Terms & Conditions

Farming for Water Scheme

1. THE SCHEME

   As part of our Farming for Water Scheme (the “Scheme”) NI Water are offering 100% funding for a number of goods and services.

   The aim of the Scheme is to improve the overall raw water quality in the Clay Lake drinking water catchment by improving land management techniques in the area. The NI Water measures are aimed at reducing sediment/colour and pesticides entering the source of raw drinking water in the Clay Lake catchment area.

   The onus is on the farmer/land manger to ensure compliance with agricultural/environmental or any other regulations in relation to their farm business.

   The Scheme is offered on a ‘first come, first served’ basis (subject to the point about priority below) and will close when the budget has been used. All work must be approved by a Northern Ireland Water Catchment Officer. Priority will be given to farms along main watercourses.

   Upon signing the Agreement, you agree to the Terms and Conditions of the Scheme.

2. DEFINITIONS

   In these terms and conditions the following words have the following meanings:

   "Data Protection Laws" means all applicable data protection and privacy legislation in force from time to time in the UK including but not limited to the retained EU law version of the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (UK GDPR); the Data Protection Act 2018; the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive 2002/58/EC (as updated by Directive 2009/136/EC) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/2426) as amended.

   "Farmer/land manager", "you", "yours" means the applicant to the Scheme, whose details are set out in the Expression of Interest Form who will receive the Services of the Scheme.

   "Contractor" means the NI Water appointed contractor who will be carrying out the measures on your farm.

   "NI Water", "we", "us", "our" means Northern Ireland Water Limited (Company Number NI054463) whose registered address is at Westland House, 40 Old Westland Road, Belfast, BT14 6TE.

   "Expression of Interest" means the form completed you when registering interest for the Scheme and forms part of these Terms and Conditions.

   “Services” - NI Water are providing this list of options under the Farming for Water Scheme. Not all items will be appropriate or eligible to every farm. Priority will be given to measures in close proximity to watercourses in order to maintain maximum benefits to water quality.

   • Provision of pesticide storage unit
   • Provision of pesticide/chemical spill kit
   • Provision of drip tray
   • Contractor for weed wiping to replace MCPA use
   • Contractor for topping rushes prior to weed-wiping
   • Provision of liming service
   • Stock proof fencing along watercourses
   • Provision of alternative stock drinking points
   • Farmer Innovation measures – Individual to each farm
   • Pesticide training (Subject to demand)
3. REGISTRATION

   The initial registration window will be open from 1^st May 2023.

   You can register in the following ways:

   • Online at http://www.niwater.com/farmingforwater by completing the online Expression of Interest form.
   • Via emailing catchment[AT]niwater[DOT]com
   • Via telephone by contacting (Mon-Fri 9-5):
     • 07585996364
     • 07772225226

   You must meet the eligibility criteria before registration. To find out if you are eligible, please see section 5 below.

4. PLANNED WORKS

   On successful registration of interest and agreement of planned works, we will securely pass your details onto the Contractor who will contact you to arrange completion of works as agreed with NI Water Catchment Officers in relation to the performance of the Services.

   The Services are due to commence from 1^st May 2023.

5. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

   You must farm the land within the catchment area of Clay Lake to be eligible to take part in the Scheme. To be eligible for the Scheme the field must be located entirely or partly within the catchment area of the Clay Lake (see map below). See Map in Section 5.2.

   5.1. Eligible applicants:

   To be eligible you must be a:

   • Farmer
   • Land manager / owner

   This Scheme is not available to:

   • Domestic Householders where there is no farmland adjoining the dwelling house
   • Commercial firms in respect of land other than farmland
   • Local Authorities or other public bodies

   The criteria for eligibility for measures under the Scheme includes the following:

   • You must be the owner of the freehold of your farm.
   • If you sell or otherwise transfer ownership of the land during the Term of the Scheme Agreement (7 years unless terminated earlier), you must ensure that the new owner agrees in writing with both you and us to take over your obligations under the Agreement.
   • If you have a conacre arrangement in place when you sign your Agreement Form, the conacre farmer (owner) will also need to sign the Agreement Form. It will be your responsibility to ensure that current and future conacre farmers during the Term of the Agreement do not do or omit to do anything which might cause you to be in breach of your obligations under the Agreement.
   • Funding will only be provided for actions which are expected by an NI Water Catchment Officer to improve the quality of water that is abstracted for drinking water purposes;
   • Actions that are associated with regulatory compliance are not eligible for funding;
   • The Scheme will not pay for capital works that are already underway prior to an agreement being made.

