Manage ditches

What you must do

You must manage the ditch in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim, including: cutting vegetation at the top of the ditch bank in rotation, so you only cut up to half the length of the ditch bank in any year of this action’s 3-year duration carrying out in-channel management on any section of the ditch no more than once during this action’s 3-year duration – this includes cleaning out silt or vegetation and cutting vegetation in the ditch channel To minimise disturbance to wildlife, you must only manage the ditch during the autumn, winter and early spring (usually September to late March). You must not re-profile or increase the width or depth of the ditch.

When to do it

You must do this action from its start date, throughout each year of its 3-year duration. If this action’s start date means it’s too late for you to do this action, you must start doing it within 12 months of the action’s start date.

Evidence to keep

Keep evidence to show what you’ve done to complete this action, such as: ditch management operations at a land parcel level and associated invoices photographs and other documentation If it’s not clear that you’ve done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, we may ask for this evidence. You must supply the evidence if we ask for it.

SFI26 actions v2.0, updated 7 July 2026 — verified 1 Aug 2026. Open official guidance