bank erosion, sediment resuspension, and agricultural runoff, all of which are intensified by heavier rainfall, underscoring the urgent need to protect this critical water source.

Our focus for 2025-30 is to work collaboratively with farmers and land managers to help them reduce sediment entering the Eastern Yar. This is to improve water quality while maintaining land productivity.

Projects include:

  • Soil Conservation demo farms, and exciting soil health and carbon monitoring project, including extensive soil sampling and surveying to develop tailored, targeted individual agreements to reduce soil erosion and run off.
  • Weather Watchers, a series of weather stations across the Eastern Yar catchment in collaboration with Natural Enterprise. This innovative initiative gives farmers real-time, hyper-local weather data through a simple mobile app, including forecasts, alerts and agronomic tools. We do have some subscriptions still available, please get in touch if interest.

We are also offering grants across the catchment.

Our Farm Capital Grant Scheme, to improve farm efficiency and reduce the risk of water pollution, particularly soil and nutrients.

  • Up to £15,000 for 50% of total costs for farm machinery and farm infrastructure improvements and/or up to £1,500 for expert advice.
  • In the Eastern Yar we are focussed on erosion run off, and examples of grant funding includes:
    • Fencing ditches and watercourses from livestock
    • Resurfacing gateways, livestock feeders and drinking troughs to reduce poaching
    • New farm machinery to enhance soil and crop management and reduce run-off (e.g. cover crop seeder, min-till equipment)

We are also offering Conservation Grants, habitat management placed in strategic locations helps to improve the water environment, making space for water to flow, connecting landscapes, enhancing soils, air quality, carbon storage and wildlife. Improving the natural environment also supports the long-term resilience of our drinking water supplies.

  • Farmers, land managers and community groups can apply for grants of up to £20,000 towards the capital cost of habitat projects in eligible areas.
  • Project development grant up to £2,000.

Applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis to ensure we fund projects that provide the most benefit to the water environment, wildlife and local communities.

For further information, please see Catchment First Eastern Yar Update, included within this issue:

  • From field to tap
  • River turbidity
  • Focus on win-win solutions
  • Digging deep
  • Forecasts for resilience
  • Grant funding to protect and improve water quality
  • Powering partnerships for healthier catchments

If you are interested in any of our projects, funding or have any questions please contact:

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Disclaimer: This article has been provided by an external contributor and reflects their understanding at the time of writing. As government policy, grants and scheme guidance may change, readers should verify current requirements and seek independent professional advice where appropriate. Wight Rural Hub accepts no liability for actions taken in reliance on this content.

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