A round-up of the topics and issues discussed during the day, and an analysis of the challenges, and potential successes, that lie ahead.

1. CaBA Launch Event: Summing Up
A transcript of the words of
Kathy Hughes
WWF
Catchment
Based Approach
Partnerships f or Action

2. Thanks to all the speakers today and thank you all for coming. I’m going to spend the
next 10 minutes summarising what I’ve heard throughout the day and discussing the
next steps that we need to take.
SO WHAT HAVE WE HEARD TODAY?
We’ve heard from Richard Cole in the first presentation that only 26% of rivers in
England and Wales are considered to be in good health. And as you are all aware, by
2015, ALL water bodies should be in good ecological health, but the current
Government aspiration is that only 31% will reach good health by 2015.
We have also heard today that the water sector and agriculture are the cause of the
two biggest reasons for our water bodies being in poor health.
The water sector have responded and I was pleased to hear from Anglian Water today
about the drivers which make them and other water companies keen to engage on the
Catchment Based Approach (CaBA). Right now we are waiting for water company
Business Plans to get sign-off by Ofwat, but with customer bills a current hot topic in
parliament, there is a real risk that PR14 will not be allowed to deliver for our
catchments. The CaBA should support water companies by helping them be
ambitious in their business plans, and by supporting water companies when they are
ambitious.
Catchment
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3. With regards to agriculture, I think we can all agree that the frustrating problem of
diffuse pollution experienced in the Wye and Usk Foundation catchment is
unfortunately not unique. And while there are great initiatives such as Catchment
Sensitive Farming (CSF), water company catchment management initiatives and the
work done by your catchment groups (we have heard about the Tamar and Welland
today for example), right now the reality is that diffuse agricultural pollution remains a
significant problem and there is little clarity about when the ‘polluter pays’ and when
‘the polluter gets paid’ and thus the problem is persisting.
But as mentioned today, there is a role for CaBA here also. For example as
catchment managers you can identify and report diffuse pollution issues to the
Environment Agency. I would add that you should also follow those reports up to find
out the action it resulted in. In addition, alongside CSF, the CaBA may be the best
mechanism for working with farmers to implement, support and fund voluntary action.
But the bottom line is that when voluntary action doesn’t work, there must be a clear
understanding about when and how statutory action will be enforced, and I urge
Defra and the Environment Agency to take that message back to the Environment
Minister and Secretary of State.
Catchment
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4. SO GETTING BACK TO WHY WE ARE HERE TODAY
We believe that local partnership working and advocacy could unlock more ambitious
outcomes for our rivers. This is because local partners know their rivers, the problems
faced by their rivers and the potential solutions to overcome these problems, and local
partners can do this with a level of granularity that isn’t available to the river basin
level.
So for many years we NGOs have been working together and with Defra and the
Environment Agency, to advocate and facilitate for a framework for local partnership
working. And so today is really exciting for us because we have a framework – the
CaBA.
As Richard Cresswell said, integrated catchment management has been attempted
before, however the CaBA is different because it places communities and local
partnership working at the heart of the catchment, and because of this it is really
innovative in its ambition. This is why the CaBA is receiving global attention and many
people are watching our progress to see if we will be successful.
But while we have a framework in place, we still have a big hill to climb to ensure that
the CaBA is successful, and the national CaBA Steering Group are working hard to
ensure that you are supported. There are a number of barriers that still need to be
overcome, we want, for example:
Catchment
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5. • Clarity on the terms of our partnership working. Specifically, we want to understand
the criteria for partnership decision making at a local and national level – how can
we ensure our voices are heard?
• We also want clear success factors which will show if the Agency and Defra have
been successful in supporting the CaBA. And let’s be clear what I mean here – this
is not prescription at a local level, but it is making sure that the frameworks are in
place so that your voice is heard.
• To understand Defra’s ambition for the CaBA to be self-sustaining after 18 months.
• To understand how partnerships will be funded after March 2014.
• A framework for feeding catchment plan ambition into RBMPs.
• We’ve heard today that your evidence can feed into decisions the Environment
Agency make about catchments, but we as yet do not have a framework for this or
any examples of it working in practice.
• Guidelines for overcoming barriers such as the inability to gain Land Drainage
Consent for CaBA delivery (which was raised today).
We are working hard to address these issues and others to support you. But we are
not just here to support you, we are also here to represent you, and so I invite you to
come forward and share the challenges, opportunities and successes you have
experienced so we can help facilitate national responses.
Catchment
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6. SO WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?
We’ve heard a lot about River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) today and that is
because they really are the way to secure improvements for your catchments. In fact
the first real test of the CaBA is whether local catchment partnership groups are able
to influence RBMPs by including your catchment ambitions. If we can win the first
test, then the CaBA could go on to true integrated catchment management.
It was great to hear Paul Bryson and Richard Cresswell from the Environment Agency
today stating that they want to work with catchment groups to develop shared
objectives, agree on priorities, targets and action. And as Richard said, your voice
counts and is important to the Environment Agency. If we could repeat the win of the
local group Richard mentioned that advocated for change following on from failing
Bathing Water objectives, just think what that could mean for our rivers!
Paul stated that the way we should engage with the Agency on RBMPs is through the
Agency Catchment Co-ordinators so I urge you to get in touch with them (if you
haven’t already). The CaBA Steering Group will be working with the Agency to
develop a clear framework that links local catchment groups to the RBMPs and a clear
framework for decision making.
Catchment
Based Approach
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7. One thing that was raised today is the 10% cuts that will be experienced by the
Environment Agency over the next year. And let’s not forget that this is on top of cuts
they suffered only a few years ago in 2011. For the CaBA to be successful we need a
strong and experienced Environment Agency and so this isn’t good news - so we
should ensure that we have a united front on this.
SO FINALLY
The take home message today is that CaBA is an exciting opportunity to enable you to
make important decisions for your rivers – and that your voice is important and valued.
The CaBA is a long term approach, but the first test of the CaBA framework is almost
upon us – the RBMPs. I urge you to get involved in RBMPs and start to engage with
Agency Catchment Co-ordinators to ensure that the 2015 RBMPs contain your
ambition for your catchments.
And shout loudly because by being the voice for our rivers, we add weight to all the
considerations that the Environment Minister must think about when making decisions
about what will and won’t get done out of all the action that is included in the RBMPs.
So I urge you to embrace this opportunity and get your voice heard because if we
shout loud enough and make this work, then we give the Government the mandate to
continue to support us, so this means that the health of our rivers really could be in our
hands.
Catchment
Based Approach
Partnerships f or Action