Wednesday 23 August 2011
Environment Agency, Nene House, Kettering.
Attendees:
Paul Woodcock, Andy Baxendale, Norman Robinson, Mark Grant, Clive Harward, Gen Madgwick, Peter Barham, Chris Stoate, Alan Woods, Paul Tame, Sarah Swift.
Item / Information and actions
1 / The Pilot / Requirements of Article 7 and WFD compliance needs to be better communicated and evidenced in documentation.
All agreed that the criteria to deliver a plan needs to explored further; the plan should not focus on the ‘what’ but the ‘how’. There may be value in collating action and developing a ‘ownership map’, which shows commitment and ownership by organisations or communities for a particular stretch of river.
We need to improve communities’ understanding of the issues affecting their river and tailor any messages to specific audiences. All work within the catchment needs to be led and owned by communities: it needs to be accessible at all levels.
The two elements of the pilot will need to run in parallel: delivery through funding and investing in engagement.
2 / Our current work / All projects are captured in the table below.
Work out the cost, both financial and resource, of the EA projects Action: NR
We need to be better at sharing our successes and best practice (including statutory duties), particularly with communities.
We need to think about the language used to describe the Pilot Catchment as it needs to be accessible to all. The terminology of the Water Framework Directive does not inspire action.
When engaging with communities, it may be beneficial to consider the economic impact and regeneration that an improved river environment can have
Agronomists could be key to sharing messages with arable farmers. Also there may be value in working with the Levy Boards such as the Dairy Co. Michelle Claxton (CSF Co-ordinator) will have details of Catchment Champions who will be influential in the farming community.
It would be useful to pool information from NFU, EA and Natural England, particularly landowner and farmer contact details. However, data protection makes this an issue. Is there anyway to address this?
Consider alternative sources of funding such as sponsors and developer contributions. There may be an opportunity to include practical measures in PR14 in addition to investigations.
We need to understand more about channel engineering and the impact of physical modification.
3 / Process for going forward / Our compelling evidence will be tool by which we can engage local organisations and communities. We also need to make sure that we are giving the community chance to input into the ‘what’.
By March 2012, we need to have a prioritised plan that focuses on opportunities rather than priorities.
It was agreed by all that there will only be one steering group which will be chaired by the Welland Rivers Trust.
It was agreed that the EA will support the recruitment of a Welland Rivers Trust Project Officer to focus on the Pilot Catchment.
It was suggested that a representative from a Local Authority, an educational institution, the angling community, the navigation community and specialists in flood risk management and community engagement are invited to join the steering group.
Action: NR to work with WRT to further explore the issues and opportunities.
4 / Future meetings / A date for the next meeting will be arranged for late September.
Our Current Work
Issue / Details / Organisation(s)Phosphate / The Quick Wins project involves walkovers of the Upper Welland and tributaries to identify areas where simple measures such a installing fencing, water troughs or in-channel improvements such as riffles, would make a difference to sediment inputs and habitat degradation. Working with a landowner, the Drayton River Restoration project has been developed. / EA
The Welland Phosphate Project 2010-2011 focused on the sources of phosphate in the water bodies in the Upper Welland catchment. The aim of the project was to establish what percentage of phosphate comes from Waste Water Treatment Works and how much from diffuse agricultural pollution. The results showed that the tributary inputting the most phosphate into the Welland is Langton Brook, with 78% coming from the four STWs - Kibworth STW having the highest phosphate loading. Largest diffuse agricultural input is upstream of Market Harborough and Medbourne Brook. / EA
The Environment Management Teams are working on a project to identify areas of point source pollution. They have already had success with a landowner at Tixover changing his practices to stop cypermethrin entering the Welland. / EA
Joint NFU and EA Phosphorous Project will soon publish a report, which will includes lessons learnt. As part of the project, farmer self-monitoring has been introduced (passive samplers), which helps to engage farmers and their acceptance of the problem. Harper’s Brook is pilot for Northern Area. / EA & NFU
Chris Extence is working with GWCT on sediment investigations in the catchment. Following on from the work carried out as part of the Sediment Matters project. / EA & GWCT
The Allerton Project at Loddington researches the impacts at land use on water quality. The research projects include small field edge constructed wetlands and managing tramlines. Key to the success of the project is that the measures do not have an impact on the economics of farming, whilst reducing diffuse pollution. The research provides an evidence base for farmers and a series of measures that can be implemented in other catchments. / GWCT
AWS are carrying out phosphorous investigations for the 40 works within the catchment. A model is being developed, which will include river monitoring data and phosphate inputs into the system. This will be used to show what the impact of reduced levels of phosphate would be on the catchment. The investigations will be completed in the Autumn 2012. / AWS
Fish / The Welland Sea Trout Project is a partnership with the Welland Rivers Trust and the Wild Trout Trust to restore a route for fish migration on the River Welland from the tidal Welland at Fulney Lock, Spalding to Tinwell Weir, west of Stamford. Walkover surveys have been completed and an action plan developed. / WTT, WRT & EA
EA secured £523,000 of Defra GIA funding for fish passes in the catchment this financial year. A feasibility study is currently being carried out. / EA
Water Resources / The Gwash Flows project, a partnership between the Environment Agency, AWS and the Wild Trout Trust, will investigate ways to get the ‘best’ out of the compensation release of water from Rutland Water Reservoir down the River Gwash. / WTT, AWS & EA
AWS work on water cycle strategies with EA and LAs to ensure that the existing infrastructure can cope with planned growth and development. / AWS
Work to investigated metaldehyde and drinking water at Rutland Water to ensure compliance with the drinking water standards. Metaldehyde is not removed after water treatment so the issue needs to be tackled at the source. A model is being developed that will use data about land use, topography, pesticide use, soil type and pollution incidents. The model will be used to show pesticide levels at Tinwell. Partners include NFU, WRT and GWCT (AWS Project Manager: Simon Eyre) and work is being funded through the Periodic Review. AWS keen for the catchment to become a Catchment Sensitive Farming area. / AWS
£12M investment for mitigation lagoons at Rutland, which are now supporting wetland birds. / AWS
Physical modifications / Working with local groups in Market Harborough, the Welland Rivers Trust are developing a bid to Defra’s Catchment Restoration Fund for river improvements through the town (Welland Rivers Trust lead: David Harper). / WRT
Engagement / Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) Programme project on the Water Framework Directive. The research has highlighted useful tools for engagement that can be used within the pilot. / Alan Woods
Community engagement on the Eye Brook catchment (see Exploring a Productive Landscape: TheEye Brook Catchment). Share best practice and lessons learnt. / GWCT
Welland Rivers Trust carried out customer surveys in Spalding, Stamford and Market Harborough in May 2010 to understand people’s views about the river and what improvements they would like to see. / WRT
AWS’s ‘Love every drop’ campaign is helping people understand the realities of water use and climate change. This includes specific messages targeted at certain groups such as FOG. / AWS