Back

Lowland Peat Water Discovery Grant

The Discovery Grant will fund the development of implementation plans which will detail how to safely raise water tables within lowland peat soils in England. Please note to apply, you will need to obtain the application form and documents from our Sharepoint site or via email. Please see the How to Apply section below.

  • Opening date:
  • Closing date: (Midnight)

Get updates about this grant

Sign up for updates
Start new application

Contents

Summary

Summary

The Discovery grant scheme will support the investigation, monitoring and feasibility required to create an implementation plan for safely raising water tables in lowland peat soils. Each plan must promote a change in water management that enables more sustainable land management activities at higher water tables within lowland peat soils and include plans for the long-term delivery of those outcomes.

To raise water tables, a collaborative or partnership-based approach will be required, with all interested parties working together. You must identify the stakeholders, including land managers you need to collaborate with to successfully develop a plan. You will be required to demonstrate the support your project has in your application.

You will need to work with stakeholders to agree water management outcomes for your project area. This can be at a catchment or hydrological unit scale. There must be an intention to progress to raising water tables within your project area.

Eligibility

Your project is eligible provided:

  • it is focused on developing an implementation plan for an area of lowland peat soils within England

  • there is not a legal requirement to carry out the proposed activity

  •  the proposed activity is not receiving, or will be receiving, funding from other sources which would be considered duplicate funding

  • you are an eligible organisation

To be an eligible organisation you must be one of the following:

  • charities or not for profit organisations 

  • public bodies (including local authorities and internal drainage boards) 

  • land managers 

  • businesses or commercial enterprises 

 A Discovery grant can only be issued to a single legal entity. We welcome applications from a single organisation who is coordinating work with other interested parties. You must prove that you are eligible when you apply. 

The Environment Agency, Defra, Natural England and Forestry Commission are not eligible to apply but are eligible to be collaborators within a project.

Objectives

The purpose of the Discovery grant scheme is to provide initial investment that will ultimately:

-       create effective local collaborations with lowland peat stakeholders

-       have a primary focus on the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from lowland peat

-       enable wider benefits e.g. biodiversity, flood and drought mitigation and sustainable land use

-       rewet lowland peat, by enabling the safe raising of water tables in lowland peat soils

-       safely and sustainably maintain higher water tables in lowland peat soils

-       contribute to the delivery of a mosaic of more sustainable land uses at a landscape scale, including through farming conventional crops at higher water tables, paludiculture and/or peatland/wetland habitat restoration  

The objective of each Discovery grant will be to create an implementation plan, detailing how water tables in peat soils can be raised and managed. The plans will identify the operating systems and infrastructure required to deliver water table raising in their project areas.

Dates

Grants will be awarded in September 2026 and must complete by March 2028.

How to apply

To apply, complete the Discovery application form and submit via email with supporting information to peatwatergrants@environment-agency.gov.uk 

To obtain a copy of our application pack, please see our external SharePoint page EA Lowland Peat Water Discovery and Implementation Grants - Home Please note that you may have to request access. If you have any issues accessing our SharePoint page, please contact via our email above.

It is important that you provide all the information asked for in the application form, including any mandated supporting documents and a site map in an accessible format. Incomplete applications will be rejected.

 Your application form, including the mandated supporting documents, will be the single source of information used to score and rank your application. No other information nor documents submitted after the application deadline will be considered.

 Your application must be signed by an individual with the appropriate authority to act on behalf of your organisation.

Your application and supporting documents must be received by 23:59 on 26 June 2026.

Supporting information

To obtain a copy of our application pack, please see our external SharePoint page EA Lowland Peat Water Discovery and Implementation Grants - Home Please note that you may have to request access. If you have any issues accessing our SharePoint page, please contact via our email peatwatergrants@environment-agency.gov.uk