Demonstration Test Catchments building our capacity for catchment management

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1 Demonstration Test Catchments building our capacity for catchment management Bob Harris A joint project of Defra, WAG and the Environment Agency

2 The BIG Challenges

3 providing ecosystem services which are out of balance River catchments are complex systems

4 Demonstration Test Catchments Overall Initial Objective and Hypothesis DTC Programme will: assess the effectiveness of on farm mitigation measures for reducing diffuse pollution from agriculture to water produce evidence to test the hypothesis that it is possible through the implementation of multiple onfarm measures to: cost effectively reduce the impact of agricultural diffuse pollution to water on ecological function, while maintaining food security

5 The Challenges Water and river ecosystems have little identifiable value in our society; We have lost the connectivity of people to their (environmental) surroundings Tendency to work a top down system and find it difficult to capture local learning ; Some river basins do not lend themselves to large scale joined up planning geographically and institutionally; Science/research has not been closely involved in the (WFD) process 5

6 The Challenges WFD allows adaptive approaches and encourages synergies, but the RBPs so far have been developed with little built in. Focus has been on the process of preparing them we need to address diffuse pressures but all our processes and culture for past 40 years have been honed to address point sources We collect data from the wrong places Our approach is not holistic we tend to deal with one issue at a time, in isolation whatever s in the public eye

7 To balance and maximise ecosystem services we need to understand the complexities as well as we can/need to, work holistically, and integrate Integrated understanding Integration between scales Integrated approaches. Integrated working

8 Today?

9 Tomorrow?

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11 Integrated Catchment Management Community & stakeholders Science & knowledge Policy & regulation

12 Learning from Europe Be well informed Have a sound understanding of the functioning of the soil water system and its interaction with the socio economic system Manage Adaptively Learn to manage by managing to learn as a way of addressing uncertainties in the system Take a participatory approach Learn and manage together to develop win wins

13 DTC Three Objectives To test the hypothesis it is possible to cost effectively reduce the impact of agricultural diffuse water pollution on ecological function while maintaining food security through the implementation of multiple on farm measures. To develop a research platform to host collaborative research and thus test: More efficient and effective ways of undertaking research How interdisciplinary working can inform integrated policy. To explore a new model for catchment management centred around local knowledge and understanding.

14 Delivery of objectives by: Developing communities of practice with wider stakeholder groups Obtaining and using existing data, information and knowledge more effectively, better definition of the weight of evidence on agricultural diffuse pollution for policy and regulation Linking currently disparate research on interrelated impacts of agriculture on the environment

15 Overall project broken down into five work streams (components) 1. Design and implementation of monitoring approach for each catchment catchment conceptual model 2. On farm measures to mitigate diffuse pollution by monitoring outcomes at a range of scales 3. Knowledge exchange and knowledge transfer, 4. Development of infrastructure for data management and dissemination 5. Predictive Modelling and DSS 3 and 4 undertaken in close co operation with the NERC VO

16 Focusing effort on 3 catchments but linking closely to other catchment work and an additional Welsh catchment to be added in 2010/11

17 DTC some figures 3 (4) Catchments 9 sub catchments each 10 square Km in area 5 year programme 6 million budget >40 Institutions

18 Demonstration Test Catchments Testing measures to protect water Using new monitoring approaches Making data available Sharing knowledge Linking monitoring to modelling Building research platforms Building Communities of Practice Being adaptive, participatory, collaborative

19 Catchment Management Objective of DTC project working with family of other activities EA & NE activities Catchment Sensitive Farming etc Local schemes/other projects LA and Rivers Trusts etc Water company schemes and investigations NERC & RCUK Programmes VO Shared vision of Integrated Catchment Management DTC Defra Programmes Scottish and Irish Catchment projects

20 DTC as a Research Platform Researchers working collaboratively with themselves stakeholders and policy makers/regulators; Multi disciplinary approaches lead to interdisciplinary working; Local stakeholders bring local knowledge, policymakers bring challenges; State of the art monitoring producing data which will be made available to others; Data linked closely to models; an iterative process develops our knowledge and understanding Communities of practice develop and Knowledge exchange just happens!

21 Integrated Approaches Win wins Rely on knowledge, understanding and education Incentives Rely on a funding source If consumers and taxpayers pay they have to understand why the value of ecosystems and how people relate to them Regulation Minimal, but always some who won t conform; and it needs to be joined up e.g. water and land use

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23 A mix of approaches Win wins where you can Regulation where they won t Incentives where you can t

24 What DTC project can offer links to existing research consortia working with local stakeholder communities on real problems; close links with policy and regulatory communities at local and national levels; opportunities to explore new techniques and technologies with the ability to rapidly verify resultant data; early take up of successful techniques in support of scientific research that is policy relevant.

25 DTC Project Contacts General enquiries: Defra Project Manager: Dan McGonigle, EA Project Manager: Sean Burke DTC Secretariat: Bob Harris, : robert.harris@defra.gsi.gov.uk Avon Consortium: Prof Adrian Collins, ADAS Eden Consortium: Prof Phil Haygarth, Lancaster Uinversity Wensum Consortium:Dr. Kevin Hiscock, UEA GHG Platform: Luke.Spadavecchia, luke.spadavecchia@defra.gsi.gov.uk