Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1062770
ships' interests, objectives and particular pressures. Catchment Partnerships are supported at local level by a designated Environment Agency Catchment Coordina- tor, through the CaBA National Support Group (NSG) and CaBA Support Team, and by the activities of a series of national working groups addressing particular issues, including data, urban water management, abstraction, biodiversity, fisheries and agriculture. Catchment Partnerships are at different stages of develop- ment. Most have a formal steering group, a catchment action plan and/or business plan, and some have very ac- tive sub-partnerships or local delivery groups, working at smaller spatial scales across both rural and urban areas, where visioning and delivery can be more focused. The collaborative nature of the ap- proach means that each Catch- ment Partnership is unique, and the challenges faced by each vary, as are their ways of approaching them. Sharing knowledge and expertise be- tween partners helps partner- ships to build strong relation- ships, reach consensus, and identify innovative long-term and sustainable solutions that meet multiple objectives. As a result, partners achieve 'more for less' while benefitting both people and the environment. Delivery The CaBA Monitoring and Evaluation reports summarise CaBA's main impacts and achievements at national level. Catchment Partnerships now deliver a wide range of multiple benefit projects. In addition to the habitat restora- tion, biodiversity and rural dif- fuse pollution focus of many partnerships, areas of focus include urban water quality, natural flood management, natural capital and ecosys- tem services and low flows. Over 60 partnerships are engaged with their local water company, and some work closely with water companies on innovative catchment solu- local engagement, CaBA has attracted significant interest from deliverers and researchers in other European member states interested in approaches to better imple- ment the WFD. Projects such as WaterCoG have helped to promote CaBA internationally, and directly influenced water management in countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Finland. The future The water environment (streams and rivers, lakes, wet- lands, beaches and coastline) and its contributing catch- ments provide many of the natural capital and ecosystem services on which we rely. The Government's 25 Year Environ- ment Plan puts natural capital at the heart of environmental protection, sees catchment approaches as a key delivery mechanism to achieve a range of goals, and recognises the role of Catchment Partner- ships in supporting strong local leadership and delivery. The Catchment Management Declaration and Blueprint for PR19 – Shared Principles for Collaboration also demon- strate strong national cross- sector support for CaBA. Water and sewerage com- panies have emerging chal- lenges in relation to removal of chemicals and nutrients from raw water and from discharg- es, and in developing Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans that will consider a broad range of catchment interventions. These areas should benefit from Catchment Partnership expertise, and through significant catchment investment in planning and delivery, these areas represent real opportunities for CaBA. The big challenges for CaBA are to ensure it has capac- ity to address active catch- ment issues, to link in with new and existing catchment programmes, and to continue to draw in a broad range of partners to support the ap- proach – including business and industry. This will keep it energised and sustainable. The partnership approach is not always easy. Partnership work- ing takes a lot of 'will' from individuals, requires commit- ment and support from part- ner organisations, and needs strong but flexible leadership from a key partner or partners to be successful. Limited fund- ing adds to the challenge. The direction of travel for CaBA, however, is positive and excit- ing, engaging an ever growing range of stakeholders, and undertaking an increasingly important role in integrated catchment management. For more information, visit https://www.catchmentbase- dapproach.org tions to water and wastewater management issues. Partner- ships also work with local authorities and developers to address integrated flood risk, promote the use of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and other green-blue infrastructure and manage the urban water environment. Community engagement underpins CaBA nationwide, with over 14,000 volunteers and citizen scien- tists now actively involved. In his opinion piece in WWT in September 2018, Dr Phil Aldous asked: "Do we really have the will to apply catchment management in urban areas?" The response of the CaBA NSG is: "Of course, we're already doing it." Influence Partners' work under CaBA has transformed the level of ambition to engage with com- munities and all interested parties to deliver improve- ments to the water environ- ment that maximise benefits for people and wildlife. These benefits increasingly provide social and economic as well as environmental benefits, with CaBA activity contributing to resilience to climate change, more resource efficient and sustainable businesses, and improving the health and well- being of local communities. As a trail-blazing country- scale project to empower www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | JANUARY 2019 | 25