Allotment water features – understanding the biodiversity benefits and risks
07/10/2025
From ponds to pouring jugs, water features can brighten up any allotment. They can add aesthetic appeal - reflecting light and creating soothing sounds - while also supporting biodiversity.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the biodiversity benefits of water features, and explain how to manage and mitigate some of the risks you might encounter.
Implementing a water feature – getting inspired
There are a wide variety of options to choose from, depending on the size and space available and any existing natural features you have to work with. The good news is water features don’t necessarily have to be big or expensive to make an impact.
Popular water features can include:
- Rills (shallow, rectangular channels that provide a constant flow of water from one area to another)
- Ponds
- Bog gardens
- Vortexes or whirlpools
- Pouring jugs
- Water troughs and containers
This article from Gardeners’ World Magazine and this guide from the Royal Horticultural Society offer a few more ideas to get inspired.
What are the biodiversity benefits of water features?
Ponds and streams (and moist environments around them, such as bog gardens) can play an important role in contributing to a balanced ecosystem, by providing essential habitats for aquatic organisms such as insects, amphibians and fish. They can also attract natural predators to reduce populations of pests such as aphids, and thereby reduce the need for harmful chemical pesticides. These kinds of water features will also help to increase plant diversity.
Even smaller or standalone water features like pots, troughs and bird baths can increase the biodiversity of your allotment, by providing drinking and bathing areas for a variety of birds, as well as pollinators like butterflies and bees. Birdbaths with pebbles and just a thin film of water provide a particularly attractive drinking spot for bees.
What risks do water features present?
While water features can offer rich rewards in terms of increased biodiversity, there can also be unintended consequences. For example, stagnant water in water bowls or troughs can attract disease-spreading insects like mosquitoes. If it’s not easy or possible to change the water regularly, you may need to consider other options, such as introducing predators that prey on mosquito larvae.
It’s also important to be aware of the potential risks that water features may present to people and animals.
Ponds and large water troughs or tanks can pose a drowning risk, particularly to pets, small children and vulnerable adults. The danger can be exacerbated if the area surrounding the water feature is overgrown, obscured or slippery (e.g. if a pond is surrounded by a bog garden). Wet or uneven surfaces around water features can also present a slip and trip risk.
Risks can come not just from the water itself, but from things added to or around the water. For example, chemicals are sometimes used to clean pond water, eliminate pests or control build-up of algae, but incorrect application or storage of chemicals can pose a risk to humans and animals alike – from burns to pollution.
Electrical equipment, such as lights and pond pumps, may also present a risk of electric shocks if not properly installed or maintained.
Mitigating risks of allotment water features
It’s important to take a proportionate approach to managing and mitigating the risks, and to document any actions you have taken, in order to give you a better chance of defending yourself against any claims.
- Consider ways to control access around ponds and water tanks/troughs to reduce risks related to slips, falls or drowning. This may include signage and fencing or other types of barrier.
- Ensure that anybody using chemicals on your allotment has been given appropriate instructions on how to apply and store them correctly. Never transfer chemicals to another container, and always securely store them somewhere they cannot be accessed by children or vulnerable adults. Read our article on Reducing use of chemicals in allotments for more information.
- Ensure any electrical equipment used in and around your allotment, including cabling and connections, is subject to inspection, testing and maintenance at appropriate intervals.
In addition to these specific areas, it’s also important to document your approach to inspections, maintenance, and risk assessment. Risk assessments needn’t be hugely complex, but they should identify the potential risks and the persons who could be affected by them, as well as the level of risk presented and control measures required to mitigate those risks.
The Local Community Advisory Service (LCAS) Guide to Risk Management contains some useful tips on creating your own risk assessment, as well as examples and templates.
