CSP11: Manage scrapes and gutters supplement
Source: gov.uk (2025-09-10)

What you must do to get paid for this CSHT action and advice on how to do it.

This action is part of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT). You must read the CSHT guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/countryside-stewardship-higher-tier-csht) before you apply.

Duration

5 years

How much you’ll be paid

£1.17 per square metre (m2) per year – you must only include the physical area of the scrape or gutter

You need to enter the area of scrape or gutter in hectares. To do this, divide the m2 area measurement by 10,000. This is the number you enter in your online application.

Action’s aim

The aim of this supplemental action is to maintain existing scrapes and gutters to make sure they have:
- an appropriate depth (and width for gutters), so it holds shallow standing water during the winter months (and during the spring and early summer if you’re managing wet grassland for breeding waders)
- gently sloping sides, so they can be used by feeding birds
- areas of bare soil in dry habitats
- bare, wet soil on the edges as the water level drops
- a rough surface, so there is a variety of water depths
The purpose of this is to:
- provide feeding areas for wading birds and wildfowl
- support invertebrates, plants and other birds
For the purposes of this supplemental action, ‘scrapes and gutters’ include:
- wet scrapes – these are shallow pools that provide seasonally wet areas, usually as a habitat for wildfowl and wading birds in wet grassland areas
- dry scrapes – these are shallow depressions or areas of bare soil that provide habitats for invertebrates, plants and rare birds in areas such as heathland and dry grasslands
- gutters (also known as foot drains, gripes and grips) – these are shallow channels that hold or transport water through wet habitats and provide feeding areas for wading birds
Soil can include sand in some habitats.

Where you can do this action:

You can only do this action where there are existing scrapes and gutters and on the appropriate Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) base action.

You can do this supplemental action on eligible land with any of the following CSHT base actions:
- CGS20: Manage wet grassland for breeding waders
- CGS19: Manage wet grassland for wintering waders and wildfowl
- CGS21: Manage grassland for target habitats, species or features
- CUP2: Manage rough grazing for birds
Your Natural England adviser will agree with you what other supplemental actions may be needed to meet the intended environmental outcomes. This could include:
- CCT6: Coastal vegetation management supplement
- CSP1: Difficult site supplement
- CSP2: Rewetting supplement
- CSP3: Bracken control supplement
- CSP5: Shepherding supplement (non-moorland)
- CSP6: Cattle grazing supplement (non-moorland)
- CSP7: Introduction of cattle grazing on the Isles of Scilly supplement
- CSP9: Support for threatened species
- CSP16: Keep native breeds on grazed habitats supplement (50-80%)
- CSP17: Keep native breeds on grazed habitats supplement (more than 80%)
- CSP18: Keep native breeds on extensively managed habitats supplement (50-80%)
- CSP19: Keep native breeds on extensively managed habitats supplement (more than 80%)
- CWT12: Wetland grazing supplement
You must get approval from your Natural England adviser to do this supplemental action where management of existing scrapes or gutters will benefit habitats or species of interest. This could include CSHT actions for:
- CGS22: Manage priority habitat species-rich grassland
- CLH1: Manage lowland heathland
- CLH2: Restore lowland heathland
- CLH3: Create lowland heathland
- CWT14: Create fen, reedbed or wetland mosaics
- CWT13: Manage and restore fen, reedbed and wetland mosaics
- CCT2: Make space for new coastal habitat
- CCT7: Creation of Intertidal and saline habitat on intensive grassland
- CCT5: Create Intertidal and saline habitat by non-intervention
- CCT4: Create Intertidal and saline on arable
- CCT3: Manage coastal saltmarsh
- CCT8: Manage and restore coastal sand dune
- CSW18: Raise water levels in grassland 31-50cm
- CSW20: Raise water levels in grassland 10-30cm
You cannot do this action:
- on scrapes or gutters paid for using CSHT action WN2: Creation of scrapes and gutters, in the first 5 years after applying for WN2
- where management of scrapes and gutters would cause damage to the habitat or other features of interest, such as historic or archaeological sites
Eligible land

Same as base action.

Available area you can enter into this action

Less than your selected base action. You must only include the physical area of the scrape or gutter.

Rotational or static action

Same as base action.

What to do

Your Natural England adviser will assess your land. They’ll work with you to adapt and agree the activities you must do to achieve this action’s aim. All mandatory activities will be set out in your agreement document.

To get paid for this action, you must:
- maintain scrapes and gutters to expose bare soil, usually every 3 to 5 years by methods agreed with your Natural England adviser
- maintain scrapes and gutters so they have a suitable size, shape, depth and profile for the target species agreed with your Natural England adviser
The advice you’re given from Natural England is specific to your land which means (where relevant) you may also need to:
- manage water levels so that scrapes and gutters provide areas of seasonal shallow water with wet and muddy edges
- maintain scrapes with an irregular shape to maximise the length of edge
- leave the surface of scrapes rough
- maintain scrapes and gutters between the dates agreed with your Natural England adviser
You must not:
- carry out work when ground nesting birds are present
- use spoil to fill hollows or low areas
- leave spoil to form a bund or bank around a scrape or gutter (unless agreed with your Natural England adviser)
- place spoil on areas of high soil erosion or where there’s potential for run-off
- place spoil where it could damage historic or archaeological features
When to do it

You must do this action each year of its duration.

