Flowering farm ditch

Ditches with good water quality are of great value to biodiversity, agriculture, residents, and recreational users. HHNK works together with farmers and other stakeholders to promote ecological management and maintenance and the natural design of ditches.

What is the ecological quality of farm ditches? Through theBloeiende boerensloot (Flourishing Farm Ditch) project, we invite farmers to assess the quality of their ditches themselves. To this end, we are collaborating with the agricultural collectives ANV Hollands Noorden and Water, Land & Dijken.

Objective

The aim of the project is to share knowledge about the ecological quality of ditches. We also collect information about water quality in rural areas. Together with the participants, we want to explore ways of influencing this through agricultural water management.

Focus on plant species

The presence of different aquatic and riparian plants says something about the water quality. Nutrient-rich or nutrient-poor water determines how many and which types of plants grow there. Duckweed and algae grow very quickly when there are a lot of nutrients in the water. This reduces the amount of oxygen in the water and allows less light to penetrate the ditch. This has negative consequences for aquatic life. Floating-leaved plants and submerged aquatic plants, on the other hand, produce oxygen in the water. This is good for water quality.

What is required of participants?

In July or August, participants will conduct an inventory along two or more ditch sections. For each ditch section, information will be collected on various topics, such as:

• the location and land use;
• the ditch (including depth, width, silt layer);
• the plants present below, on, and above the water.

The data can be entered online.

Viewer

The viewer shows the locations of the various ditch recordings. By clicking on the dot at a specific location, you can view information about the ditch in question.