Catchment Management PlanV4.0 May 2019

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Our water environment is important to our quality of life. We need to protect and enhance rivers and groundwater as systems which

means thinking about them source to estuary, and all the places in between. In other words, we need to think at a catchments scale.

There are lots of great things about our catchment which we want to keep. That takes management, conservation and planning for

extreme weather events including flooding and drought. And there are some things we want to make better. That takes change. That’s

what a CaBA Plan is all about.

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Introduction

The Severn Vale area includes many of the small rivers and brooks that drain into the lower River Severn or directly into the Severn estuary. The landscape is diverse with mixed urban, agricultural and forested areas. The main urban areas include Gloucester, Cheltenham, Ledbury and Stroud. It is a unique landscape with many fantastic qualities: from the spa town of Cheltenham and the Cotswold escarpment in the east to the extensive woodlands of the Forest of Dean in the west. Perhaps notably, the area is probably the most important river system in the UK for the European eel and it is home to the famous Severn Bore.

The Severn Vale encompasses the catchment of the river Severn from its confluence with the river Teme, just south of Worcester, to just below its tidal limit at Gloucester. The river Severn is a prominent feature in the areas history and is a focal point for many recreational activities. It is an historic navigation and provides water supplies for over 1.5 million people.

There are many rare and threatened water dependant species found in the Severn Vale. Fauna include water voles, and otters have recolonised the catchment. Other species include the white clawed crayfish, twaite and allis shad, great crested newt, marsh fritillary, aquatic warbler, bittern, reed bunting, common scoter, and several wading birds and bats. Flora include the robin leaved water plantain, true fox sedge, tassel stonewort, and black poplar.

The Severn Vale has several sites of international importance for wildlife conservation. Both Walmore Common and a part of the Severn Estuary are designated Ramsar sites, due to the internationally important numbers of wildfowl that use them. These sites are also designated as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) under the EU Birds Directive and EU Habitats Directive. Furthermore, a larger part of the Severn Estuary is also designated as Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The Severn Vale has 120 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI’s) and of these 43 are water dependant biological sites, 46 are of other biological interest and 31 are of geological interest. There is one National Nature Reserve (Cotswold Common and Beechwoods) and eleven Local Nature Reserves within the

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catchment. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust has a network of 60 nature reserves and 850 key wildlife sites across the county.

Catchment Vision

The Severn Vale Catchment Partnership seeks to enhance and maintain the water environment within the catchment to the highest possible standard for the benefit of wildlife and local communities.

By working collaboratively and identifying priority sites within the catchment, the partnership aims to:

Create and maintain a project list for the catchment to allow greater sharing of knowledge and evidence.

Identify and remedy issues with water quality through farm advice for diffuse pollution cases.

Use innovative Natural Flood Management techniques throughout the catchment and take a holistic approach to addressing flood risk in key areas.

Actively seek opportunities for wildlife and biodiversity gains and implement changes to benefit habitats and species.

Work with communities in the area to increase awareness and enjoyment of the water environment. Encourage participation in the monitoring and maintaining of a healthy river catchment.

Building on projects included in the partnership’s Reporting & Evaluation Form, and using project ideas put into the Severn CaBA Partnerships Explorer online map, the partnership will select and prioritise projects that are deliverable within the remit of the Catchment Based Approach. The Catchment Partnership aims to maintain and regularly update this Catchment Plan as a ‘living document’ that will summarise catchment status, key catchment issues, partnership vision, planning, projects and activities.

Data and Evidence

This catchment plan is based on a weight of evidence approach. An Environmental Services Evidence Review of the Severn Vale Catchment has been produced, promoted and disseminated via public workshops, and is available to the partnership and general public via the Severn Rivers Trust and CaBA websites.

The partnership has access to, and regularly utilises the CaBA Data and GIS package to establish and highlight priority areas. In addition the partnership uses data from the Environment Agency’s sharing platforms such as the Catchment Planning Portal and Catchment Data Explorer to get current WFD information.

As well as national data, local sources of evidence are used to focus delivery in the catchment where it will bring the greatest benefit. Resources include Natural England’s Countryside Stewardship

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Statements of Priorities and Catchment Sensitive Farming target areas, local authority’s spatial plans and flood risk assessments and Severn Trent Water’s asset management plan.

