Applicants from across agriculture and water are invited to compete for grants of between £200,000 and £2mn to tackle cross-sector water challenges
Water regulator Ofwat has launched an £8mn funding competition calling on innovators across the agriculture and water sectors to develop solutions to tackle water shortages.
Launched on 10 November, the Agri-Water Cross-Sector Challenge will award grants of between £200,000 and £2mn to projects delivering benefits for both agriculture and the wider water system.
The competition forms part of Ofwat’s £40mn Water Innovation Cross-Sector Programme, a five-year programme designed to bring different industries to work together to address shared challenges.
Both sectors are facing growing pressure from extreme weather and water scarcity. More than 70 per cent of England and all of Wales was declared to be in drought this summer.
Despite recent wet weather, the Environment Agency estimates that average rainfall would need to reach at least 120 per cent of the average over the next six months for the entire country to recover from drought by spring 2027.
Ofwat said the situation presents a “real opportunity for the two sectors to work together”, urging applicants to put forward solutions that are “ready to be accelerated, scaled or deployed, and can overcome the barriers to lasting, real-world impact”.
Eligible projects could include infrastructure and land-based approaches to improve water storage, monitoring and data tools, or new market and allocation mechanisms such as trading, crediting or shared licensing.
Applications will be assessed on their impact on their water system and agriculture sector, innovation, innovation, route to implementation, team capability and project delivery.
The competition builds on Ofwat’s £600mn Innovation Fund, which has so far awarded £251mn to 156 projects across England and Wales.
Previous innovations supported by the fund have spanned AI, space technology, nature-based catchment management and robotics.
Successful entrants are expected to be notified in May 2027, with funding payment due by late June.
