On 1st July 2021, members of the Upper Beult Farmer Cluster joined forces with colleagues from the Marden Farmer Cluster to attend an event organised by the South East Rivers Trust and Kent Wildlife Trust.
The aim of the workshop was to reduce water consumption and increase water storage to cope with future demand across the South East. Focus was given to the need to restore natural assets like wetlands and healthy soils to cope with the impacts of climate change. Natural assets like these positively impact the provision of water through infiltration and cleaning, whilst slowing the flow of water through the catchment.
Water resources in the catchment and across the South East are increasingly under pressure. From climate change, population growth and an increased risk of droughts there are pressures coming in from different directions. It has been determined that by 2050 we will need over 1 billion litres more across the South East each day than we can currently supply.
The workshop focused on restoration of natural assets like wetlands that naturally support the provision of water through infiltration, retention, cleaning and slowing the flow of water through the catchment.