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Project Plan

As a catchment partnership we would like to develop projects that address reasons for not achieving good ecological status and that include elements of monitoring and engagement. We recognise the importance of including the local community and landowners to ensure the long term success and sustainability of projects. We would like to always include an aspect of monitoring to gather and document the success stories, and ensure we are effectively targeting limited resources to the places that can benefit the most from them.

We have developed three broad themes for current and future projects to sit within. These themes align with the Environment Agency’s ideas for future Water Environment Improvement Funding rounds. It is important for all partners to be aware of, and bid for, potential EA funds. However, this shouldn’t be viewed as the sole funding stream and all partners should actively seek alternative sources of funding for projects. Each theme has an assigned working group.

Description of theme

Project details

Project Themes

Greening the Grey Natural Catchments Protected Waters

Projects that occur in an urban environment and encourage better management of water resources. For example, yellow fish projects, engaging with businesses, de-culverting, de-paving and installing rain gardens.

Projects addressing rural diffuse pollution, encouraging natural processes and river restoration. For example, Natural Flood Management techniques, farm advice, barrier removal.

Projects focused on designated sites and priority species. For example, the Severn Estuary SAC, SSSI’s, European eel, curlew etc.

Love Your River Gloucester. This project is a partnership between the EA, Gloucester City Council, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Highways England and Severn Trent Water to deliver water quality, biodiversity and flood risk improvements through NFM, attenuating and treating motorway runoff and river restoration throughout the catchments. Funding is/will be from various sources, including ESIF, Highways England's Environment Designated Fund - EDF, WEIF and NFM funds.

Our Shared Forest. Our Shared Forest is the Forestry Commission's vision for the Forest of Dean for the next 20 years. For water, projects will aim to improve water quality and biodiversity, and create habitat and tackle flooding issues on key waterbodies

Severn Wetlands. The Severn Vale wetlands are part of a network of wetlands which are functionally linked to the Severn Estuary (a SAC and RAMSAR site), providing roosting and feeding grounds for wintering birds, and nesting opportunities for threatened species such as curlew. Many are also important for their plant and invertebrate communities. Some are SSSIs, currently in unfavourable condition. Monitoring is needed to establish how these areas are currently used, and floodplain meadow restoration through water

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level and land management needs to be implemented.

Gloucester Rivers Improvement Project. This project will complement the Love Your River Gloucester Sud/Twyver river restoration/NFM project, extending the principles of river restoration to deliver a city-wide, sustainable green infrastructure along all key river corridors in the urban area. This will be achieved by tackling failures through a series of approaches, supported by the strategic vision for water in Gloucester

Frome Barriers Removal and Water Quality Improvement project. There are a large number of barriers to fish migration on the River Frome and its tributaries. To tackle barriers to fish migration a number of weirs have been identified for potential removal or mitigation measures to allow bypass. Water quality is also Poor to Moderate in several tributaries and reaches of the Frome, due to agricultural and urban diffuse pollution, and there are also pockets of White-Clawed Crayfish in the catchment. Some areas have INNS problems, which will be tackled through community groups or Wildlife/Rivers Trusts.

Wild Towns ESIF project. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust's Wild Towns ESIF project will contribute toward delivery on the Cinderford Brook. Community engagement will be a significant part of projects wherever possible, including schools engagement and monitoring/surveying through community groups

Gloucester Tributaries Natural Flood Management Project. Funded through the Water Environment Grant, this is a two year project to complete a programme of farm visits and identify suitable NFM opportunities. A series of interventions will be installed under this project in the headwaters of four brooks and streams above Gloucester.River Frome Invasives project. Funded through the Water Environment Grant, this project will address invasive plants along the River Frome and Painswick stream. Pulling of Himalayan balsam and control of Giant Hogweed. Community engagement and education around invasive species is a crucial element.

