The Challenges of Bringing Together Catchment Partnerships with Flood

Action Groups

Amy Heys – Catchment Director, Environment Agency

Vikki Salas – Assistant Director, West Cumbria Rivers Trust

Background

• Where we were before Storm Desmond (December 2015)

• What has changed since then?

• Setting up of Catchment Management Groups

Key Challenges

• Inclusion of community and flood action groups

• Bringing Catchment Partnerships and Catchment Management Groups together

• Funding

Conclusions

Where we were?

CaBA Catchment Partnership (WCRT host)-Mainly water quality and biodiversity based

-Mainly organisations

Cumbria Strategic Partnership (flood partnership)-West Cumbria Rivers Trust included

-Struggling to get information to share with Catchment Partners

What has changed?

What has changed?

What has changed?

Projects that will result in flood risk

reductions to communities at risk

Information sharing

Community representativesSharing of work programmes /

schedules

Catchment Management Groups (CMGs)

“To enable action to be taken across the river catchments in Cumbria that will reduce flood risk to communities and achieve wider environmental benefits.

This will be achieved through collaboration between the existing catchment partnerships (run through the Catchment Based Approach) and the Risk Management Authorities (defined under the Water Management Act) identifying and utilising multiple funding streams”

CMG Benefits• Buy-in :

- Lead Local Flood Authority (Cumbria Country Council)- Environment Agency flood risk staff as well as catchment staff- Farming reps: NFU, Farmer Network, Foundation for Common Land, CLA- Community representative for catchment (flood action groups)

• CMG Working Groups for delivery:- Led by range of members e.g. A66 flood scheme Working Group led by Highways England- Local community representatives / local flood action group on Working Group

• Different funding mechanisms- E.g. Wind farm community funding to deliver NFM upstream of Dovenby

• Sharing of knowledge and expertise

Key Challenges Inclusion of Community and Flood Action Groups

• Proactive passionate individuals and groups

• Well developed structures within communities

• Local knowledge

• Local and wider influence

• Emotionally charged relationships

• Lack of trust and lack of communication

• Fear of voice being lost in a bigger partnership

• This is one subset of the community

Key Challenges

Bringing Together Catchment Partnerships and Catchment Management Groups

CMG:

Catchment-based approach

(to flooding) + multi benefits

Catchment Partnership:

Good working relationships delivering multi-benefit solutions

Community reps from Flood Action Groups “people vs fish”

Other community representatives?

True scope and ambition of CaBA only being realised with Risk Management Authority buy-in

Flood priorities lever in more funding opportunities

Key Challenges

Funding

• Resource intensive

• Funding from Regional Flood Coastal Committee (RFCC) for CMGs until July 2018

• July onwards???

True scope and ambition of CaBA in West Cumbria only being now being fully realised with 2 x FTE staff

Conclusions

That major floods bring misery and an opportunity to change

No one organisation has the answer to flood risk reduction so inclusive partnerships are essential

Inclusive partnerships need tactical and operational structures to create change on the ground

Need to integrate flood and water quality “total catchment management”

Whilst differing funding mechanisms are in place this is difficult – flood defence grant-in aid, WFD grant-in-aid

Needs properly funded