Informing second cycle River Basin Management Plans

Richard Handley

Head Office Catchment Management

22 November 2013 (Fountains Abbey) Catchment Based Approach Conference

UNCLASSIFIED 1

Why feed into River Basin Management Planning? !   Create a statutory framework (particularly water body

objectives) to direct local opportunities for improvement

!   Inform a strategic approach to water management across catchments (- better outcomes and benefits)

!   Engage with stakeholders who are less well represented at catchment level

!   We need Catchment Groups to feed into RBMP and vice versa – You (hosts and coordinators) are pivotal to this.

What information would be helpful (1) !   Evidence on:

!  Risks and Impacts

!  Reasons For Failure

!  Effectiveness of measures/mechanisms (e.g. voluntary advice versus regulatory campaigns)

!  Costs and Benefits of measures and mechanisms

What information would be helpful (2) !   Views on:

!  Objectives, relative priorities and outcomes (levels of ambition)

!  Opportunities for future major re-development to co-deliver benefit

!  Alternative funding opportunities (e.g. LEPs, EU funds)

!   Gather any new actions into the RBMPs

Broadland Partnership (Anglian) Courtesy of Rory Sanderson

How the information can be provided !   Providing evidence on:

!  Classification – specific data requirements

!  Reasons For Failure & Risk Assessment – more flexible

!  Measure Cost-Effectiveness & Benefits – more flexible

!   Engage with local Agency Catchment Coordinators to agree with partners what the information means

!   As a minimum feed in views through the statutory 6 month consultations (the earlier the better)

!   Over time we plan to develop ‘data standards and protocols’

When do we need this information?

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

1st cycle plan implementation

Incremental implementation of a Catchment Based Approach

2nd cycle Planning

2nd cycle plan implementation

Challenges & Choices

Draft Plan

Final Plan

Proposed Approach to Draft RBMPs !   Centrally compiled RBD plans

!   Strategic overview and direction !   Statutory requirements !   Based on local data (including catchment summaries) !   Shaping with Liaison Panels continues

!   Catchment Summaries !  Regionally produced around core information template !  Discuss and shape locally – role for partnership groups !  Complement partner’s Catchment Plans !  Catchment Plans will be measures in the RBMP

!   Web-based ‘Linked-data’ Catchment data explorer !   Aiming first release for draft plan publication

UNCLASSIFIED 8

Catchment summaries

UNCLASSIFIED 9

River Basin District Management plan

Catchment Summaries

Other statutory

plans (e.g. Flood)

Catchment data explorer (if available)

Overview of Proposed approach

Partnership Activities &

Plans

Water body data

Catchment Planning System

Next Steps !   We are finalising the approach to draft RBMPs (February

2014)

!   The National Practitioner Group are setting up:

!  Training events from February 2014 (in development)

!  Data sharing systems (in development) linked to Environment Agency data management work -Catchment Explorer

!   We encourage you to engage locally with catchment coordinators to determine how you can feed into RBMPs

Summary points !   We need Catchment Groups to feed into

RBMP (and vice versa)

!   You (hosts and catchment coordinators) have a pivotal role in this

!   The ability of Partnership Groups to feed in will vary

!   As a minimum help shape the catchment summaries and engage in RBMP consultations e.g. Challenges & Choices and draft RBMPs

!   Catchment Based Approach is not just about producing RBMPs but all aspects of managing water (i.e. developing consensus and delivering action) - a long term ‘adaptive’ process and should not be constrained by plan production

!   Thank You