   If you do not have a DAERA farm business number, you will need to apply to get such a number from DAERA before making an agreement under the Scheme.

   5.2 Eligible Area

   NI Water will be providing the Farming for Water Scheme strictly within the Clay Lake Catchment boundary as shown on the map. Only fields that are within (or partly within) the catchment boundary will be eligible.

   Only landowners/farmers farming land within the Clay Lake or Gentle Owens catchments as denoted by the red boundary line are eligible to apply for the Scheme.

   5.3 Farmer/Land managers’ declarations

   You confirm that:

   • the declarations made in the Agreement Form are and remain true and accurate to the best of your knowledge and belief and that your Agreement is consistent with the eligibility criteria noted in the Scheme Terms & Conditions;
   • you have full capacity and authority to enter into the Agreement;
   • you are not aware of any circumstances which would prevent you from fulfilling your obligations under the Agreement;
   • if you have a tenant farming all or part of Your Farm, entering into the Agreement you will not breach the tenancy agreement;
   • if there are any changes to your circumstances which could affect your eligibility or suitability for the Scheme under the, or the declarations you made in the Agreement Form, or your ability to fulfil your obligations under the Agreement, you will notify us in writing without delay;
   • you or (where applicable) your conacre/tenant farmer have/has not received and will not receive any duplicate funding or allowances from other public sources in respect of the same obligations you are required to undertake under the Farming for Water Agreement;
   • your obligations under the Agreement do not duplicate and will not duplicate any other legal obligations you or (where applicable) your conacre/tenant farmer would otherwise be required to undertake;
   • your obligations under the Agreement do not and will not conflict in whole or in part with any other legal or contractual obligations on you;
   • you will at all times comply with all relevant domestic and EU legislation in the performance of your obligations under the Agreement
   • you have obtained and will maintain and comply with any permits, licences, permissions, consents, approvals, certificates and authorisations (whether statutory or otherwise) which are required for the performance of your obligations under the Agreement.
   • you understand that the giving of any approval, consent or acknowledgement, or the review of any document or course of action by or on behalf of Northern Ireland Water does not relieve you of any of your obligations under the Agreement unless expressly permitted in writing by Northern Ireland Water
   • you understand that knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information or obstructing us or our agents on site visits or making proper enquiries in connection with the Agreement may be a breach of this Agreement.
   • you will not ask the Contractor to carry out work on your farm under this Scheme which has not been pre-approved by NIW.
   • you will maintain fencing and livestock drinkers provided under The Scheme for a period of 7 years.
   • you must keep and maintain any goods as provided by The Scheme for a period of 7 years.

   You must make your own enquiries as to the accuracy and adequacy of any information on which you rely in connection with the Agreement.

   SPECIAL NOTE

   Please note that NI Water will carry out checks with other funding agencies to ensure that there has not been nor will be any duplicate funding provided for the works requested under this Scheme. In the event that NI Water becomes aware that duplicate funding has been provided or is to be provided then NI Water will seek to recover from you the relevant services provided to you in respect of this Scheme.

6. YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

   You are responsible for:

   • co-operating with NI Water and the Contractor in all matters relating to the Services;
   • complying with any agricultural/environmental regulations in relation to their farm business
   • providing NI Water and the Contractor in a timely manner and at no charge, access to your premises, lands, data and other facilities required to receive the Services;
   • supplying NI Water and the Contractor with such information and materials as may reasonably be required in respect of the Services and ensuring that such information is complete and accurate in all material respects in relation to registration and otherwise;

   In applying for and receiving the measures under the Farming for Water Scheme, you agree to comply with these terms and conditions and with those contained in the other components of the Agreement.

   You will ensure that:

   • the works are maintained in accordance with the Specifications and generally in good order at all times throughout the Term
   • you have obtained any planning consents, approvals, permits or other such authorisations which are needed in respect of the Scheme Works before you submit Your Agreement Form and that you provide to us, with Your Agreement Form, the original documentation granting such planning consents, approvals, permits or other authorisations from the relevant authorities;
   • you have and maintain all normal and appropriate insurances for your farm business, including public liability insurance that provides cover for people working on and accessing your land and fire, theft and damage insurance cover for the works
   • you will promptly provide us with a copy of your insurance policies if we ask you to
   • current and future tenants who are farming all or part of Your Land during the Term of the Agreement; and persons coming onto Your Farm, or who are resident there, during the Term of the Agreement, including in particular your contractors, employees, agents, invitees and household members, do not do or omit to do anything which might cause you to be in breach of your obligations under the Agreement.

