This is a process which ensures that field level water courses retain the purpose for which they were created; that of water movement. For the most part the channels in the surrounding landscape are managed on a very frequent basis. However, although beneficial for the drainage process, frequent management has a detrimental effect on the aquatic ecology of the ditch concerned.

Because most of the ditches at Wicken Fen have little or no drainage use, the management of them is for nature conservation and occurs on the "ancient" fen. This clearance or "slubbing" removes the layer of silt that has accumulated in the preceding years by scooping it out with a mechanical digger. No channel is slubbed along its entire length in any one year. Instead each channel is separated into sections with the work being undertaken on rotation. Some channels have a prescription of work lasting up to 12 years whilst other channels are left to succeed to dry ground before being slubbed. A few channels, such as Drainers' Dyke, still have a drainage aspect to their existence. These are separated into sections of equal length. In year 'one' all odd numbered sections are slubbed. In year 'two' no work is carried out. In year 'three' all even sections are slubbed. In year 'four' no work is carried out and in year 'five' all odd sections are slubbed again, giving this channel a fairly straight forward four year cycle. Other channels have a more complex rotation where every second or third section is cleared; work being undertaken every four years producing eight and twelve year rotations.

The ditch systems on the 'newer' land south of Wicken Lode are largely left to natural processes. This area is managed as an extensive landscape with minimal intervention. It may be that as the years progress some of these channels will require management either to promote re-wetting or to maintain a manageable water table. However, it is not envisaged that this work will not be as prescriptive as elsewhere.