Norfolk farmers have been urged to apply for new grants offering up to £2m to enhance freshwater habitats - funded by pollution fines issued to water companies.

Defra's Water Restoration Fund aims to improve the quality of rivers, lakes, ponds, wetlands and estuaries.

The £11m budget comes from environmental fines collected from water and sewerage companies between April 2022 and October 2023.

Successful projects must focus on "improving and preventing further deterioration of the water environment in the geographical regions where the fines and penalties were issued".

In the East of England, the Anglian Water region has been allocated almost £3.1m.

Two types of grant are available. Short-term development grants of £75,000-£250,000 will help pay for planning new projects, while longer-term delivery grants of between £500,000 and £2m will support the completion of projects already in the pipeline.

Dan Murphy, food and farming consultant at Savills in Norfolk, said the grant is particularly applicable to Norfolk farmers close to the Broads and other wetland and river networks.

"Helpfully there are no strict parameters in terms of the types of projects that qualify – so long as they will improve, protect or make a positive impact on the water quality or ecological habitat of the area," he said.

"It could, for example, help with costs towards existing wetland management, or be used for measures to prevent the diffusion of phosphates and nitrates into water courses.

"Other examples could include investment in new technology to improve irrigation or the use of data and AI to encourage better water usage and efficiency."

In a separate scheme, groups of farmers can also apply to be part of the Environment Agency’s Local Resource Option (LRO) screening study that looks to improve the resilience or supply of water.

“Safeguarding water supplies is a key concern for all farmers – but especially here in the East of England where rainfall is historically low," said Mr Murphy.

“The LRO studies can be used to identify, screen, and rank local water resource options in a given area. They might consider water rights trading, farm storage reservoirs, rainwater harvesting, water sharing as well as numerous other options."