Our flagship projects include:

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Unlocking the Severn

Partners – Severn Rivers Trust, Environment Agency, Canal & Rivers Trust and Natural England

If the World Heritage Site at Ironbridge was the heart of the Industrial Revolution, then the River Severn was the principal artery. However, as with all arteries they can get clogged. During the C19th navigation weirs were constructed to power the Revolution, but these choked the natural heritage of the UK’s longest river. This resulted in the loss of fisheries heritage including sturgeon and allis shad and caused significant declines in other species, notably twaite shad, eel, salmon and lamprey. Today the water quality problems caused by the Industrial Revolution is much improved, but the barriers remain.The Unlocking the Severn Project will address these historic blockages, reopening the entire River Severn and lower River Teme for all fish species. It will reconnect millions of people with their natural and cultural heritage through a little-known member of the herring family – the twaite shad – which was favoured in the court of Henry III and economically vital to the Severn Valley prior to the Industrial Revolution.

Foresters Forest

Partners – Forestry Commission, Natural England, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Butterfly Conservation, FoD district council, Uni of Glos plus many more.

2017 saw the end of the Development Phase of the Foresters’ Forest HLF project and the verdict that the project should receive full funding. With £2.5 million over 5 years to deliver 38 projects through 32 partners, the Forestry Commission led Foresters’ Forest programme will deliver a wide range of projects including heathland and mire restoration and pond creation; all on former forestry plantations. These projects will restore natural processes including water purification, flood alleviation, carbon sequestration, fish passage, creation of amenity land and provision of habitats for terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity.

Natural Flood Management – ‘Stroud Rural SUDS’ and ‘Sud and Twyver project’

Partners – Environment Agency, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Stroud District Council, Gloucestershire County Council, World Land Trust

The Stroud Rural SuDs project is an innovative Natural Flood Management project working to reduce flood risk and restore biodiversity throughout the catchment of the River Frome and all its tributaries, including the (Slad Brook, Painswick Stream, Nailsworth Stream, Ruscombe Brook and all their named and unnamed tributaries). The project is working with landowners to implement natural flood management techniques and restore natural drainage where it is safe and feasible to do so. The project also seeks to work with local community flood groups, land owners, farmers and partner organisations to implement a range of measures that will reduce flood risk but also improve water quality and enhance the biodiversity of the streams, brooks and the wider River Frome catchment.

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The Sud & Twyver received funding from the Environment Agency’s NFM community flooding scheme and will use NFM techniques throughout the catchment to protect a large number of house in the Upton St Leonards parish and provide improved riparian habitat for biodiversity.

River Leadon facilitation fund

Partners – Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Natural England and landowners.

A project working with farmers and landowners within the Leadon catchment to promote good water stewardship, provide training, events and opportunities for networking. Enable farmers to access soil sampling and specialist advice for managing healthy soils for water storage and increased crop yields. Signpost and advise on available funding streams for capital projects such as riparian fencing and alternative watering sources for livestock.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Catchment Management has to adapt and evolve as we improve our understanding and in response to evidence as it becomes available. We cannot predict with certainty what the impact of our changing environment and the delivery of projects in this plan will be, therefore it is important to monitor projects as they are implemented and adjust if necessary. We will use multiple approaches to monitoring and evaluation as applicable:

Citizen science programs to engage local communities; these will gather data to provide baseline information, monitoring and post-project appraisal. Sampling water quality, habitat condition and biota using current, standard methodologies will be core to this approach.

Walkover surveys by skilled volunteers and partnership staff to evaluate catchment/ sub-catchment condition; identify opportunities, issues and impacted areas. This will target future restoration efforts and interventions.

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Documenting enhancements with fixed-point photography to show differences before, during and after each project.

Digitise results and reports for incorporation into a shared project database and mapping, particularly for use amongst the CaBA Partnership.

Utilise the extensive open-access resources available for planning and comparing catchment activities and monitoring. Utilise GIS information, for example, Environment Agency hydrological, LiDAR and ecological data.

Use external specialist contractors where necessary for providing high quality data generation or project delivery to achieve the best outcomes.

Specify/identify appropriate time scales for monitoring and evaluation pre and post project work to ensure information generated is relevant and robust.

Keep up-to date with monitoring resources and current approaches through CaBA resources and communication with the wider industry; ensure CPD.

Regular communication amongst catchment partners to ensure monitoring is targeted and at a sufficient scale across the catchment area as to be effective.

Publish results of evaluation and project costs; a conduit for this is currently under development and much of this information has already been provided to CaBA through a reporting and evaluation exercise.

Annexes

Annex 1 – terms of reference

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