Case Study / Regenerative Agriculture & Water Quality
Helping WWF-UK understand how land management, agricultural practices and restoration interventions can improve river health — using Aquascope’s integrated environmental intelligence platform.
Client
WWF-UK
Location
England and Wales, United Kingdom
Project period
2024–2025
Sector
NGO & Food and Beverage
Landscape regenerative practices / WWF-UK
Across five contrasting river catchments in England and Wales, Aquascope developed an integrated approach to understanding water quality, river flows and the potential benefits of landscape interventions.
By connecting catchment-scale modelling with accessible environmental data and scenario analysis, the project provides an evidence base for more informed decisions on regenerative agriculture, pollution reduction and sustainable catchment management.
01 / The challenge
Agriculture, land use and wastewater discharges all influence the quality of water flowing through our landscapes. Organisations investing in regenerative agriculture and catchment restoration need to understand how these activities affect river ecosystems and downstream communities.
Catchments contain multiple pollution sources, monitoring is often fragmented, and changes in water quality can take years to emerge. The challenge is to understand the cumulative impact of interventions across an entire river system.
To invest effectively in landscape transformation, organisations need to understand where pressures originate and how different interventions could change outcomes.
02 / The Aquascope solution
Aquascope developed an integrated modelling system combining environmental baselines, scenario analysis and ongoing monitoring. The platform provides robust, evidence-based practical tools for assessing landscape transformation and comparing voluntary and incentive-based approaches.
Establish a consistent environmental baseline describing river flows, nutrient concentrations, land use and the factors influencing water quality. A reference against which environmental changes and future interventions can be assessed.
Understand existing conditions, identify pressures and establish a defensible basis for decision-making.
Evaluate how agricultural practices, nutrient management, land use and wastewater treatment could affect water quality. Compare alternative intervention strategies before committing resources.
Support investment prioritisation and identify strategies with the greatest potential environmental benefit.
Connect modelled baselines with ongoing environmental observations to understand changing river conditions and assess progress over time.
Support environmental performance tracking, adaptive management and evidence-based reporting.
03 / Five catchments. One scalable approach.
A major agricultural catchment facing nutrient pressures from livestock farming, land management and wastewater sources.
An agricultural catchment where land management and nutrient transport influence downstream water quality.
A contrasting river system with agricultural and wastewater-related water-quality pressures.
A Norfolk chalk-influenced catchment where agricultural nutrient losses and groundwater processes influence river conditions.
A smaller Norfolk catchment connecting agricultural pressures, groundwater and river ecosystem conditions.
04 / Turning interventions into investment decisions
Assess the potential effects of improved soil management, cover crops, buffer strips and changes in agricultural practices.
Explore how fertiliser application, livestock management and nutrient losses could influence river conditions.
Understand the potential contribution of wastewater treatment upgrades alongside agricultural measures.
Assess how land management and restoration strategies could contribute to improved water quality.
Compare interventions across a catchment to support more targeted, evidence-based investment decisions.
05 / Landscape-scale intelligence
01
Agricultural management, restoration and pollution reduction.
02
Water movement, nutrient transport and river-system response.
03
Potential changes in nutrient concentrations, river conditions and environmental pressures.
From individual interventions to the cumulative environmental performance of an entire landscape.
06 / Value delivered
A comparable understanding of water-quality and hydrological conditions across five contrasting catchments.
A trusted environmental baseline supporting policy on voluntary and incentive financing schemes
Scenario-based insights into the potential contribution of agricultural and wastewater management measures.
Practical evidence to inform engagement with farmers, retailers, water companies and policy makers
An approach that can be adapted to additional river systems while accounting for local characteristics.
A foundation for long-term ecosystem monitoring across the five catchments
A basis for tracking environmental change and supporting longer-term assessment of restoration outcomes.
Now scaling strategic water quality monitoring with targeted measurements to verify daily nutrient pollution, trends and farm intervention outcomes
07 / Commercial applications
Understand water-related pressures across agricultural sourcing regions and assess the potential benefits of regenerative farming programmes.
Explore diffuse and point-source pollution pressures, compare catchment measures and support investment planning.
Establish environmental baselines, evaluate restoration opportunities and monitor water-related ecosystem services.
Develop evidence-based restoration strategies and coordinate action across multiple stakeholders.
Aquascope helps connect environmental investment with the water outcomes that matter.
08 / Technology and scientific credibility
09 / Project partners
Project commissioning organisation and strategic environmental partner.
Integrated environmental intelligence platform, catchment assessment and decision-support technology.
Hydrological and water-quality modelling expertise.
WWF commissioned Water Resources Associates and Aquascope to develop an integrated, catchment-scale modelling system to understand the interventions required to achieve sustainable water quality in key UK river systems. This work supports WWF-UK’s ambition for 50% of UK fresh food to originate from catchments managed sustainably, enabling constructive engagement with farmers, retailers, water companies and policy makers.
10 / Future potential
By combining baselines, scenario analysis and ongoing monitoring, organisations can better understand water-related pressures, plan interventions and assess progress across multiple landscapes. This creates opportunities to extend consistent intelligence across agricultural supply chains, restoration portfolios and water-management programmes.
The modelling provides evidence to support regenerative landscape practices and sustainable water quality. As climate change raises stream temperatures and alters algal growth responses, continued monitoring will help identify where new mitigation measures are required.
Environmental intelligence / Informed investment
Whether managing agricultural supply chains, restoring catchments or investing in natural assets, Aquascope provides the environmental intelligence needed to assess risks, plan interventions and monitor outcomes.
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