Basic Farm Water Resilience Audit (Summer 2026)
29 April 2026A practical guide to building resilience to water scarcity and drought
This document is a water resilience audit for Scottish farms - you can complete it online or it is available to download. It draws on regulatory guidance and other adaptation checklists (e.g. storage, irrigation, backup supply, and SEPA compliance considerations). This guide is designed to provide farmers with a useful first step, allowing them to get to grips with the factors impacting resilience to water scarcity.
Filling out this simple self-assessment template can help farmers identify flood and drought risks, map water assets, and identify potential beneficial interventions (e.g. ponds, buffer strips, storage, etc.). Depending on farm type and experience level, several other resources are linked throughout this document which may be useful follow-ons for those wishing to go into more detail.
How to use this audit
- Work through each section for your farm system
- Tick ✔ / ✖ / N/A for each question
- Add notes specific to your farm
- Identify any priority actions at the end
- Retain this document as a reference and baseline
- Consider sharing and comparing your results with neighbours or similar enterprises to understand your farm’s performance
- Option to share your results with an advisor/agronomist to help them quickly understand your areas of vulnerability and desired course of action, so they can help you plan interventions
- Update annually, or when you notice changes in conditions or in your farm business operations relating to water.
Online resources
Note – While this guide can be printed out and completed by hand, it references the following online tools and resources. You may find these useful if you are able to access them.
Tools referenced (also linked throughout the audit below):
Further reading and other useful guides:
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