Dartmoor is the source of 23 rivers, many of them like the Dart, Exe and Taw becoming significant rivers. With some of the highest rainfall in the country, Dartmoor rivers are fast-flowing and rise rapidly after rain.

The rain that falls on the moors moves quickly through the river catchments passing farms, villages and towns, where over 21,000 properties are at risk of flooding. Water travels fast due to the underlying granite geology, steeply sloping land and how we manage the land.

A new film, ‘Farming the Flood’, made by filmmaker Harrison Wood and Dartmoor farmer Nick Viney tells the stories of Dartmoor farmers who are adopting natural flood management to reduce flooding risks and protect downstream communities. The short 28-minute film is free to watch on YouTube.

Natural flood management works upstream to slow the flow of water off the land and to restore the soil’s natural function of absorbing water. When soil becomes compacted it loses this ability causing rainwater to run straight off the land and into the rivers.

Conventional grazing practices allow animals to graze a pasture much longer than in the past, with little or no rest periods for the land, which causes the soil to compact. Driving tractors and machinery over the land increases the compaction. The film demonstrates how a shift in livestock grazing practices can improve the soil’s capacity to absorb water.

Farmers are adopting sustainable grazing regimes, primarily with cattle, rotating their animals across pastures daily using electric fencing or solar-powered GPS collars that track the animals’ location and keep them contained within the area defined by the farmer.

This rotational grazing allows for rest periods for the land, preventing compaction and increases the diversity of vegetation, creating habitat for ground-nesting birds, whose populations have been dwindling on the moor.

Dartmoor farmers are also managing the drainage of their land by creating ‘leaky dams’ that are small dams made of timber, stone or willow that slow the water in streams and ditches, and by

constructing swales or shallow channels that collect surface runoff and direct it to storage ponds. Both these techniques encourage the water to soak into the soil, storing water during periods of heavy rainfall and releasing it slowly during drier spells, thereby alleviating drought pressures.

As part of the Dartmoor Headwaters Project, and with funding from the Environment Agency, landowners, farmers and commoners have built around 350 ‘leaky dams’. They have planted 6,000 trees across river catchments that will help rainwater to filter into the ground, and restored 75 hectares of peatland increasing its capacity to store both water and carbon.

Climate change predictions suggest that Dartmoor will experience more intense and frequent rain, and drier summers, putting pressure on the availability of water. By working with nature, rather than against it, we can protect the land, benefit wildlife and safeguard our communities. The film can be found here https://www.leewoodstudios.com/farming-the-flood