The water companies have been flagged up in new policy guidance published today by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as potential financial contributors to Catchment Management initiatives  aimed at improving water quality. 

Catchment Based Approach: Improving the quality of our water environment is a policy framework developed by Defra to encourage the wider adoption of an integrated Catchment Based Approach to improving the quality of the water environment.

Following on from an initial pilot phase, the policy framework will establish catchment partnerships to work collaboratively with local stakeholders across all of England’s 83 catchments. The aim is to deliver improved water quality and more ambitious River Basin Management Plans that contribute to meeting UK targets under the European Framework Directive.

A number of pilot catchment initiatives were undertaken to develop thinking and to identify the elements of good practice needed to support wider adoption of the approach. The aim of the pilots was to test the longer term viability of the approach through developing a clear understanding of the issues in the catchment, involvement of local communities in decision-making by sharing evidence and to work out priorities for action. The pilot and evaluation phase concluded in March 2013.

In Defra’s view better coordinated action is desirable at the catchment level by all those who use water or influence land management – which requires greater engagement and delivery by stakeholders at the catchment as well as local level, supported by the Environment Agency and other organisations. Defra said this is particularly important when trying to address the significant pressures placed on the water environment by diffuse pollution from both agricultural and urban sources, and widespread, historical alterations to the natural form of channels.

Defra said that over time, the expectation is that the approach will mature as a mechanism for ensuring that there is strong local support, consensus, effective coordination and efficient channelling of existing and new funding and other resources to deliver local aspirations for the water environment.

The framework sets out general information about the Catchment Based Approach and is intended as an initial framework to facilitate different ways of working towards a better water environment.

In terms of boundaries and scale, for England, Defra envisages approximately 80 catchments based upon boundaries that the Environment Agency already uses to delineate the water environment to manage availability of water for abstraction.

Defra has already separately created a Catchment Restoration Fund (CRF)  which the Environment Agency is administering to support third sector groups to bring forward projects that will at a catchment level:

• restore natural features in and around watercourses
• reduce the impact of man-made structures on wildlife in watercourses
• reduce the impact of diffuse pollution that arises from rural and urban land use

By the end of May 2012, Defra had received 131 applications for over £54 million of work during two rounds of bidding this year. To date, 42 projects have been approved with a combined value of £24.5 million. Approval was given to those projects which are of a high priority within their catchment as assessed by liaison panels, and where the technical experts in the Environment Agency, Natural England and the River Restoration Centre had high confidence in delivery. Many of the successful bids embraced partnership funding, collaborative working, and in some cases also supported innovation.

As a result of the projects, Defra said that over three hundred water bodies will receive habitat improvement, improved access for fish or reductions in diffuse pollution, making significant steps towards more waters at good status as well as providing wider benefits to society and the environment.

Although Defra said if the fund was a success it would bid for further funding to continue it within the next spending review, it was not in a position to run a third round of the fund in March 2013. This was attributed to the need to accommodate some increased financial pressures from some projects and from delays caused by bad weather, leaving less flexibility left in the fund than previously thought.

Defra said it was aware that many organisations had been looking to a third round and  that many projects which did not receive funding in rounds one and two, were anticipating a third round.

The Environment Agency is now actively pursuing and advising on alternative sources of funding for strong project proposals and is working with other potential funders to see how CRF bids could gain support. The Agency has written to water companies to encourage them to look at opportunities to tackle challenges in their business areas using CRF projects which the Agency said could in the long term mean lower water bills for customers.