   It is your responsibility to ensure that:

   • the contractor carries out the work to your satisfaction, under your supervision.
   • the Works will not impact on your cross-compliance responsibilities or on other Schemes in which you may be involved;
   • if pesticides are being applied, you keep livestock away from the treated pasture in strict accordance with the harvest interval on the pesticide application record; you deal with noxious weeds and ensure that livestock are kept away from any noxious weeds within the treated area for a suitable timescale;
   • the Works are carried out compliantly with relevant health and safety legislation and the Works themselves comply with relevant environmental legislation.
   • you must not sell, remove, relocate or wilfully damage the Works or any part of them or allow anyone else to do so.
   • you make arrangements for the contractor to carry out the works at a time suitable to both parties.

   Our responsibilities

   We will:

   • allocate to you a Catchment Officer who will offer assistance with such things as: identifying actions for Your Farm which could meet the criteria for funding under the Scheme.
   • organise a suitable contractor to carry out the works.

   Site visits

   So that we can meet our obligations to you and also our oversight obligations under the Scheme, our Catchment Officers will need to visit Your Farm from time to time. We will try to ensure that visits are on a date and time that is convenient for you, unless there is an emergency or some other exceptional circumstance. Subject to that, you will allow our Catchment Officers access to Your Farm in connection with the Agreement and provide reasonable assistance and generally cooperate with us and our agents during visits, so that the visits go as smoothly and efficiently as possible, and you will take appropriate steps to ensure that we and our agents are able to go about our work on Your Farm safely.

7. SERVICE REFUSAL AND TERMINATION

   NI Water and the Contractor reserve the right to refuse services for reasons to be determined at their own discretion.

   NI Water reserve the right to terminate the Scheme, and these terms and conditions at any point by providing you with 5 days’ notice.

8. LIABILITY

   NI Water nor its employees, agents, or representatives ("Representatives") shall be responsible for any injury, loss, or damage that may occur to you in connection with the Services from any cause, or for any other expenses, losses or liabilities (including as arising in connection with the Scheme and the Services and as caused by the Contractor), to the utmost extent permitted by law. In particular, you acknowledge that any issues with the Scheme and the provision of Services shall be between you and the Contractor to resolve, and that under no circumstances shall NI Water or its Representatives be liable for (i) any special, indirect, incidental, or consequential loss or damage whatsoever, or (ii) any loss of profit, loss of use, loss of opportunity, or any cost or damage resulting from any such loss. Nothing in this Agreement shall exclude or limit NI Water’s liability for anything which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

   How we’ll use this information

   We’ll use the information you give us in your participation in the Scheme and lawfully and securely share it with our delivery partners, to provide the service you’ve requested.

   This could include contacting you to discuss your agreement and/or provide more details and visiting the site where work needs to be carried out. Your feedback is important to us, so we may also use the information to ask for your feedback on how we can improve our performance.

   NI Water won’t use this information for marketing purposes, or for reasons unrelated to the Farming for Water Scheme.

   As the Data Controller, NI Water lawfully processes the personal information you provide in your application for the Farming for Water Scheme, under the lawful basis Public Task in the public interest, i.e. protecting the water supply.

   You can find NI Water’s Data Protection policy at https://www.niwater.com/privacy.

   If you would like us to amend the information we hold or contact us regarding the personal information we hold about you, please email: imu@niwater.com.

   Anonymous information

   We will use partial postcodes (e.g. BT), type of works carried out/improvements made on Farms to determine success of the Scheme. Any reporting on the Scheme will be anonymised data so that no participants can be identified. Collating information from this Scheme is helpful as it provides evidence and justification for being able to offer similar Schemes in the future.

9. GENERAL

   These terms and conditions constitute the whole agreement between NI Water to the exclusion of any other arrangement or understanding between you and us (whether written or oral) relating to its subject matter.

   These terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws of Northern Ireland and any dispute shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Northern Irish courts.

10. QUESTIONS

    Questions: If you have any questions about the Farming for Water Scheme, please contact the Farming for Water team: catchment@niwater.com

    Catchment Officers: Peter Quinn 07585996364, Rebecca Allen 07772225226