It is inevitable that there will be a wide range of people, bodies and authorities with an interest in the local management of water resources. Some of these will be public authorities with functions in particular areas. Others will be in the private sector and will have interests in a variety of places. In current circumstances, it is likely that yet others will be private sector undertakings brought in to provide all or part of the tasks of providing a public supply of water and of collecting and treating waste water. A systematic framework is needed to integrate all these interests. In the absence of such a framework, there is a serious risk that consideration will overlook some aspects, or that some interests will be marginalised.

Organisational background

2. In England and Wales, the Water Act 1989 established the National Rivers Authority (NRA) as the guardian of the water environment. This was part of the process of privatisation of the water industry, but in this context the important feature of the establishment of the NRA was that a thorough-going separation was made between the operation of water supply and sewerage (which rested with private sector companies) and the regulation of these activities (which was for the NRA).

3. The NRA was a public body under the management of an independent board consisting of persons appointed by Ministers for the personal qualities each could bring. The NRA had responsibility for regulating

a. Water resources

b. Water quality in coastal and inland waters,

c. Flood defences,

d. Salmon and freshwater fisheries,

e. Water recreation and

f. In some areas, navigation.

In addition, it had duties to conserve, redistribute and augment water resources and to further conservation of the natural environment, seeking opportunities for enhancement wherever possible.

4. The NRA is referred to in the past tense because it became part of the new Environment Agency on 1 April 1996, following the passage of the Environment Act 1995. The role of the NRA as guardian of the water environment had been so successful that it was decided to extend it to all aspects of the environment. The Environment Agency has the same responsibilities in respect of water management and conservation of the environment as the former NRA, but combines these with responsibilities in respect of the environmental concerns relating to air and land.

Catchment Management Planning

5. The NRA developed the concept of Catchment Management Planning as a means of providing a framework for integrating all aspects of the management of water in the many different circumstances found in each of the 164 river catchments in England and Wales. ("Catchment" is used in England and Wales for the area drained by a single main river; "watershed" is a synonym). Catchment Management Planning treats each main river, together with its tributaries and the underground water connected with it and the land which it drains, as a unit. Based on an extensive process of consultation with all interests, in both the public and private sectors, the process aims to develop a common vision for each catchment, which all those interests can use as the basis for their own activities. It identifies objectives for water quality, water quantity and physical features in the catchment, and goes on to identify the actions needed by (now) the Environment Agency, other authorities and private-sector bodies to achieve those objectives.

6. The Environment Agency intends to develop Catchment Management Planning to reflect its new, wider responsibilities in respect to land and air. The resulting plans will be renamed as "Local Environment Agency Plans" (LEAP) to reflect this broader remit. But, under whichever name, these plans will continue to be used in each catchment to:

a. Assess catchment resources, uses and activities;

b. Consult other authorities and the public on issues to be tackled within the plans;

c. Establish a long-term vision for the catchment;

d. Balance conflicting uses;

e. Identify actions needed by the EA and others;

f. Ensure that there are clear environmental objectives for those actions, and that progress towards meeting them is monitored;

g. Provide effective planning to prevent future environmental damage, and

h. Provide lasting solutions to existing environmental problems.

7. The catchment plans have no legally binding force. However, in the United Kingdom public authorities have a legal duty to take into account all relevant factors (sometimes called "all material considerations") in reaching their decisions. The catchment plans bring together in a systematic way the factors relating to the management of the water environment in the catchment, and are therefore bound to be important for all the authorities whose decisions might affect that environment. In drawing up such catchment plans, the Environment agency includes in its final statement of the plan its assessment of the reasonable requirements of all the parties concerned, having due regard to the relative importance of the issues and uses involved. Inevitably, difficult decisions will sometimes have to be made, but what is important is that each catchment plan should

a. Represent the greatest possible consensus of all the bodies in both the public and private sectors with interests within a catchment about the issues referred to above, and

b. Provide a strategy for realising the environmental potential of a catchment within the prevailing economic and political constraints.

The catchment planning process

8. A catchment is defined as a discrete geographical unit with boundaries derived primarily from the way in which the flows of surface water divide. It may comprise several sub-catchments, for which separate hydrometric data is collected. The catchment resources, uses and activities to be considered within the catchment planning process comprise:

a. The water resources, both in the form of surface water and groundwater, that are available within the catchment, or that can be developed (for example, by constructing reservoirs);

b. Direct uses of the water environment; these include not only abstractions (for public water supply, industry and agriculture), but also in-stream uses (such as navigation, angling and fish-farming) and hydropower;

c. Activities which impact upon the water environment; these include not only those which result in discharges of waste water, but also those which will affect the quantity and quality of run-off and groundwater infiltration; agricultural practices and the development of new built-up areas will be particularly relevant.

