SEPA is Scotland’s environmental regulator charged with protecting and improving the nation’s 78,000 square kilometres of land, which includes 25,000 lochs (lakes) and more than 125,000 kilometres of rivers and streams.

Nearly three-quarters of the country’s land is in agricultural use, and the most significant environmental problem is diffuse pollution from agricultural operations. This is especially true of Scotland’s waterways. While 63% of them are rated as being in good condition, under the European Union’s Water Framework Directive the Scottish government has committed to raising this figure to 98% by 2027.

SEPA has identified 102 ‘priority catchments’ – waterway regions that need remediation under this ambitious plan. And the first step is to identify and classify pollution types and sources along every kilometre of the waterways involved. That will require some serious field work: SEPA staff will walk the entire river network surveying each catchment, and will also perform farm-scale inspections nationally.

The first 14 priority catchments are scheduled to be completed by 2015. But all this work must be done within a current climate of severe public-sector spending cuts, which include a 20% reduction in staff.

Reviewing the project’s data collection requirements, Dr Jonathan Bowes,  Senior Data Analyst/Modeller for SEPA, recognised that the process would be extremely labour-intensive. An enormous volume of field data would all have to be logged manually, recording 55 types of non-compliant agricultural practices, as well as other details.  The data would then have to be organised and entered by hand onto SEPA’s central computer system. 

 The project has attracted a great deal of attention across SEPA as this concept of paperless field work is applicable right across the board. Potentially it could revolutionise major parts of SEPA’s business

As a specialist in GIS, Dr Bowes also recognised the advantages technology could bring, to streamline this process.  The result was the pilot project to trial hand held computers, equipped with software which would eliminate paperwork for field staff.  The South Esk priority catchment was selected as the pilot area for evaluating digital data capture technology alongside the existing pen and paper method. Finances are extremely tight in SEPA so investment in such projects must deliver value for money.

Sigma Seven was chosen to provide the system for the project and the team used tablet PCs, equipped with a customised GeoField solution, to gather the data required.

On reviewing the results of the pilot scheme, it was clear that technology had enhanced the process and the quality of the data collected.

SEPA noted that typos, errors, illegibility and the adverse effects of weather on paperwork were eliminated.  The information was gathered in real time and quickly uploaded onto the agency’s systems, which then automatically generated reports and maps, ensuring a full audit trail was available.

Clearly, the technology had made the process easier, faster, more accurate and more secure.  These improvements alone were of significant benefit to the project.   The bottom line, though, was the crucial benchmark. 

When the team compared the outcomes of this pilot scheme with the paper based processes, the differences were substantial. 

The comparison used a base of 400km of waterways walked and found that the paper based processes took 45.5 days to complete. However, the scheme using mobile technology took only eight days, saving over 37 man days on one small area. 

This 80% reduction in workload translates to a massive saving of £708,000 for the first 14 catchment areas and even bigger returns projected for the full 102 catchments. 

Unsurprisingly, SEPA has switched to a GeoField system for the project, using GeoField forms, workflow and data management software, in conjunction with Algiz 7 mobile tablet PCs all integrated with SEPA’s databases. 

It’s safe to say that SEPA’s initiative has proved to be a very successful one, financially as well as operationally. The result is that Scotland’s waterways are now being assessed much more quickly and efficiently, as well as much more cost effectively.