Evidence to keep

You must keep evidence to show what you have done to complete this action. If it’s not clear that you have done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) may ask for this evidence. You must supply the evidence if they ask for it.

Consents, permissions and licensing requirements:

To apply for this action, you’ll need:
- Scheduled Monument Consent (https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/planning/consents/smc/) from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments
- consent from Natural England for any activity on land designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/protected-areas-sites-of-special-scientific-interest#get-consent-to-carry-out-operations-on-your-land)
You may need to:
- get a wildlife licence (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wildlife-licences) from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat
- get advice from your Natural England adviser or Forestry Commission woodland officer if you have other archaeological or historic features on your agreement land
All archaeological and historic features (including scheduled monuments) are identified in your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER).

If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete what’s required in the actions you choose. You may need your landlord’s consent.

Capital grants to support this action

You can apply for capital items (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/capital-items-guidance-for-applicants-and-agreement-holders) to help you achieve the action’s aims. Your Natural England adviser will discuss eligible capital items with you.

Advice to help you do this action

The following optional advice may help you to do this action. Your agreement document will set out all the activities you must do.

When to use this supplement

You can use this supplement:
- to maintain existing scrapes and gutters in fields managed through actions for breeding waders and wintering wildfowl
- where scrapes or gutters retain water during autumn, winter and into spring or early summer (depending on the requirements of the base action)
- to manage scrapes in dry habitats, such as heathlands – where the scrapes provide areas of bare soil for invertebrates, reptiles and rare birds, such as stone curlew
In some situations, you can use this supplement to manage scrapes and gutters in wetland habitats, such as ‘turf ponds’ for rare wetland plants. Your Natural England adviser can advise on this.

Cleaning out scrapes and gutters

Clean out scrapes and gutters rotationally (usually every 3-5 years) in late summer or autumn when bird nesting is over (usually from July) to provide:
- bare soil in dry scrapes,
- shallow standing water and bare, wet mud (clear of living and dead vegetation) in wet scrapes and gutters
Avoid cleaning out all your scrapes and gutters in the same year.

Your agreement document will set out how to clean out scrapes and gutters.

Wet scrapes and gutters

Use machinery, such as a 360 digger , soil spreaders or rotary ditchers to clean out scrapes and gutters in wet grassland.

Spoil spreaders and rotary ditchers scatter the spoil (the vegetation and soil that is being removed) at the same time as cleaning it out. You do not need to spread the spoil as a separate operation making it more efficient. It is also easier to produce gently sloping edges (approximate gradient 1:15) with this equipment.

Dry scrapes

You can clean out dry scrapes using machinery, such as a 360 digger or rotavator.

Maintaining scrapes and gutters

Avoid over-deepening scrapes and gutters, as this increases the amount of spoil you need to remove. There are no benefits for the target birds on wet grassland by creating scrapes and gutters that are too deep.

Only use this supplement on areas that you actively maintain. For example, on larger scrapes that retain water, you may only need to clean out the edges to provide bare soil and not the whole scrape.

Disposing of the spoil

Spoil is the vegetation and soil removed from the scrape or gutter.

You can dispose of the spoil by:
- spreading it thinly on the adjacent land
- building up gateways and installing water control structures or culverts where the material is suitable for this
- removing from the site (this may be a requirement of Environment Agency consent on floodplains)
Control weed growth on the spoil.

Manage water levels in wet scrapes and gutters

You will need to keep scrapes and gutters wet on wet grassland to meet the requirements of the base action.

You can rely on winter rainfall and floodwater if they provide consistent wet conditions for wintering waders and wildfowl. Breeding waders need wet conditions from March to late June so you will usually need to connect the scrapes and gutters to a water source.

You can manage water levels by:
- linking scrapes and gutters to ditches with reliable high water levels
- using culverts and simple water control structures
- using pumps
Isolate scrapes and gutters from ditches with low water levels to avoid draining the field.

Allow scrapes and gutters to dry out gradually throughout the wader breeding season, exposing wet mud at the edges. They can dry out completely in the summer months and be managed by grazing or cutting along with the rest of the field.

You may need to keep scrapes and gutters wet all year to benefit a wider range of wildlife, depending on your site.

Manage vegetation around wet scrapes or gutters

Keep vegetation on the scrape or gutter margins short (5cm or less) with some tussocks of taller grass and rush. This will allow wading birds to find food. To keep the margins short, it is best to graze with livestock. Cutting the margins may spread rush seeds and can only be done after the bird nesting season.

Read the Cayton and Flixton Carrs wetland project for ‘Scrape creation hints and tips (https://carrswetland.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/scrape_creation_hints_and_tipspicsv2_.pdf)’.