9. The first step in catchment planning is to set up a working group which brings together the main functions that are involved. This working group is charged with the task of identifying all current and likely future resources, uses and activities affecting water and the water environment with the catchment. In England and Wales this working group is normally set up within the Environment Agency, but other arrangements are possible. The important feature is that it should bring together a wide range of the skills needed to consider the many questions that will arise. Informal liaison with other public authorities and organisations and groups representing private-sector interests (industrial, commercial, agricultural, environmental) is essential in order to promote comprehensive coverage. The following catchment uses, resources and activities are likely to need consideration, although the precise mix and depth will vary with each catchment, and this list is not put in any order of priority:

a. The natural flora and fauna m. Boating

of rivers and streams and the

ecosystems of which they form n. Other water sports and

part; recreation;

b. The appearance of the o. River-bank recreation

landscape, including historic and (including walking);

cultural landmarks and

archaeological remains; p. Sewage effluent disposal;

c. Abstraction for public water q. Disposal of sewage sludge

supply; on land;

d. Bulk transfers of water to r. Industrial effluent disposal,

other catchments;

s. Extraction of sand and

e. Storage of water for public gravel from river-bed;

water supply;

t. Waste disposal in land-fill

f. Abstraction for irrigation sites;

and other agricultural purposes

u. Land-use planning and urban

g. Abstraction for industrial development;

purposes;

v. Road, rail and airport

h. Abstraction of cooling development (including bridges);

water, particularly for power

generation; w. Agricultural practices;

i. Hydropower; x. Forestry;

j. Aquaculture and commercial y. Flood defences and flood

fisheries; water storage;

k. Angling; z. General planning for

emergencies;

l. Commercial navigation and

transport;

10. The multifarious activities will be the responsibility of a wide range of bodies. In the public sector, these include Government departments, independent national public bodies, municipalities and other local authorities, specialised local public agencies (such as navigation authorities for particular rivers) and nationalised industries. In the private sector, there will be an equal range from large international companies to individual farmers. Non-governmental organisations, such as nature protection societies, anglers' associations and farmers' unions and co-operatives, will usually be the most effective routes through which to approach this wide range of interests. Where (as in England and Wales) the provision of public utilities has been privatised, the holders of such concessions (and their collective associations) will be particularly important.

11. Where relevant, the catchment planning working group identifies the environmental objectives required to enable each catchment use to proceed satisfactorily. These objectives may be defined in terms of water quality, water quantity or physical features, or any combination of these. With "physical features" would be included:

a. Flood protection schemes; h. Weed clearance;

b. Bridges; i. Spawning beds;

c. Weirs and sluices; j. Reed beds;

d. Bank protection; k. Pools and riffles;

e. Water currents; l. Areas to be conserved for

f. Channel morphology historic or cultural reasons;

g. River-bed and substrate m. Riverside paths;

composition; n. Archaeological sites.

Informal consultation by the appropriate member of the working group with the different interest groups on the formulation of these objectives is a crucial step in keeping the development of the plan in line with the consensus that can be achieved.

12. The working group then considers the current status of the catchment and compares that with the desired objectives. Public concerns related to the water environment are reviewed and long-term changes and possible future impacts considered. From this, a range of management options to address the identified issues can be described and then considered in terms of their relative advantages and disadvantages and of the broad implications of their adoption.

13. The next step is the production of a consultation document. This will of necessity be a provisional document, concentrating on issues and options for their solution for consideration by a wide range of catchment users and interests. The aim of this consultation is to obtain agreement on the catchment uses, consensus on the environmental objectives required, and detailed comment on the issues and options. In addition to the main consultation report, a summary leaflet is usually prepared, targeted at the wider general public, so as to increase awareness amongst catchment users of the planning process.

14. The consultation process is very important. It will usually take place simultaneously on at least two levels. On the one hand, the senior staff of the Environment Agency in the catchment will need to ensure that the more formal consultation process takes place, giving all the organisations (particularly the public authorities involved) an opportunity to express their formal opinion on the questions at issue. On the other hand, underpinning this more formal process, it is important for the various members of the working party to ensure that technical queries and objections are resolved as far as possible.

