Water Quality in River Catchments with Philip Murphy

Philip Murphy, Catchment Coordinator for the River Blackwater, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge to discuss applying water quality and addressing it.

Philip explains that his role focuses on addressing agricultural pressures on water quality across the wider Blackwater catchment, beyond the already targeted high-priority areas, through providing clear, consistent advice to farmers and advisors, helping to raise awareness where one-to-one guidance is not currently available.

He outlines how targeted areas are selected using EPA monitoring data and highlights the difference between nitrogen and phosphorus impacts, noting phosphorus affects rivers while nitrogen impacts in the estuaries.

Finally, Philip emphasises that improvements take time, often years, but farmers are already doing positive work. His key message is for farmers to engage with advisors, consider schemes like Farming for Water, and continue adopting practical, farm-specific measures to protect local water quality.

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The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com