15. Following analysis by the working group of the consultation responses, further discussions are then held with other public authorities and interest groups before a statement of the plan is finalised. This statement will need to be endorsed at the most senior levels in the Environment Agency. The legislation provides for regional consultative committees involving the local authorities in each group of catchments, and their opinion will need to be obtained. Further negotiations at a senior level will usually be needed to try to reach agreement on outstanding problems. Eventually, the environment Agency will produce a final statement of the plan. This statement will reflect the views expressed in the consultation process and will outline areas of work and investment proposed by the Environment Agency and others to address the issues identified and to safeguard or improve selectively features of the catchment. The statement of the plan will identify (usually over a five year period, although possibly in less detail for years 3 et 5) the projects that are intended to be implemented if resources can be made available. The plan will provide an effective basis for arguing for the provision of resources for these projects, since it will show how the work to be financed fits into a coherent programme for achieving the overall aim of sustainable use of the water environment. Progress against the plan will normally be monitored and reviewed on an annual basis, with a major revision every five years.

Status of the catchment plan and its implementation

16. In the final analysis, the plan statement is a statement of the intentions of the Environment Agency in exercising its various powers. Where it has not been possible to resolve any dispute in the course of preparing the plan, then the plan indicated the basis on which the Environment Agency will proceed. Any consequential disputes will be settled as part of the formal statutory machinery for reaching decisions on the use of the Environment Agency's powers, including appeals to the Secretary of State and the courts.

17. As has been said, these plans do not have legally binding force and the Environment Agency has little direct control over the land-use planning process which is the responsibility of local authorities. However, the plans serve as valuable sources of reference for the planning authorities, to identify the relevant factors that those authorities must take into account. The plans are supplemented by guidance notes (originally prepared by the NRA, and currently being revised by the Environment Agency) on methods of protecting the water environment through development plans. Together they provide an effective means of aligning the planning of land-use and development with water management.

18. Other components of plans may relate to the taking of specific legal regulatory actions. For example, water abstraction controls are provided through the legal requirement for all abstractions above a de minimis limit, whether from surface water or groundwater, to be licensed. Control over effluent quality is provided through a system of discharge consents, incorporating where necessary the provisions of the EC " Dangerous Substances"  Directive and other similar requirements. Operation of both these systems is the responsibility of the Environment Agency, subject to rights of appeal against their decisions to the Secretary of State. The plan may identify modifications which need to be made in the abstraction licences or discharge consents to enable the objectives of the plan to be achieved. The Environment Agency may set about achieving such modifications either by negotiating a voluntary agreement, or by invoking various legal powers which they have to require such modifications (in some cases, including the payment of compensation for any damage suffered by those affected).

19. Still other components of plans may be based on statutory provisions relating to activities which have a bearing on water quality (such as controls over pesticide use) where other regulatory agencies may be invited to use their powers (subject to the normal appeals procedures) to achieve a change in the situation in the catchment.

20. The statutory duty on water companies to promote the efficient use of water by their customers has a direct bearing, as part of the general approach to demand management, on any call for reduction of abstraction in order to safeguard a catchment. Indeed, abstraction of water for public supply is, in most catchments, a significant issue to be addressed in the catchment planning process. Water companies are expected to work closely with the Environment Agency in that regard. The Government has recently completed a review of water resources and supply arrangements in the longer term and the resulting paper, " Water Resources and Supply: Agenda for Action " sets out in some detail the framework within which water companies, their regulators the Environment Agency (the environmental regulator), the Director General of Water Services (the economic regulator) and the Drinking Water Inspectorate (the regulator of the quality of the public water supplies) and their customers can work together to ensure that water supplies are provided sustainably. The paper lays much emphasis on consideration and consultation at local level and on increasing public awareness of the water management issues associated with water supplies. It sets out 32 actions, distributed amongst the various groups.

21. Finally, non-statutory guidance also has a part to play. A cooperative approach in respect of effluent quality between industry and the Environment Agency is encouraged and promoted through the Government's Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme (ETBPP), which seeks to identify opportunities in various industrial and commercial sectors for waste minimisation at source (rather than "end of pipe ") and generally better environmental practice as a means of pollution abatement. This also bears fruit for the companies involved in terms of cost savings. This approach has also resulted in savings in water use and further extension in this direction is presently being designed.

Conclusion

22. In summary, catchment managing provides an effective means of integrating the various bodies concerned - public and private - into local management of water, drawing not only on legislative mechanisms but also upon well-targeted guidance and co-operative encouragement as the means of achieving agreed objectives. It may well offer a model to inspire parallel approaches in the local management of water in the Mediterranean, since it offers a method of achieving both a holistic approach and the involvement of all those with an interest in the local water environment - two goals emphasised by Agenda 21 and the Dublin Declaration.