This document outlines the Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) policy framework in the UK. It aims to empower community catchment management by setting expectations for catchment partnerships and outlining support from government agencies. Key points include: establishing catchment partnerships to improve water quality, facilitate local collaboration, and inform long-term planning. Catchment leads are given flexibility in their approach but expected to engage stakeholders and work towards priorities. Government will evaluate partnerships and support the approach through funding and resources with the goal of sustainable catchment management over the long run.

1. CaBA: A policy framework to
empower community
catchment management
Richard Cole
Defra
Catchment
Based Approach
Partnerships f or Action

2. CaBA: A policy framework to empower
community catchment management
Richard Cole Defra

3. Aims
Ensure that we are all on the same page, by setting
out:
• The background context
• Our policy thinking and how management
catchment partnerships fit
• Our expectations of you as catchment leads, and
• Our ambition for the future
But don’t feel too oppressed – the good news is you
are liberated to do what you can!

4. Context
• Only 27% water bodies achieve desired GES standards
under the Water Framework Directive
• Diffuse (local) pollution is associated with nearly half of
reasons for failure
• Tackling diffuse pollution requires local action at
catchment level: aspiration and ambition
• This will require greater engagement and delivery by
stakeholders: transparency and engagement
• Catchment plans which will form the basis of second
cycle planning – legitimacy and standing

5. Policy Framework
• Policy Framework was drawn from our learning
from the pilots, it sets out:
–
–
–
–
–
Aims and objectives of the CaBA
Key principles
Defines catchment boundaries
Outline roles – but this is adaptive management
Highlights ‘hard wiring’ assessment and on-going
development
• Supporting handbook:
– summarises learning from catchment pilots
– suggests key steps and activities
– supported by real case study examples

6. Our stated objectives for the Catchment Based
Approach
• To deliver positive and sustained outcomes for the water
environment by promoting a better understanding of the
environment at a local level
• To encourage local collaboration and more transparent
decision-making when both planning and delivering activities
to improve the water environment
• Contribute to 2nd Cycle River Basin Management Plan
implementation and beyond

7. Shared Operating Principles
• Environmentally focused planning recognising the links been water
and land within hydrological systems, (starting with water framework
directive objectives, but extending to actions that can deliver other
objectives and wider benefits to society)
• There is an opportunity for everyone to engage for every water
body
• Evidence of pressures is openly shared so that others have the
opportunity to challenge and contribute to a common understanding
• Priorities are agreed and supporting actions are reflected in
contributors’ business plans
• The process is operated in an inclusive, collaborative and
transparent way, led by trusted partners to make balanced
judgements.

8. Catchment Management Levels
Informing, supporting,
growing opportunities
(Projects
and sub
catchment
community
activities)
Management
Catchment
Partnerships
(collate bigger
picture challenge,
strategic thinking
and doing)
The Environment Agency
Water
Body/Sub
catchment
National
actions, and
information
e.g. SWMI
Three tiers
River Basin
District
wide
planning
and delivery
Translating
(RBMP)
Interdependent
relationships
(no hierarchy)

9. Management Catchment Partnership scale
Management
Catchment
planning and
delivery
• Pattern of activity:
– Identify pressures with external input
– Debate priority
– Agree actions (including developing
funding)
– Manage contributions
• Supported by:
– Mandate to operate legitimised
through the policy framework (the
framework)
– Defined links, including relationship
with the EA as Competent Authority
through Catchment Coordinators
– Access to funding (bidding
opportunities)
– 2nd Cycle River Basin Planning
(roadmap)

10. Management Catchments: Key Roles
Catchment Facilitator / Lead :
• to champion the approach
• energise stakeholders
• act a project manager
• facilitate contributions (including brokering more funding)
Environment Agency Catchment Coordinator :
• act as the main contact point between the partnership and the Environment
Agency
• coordinate respective business support functions in the Environment Agency
and work closely with the catchment partnership facilitator
Partnership members – the individuals and organisations within the
partnership:
• contribute to discussion
• investigate and suggest opportunities
• contribute voluntary actions
Includes Defra Arms Length Bodies
• target contributions as steered by partnerships.

11. Management catchments
• There are 87 (+ 6 cross boundary)
management catchments
• We sought expressions of interest to
lead catchment partnerships in each
from which you were selected
• Virtually all catchments are now
covered
• The large majority are led by one
partnership
• Where exceptionally, there is more
than one partnership, we want them
to work as one to consider the whole
Management Catchment

12. Support in place
• Drawn together examples of good practice from
the pilot
• Initial funding pump priming funding
• We are developing further funding guidance
• Defra ALBs have signed up to help and you will
hear about the EA’s network of Catchment
Coordinators
• EA are developing a Catchment Planning System
• Stakeholders have developed a Catchment
Knowledge Hub, this is now being developed
further

13. Adaptive Management
• Our Policy Framework sets out the broad process
but the detail needs to be developed
• It relies on adaptive management
• This is a new approach for delivering policy
• We are all feeling our way
• We need to assess progress and evolve practice
• Our framework called that this be led by an
independent Steering Group of practitioners to
hard wire intrinsic evaluation and learning

14. Outstanding needs that a National Steering
Group can support
Data and information
• Agreeing formatting and arrangements for supporting
data
• On-going knowledge sharing and dissemination
between the catchment initiatives
Skills development and accreditation
• A support and development programme
• A support network across catchment partnership leads
• Access to specialist skills and advice
Tools
• Objective setting and tracking methodologies
• Supporting frameworks
Two-way feedback from local to the national level
• Comms channels to raise and resolve issues

15. Expectations of Catchment Leads
Funding
• We have provided £1.6M this FY (the vast majority has been
distributed to partnerships with some retained for support tools
as steered by practitioners)
• We recognise this will not cover all of your costs and therefore
cannot form a contract for everything you do
So, no strings attached?
• We want you to adhere to our principles of inclusive
engagement
• The pilots identified that there are some key steps that form
good practice as set out in our Handbook such as scoping
stakeholders; engaging them; establishing pressures; debating
priorities; and helping to broker additional voluntary actions and
PES funding
• But it is not prescriptive and we recognise different partnerships
will be at different levels of maturity and at different stages

16. Opportunities
However, there are some important milestones but
these are not objectives rather opportunities for you.
Most notably:
• Contributing to the development of catchment
summaries in the Spring next year
• Working with Water Companies (PR14 Business
Plans)
• Contribute to River Basin management Plans
published in 2015
• Generating as much funding as possible for
2015/16 and beyond

17. On-going Evaluation
We will want to assess the value and on-going viability of
the catchment approach, overall:
• We plan an evaluation at the end of this FY to gather
views on what is good and what might help to support ongoing learning and adaptive management
• We also plan to assess the added value on 2nd cycle River
Basin Management Plans in the Autumn of 2015
• We will share draft Evaluation specification with
practitioners and stakeholders
• But this not performance management of catchment
leads

18. Success criteria
• We hope catchment partnerships will show value
to their partners and hopefully to attract new
investment to become self-sustaining after 18
months
• But let’s be clear, we’re trying to achieve more
than the sum of the parts here, so the real
measure of success is more about value added.
• The main success criteria are those that you
yourselves set in terms of ambition for your
catchment

19. Our ambition is long term and is shared with others
Now
Agenda (or
focus)
Environmental
status focus
(WFD)
Next
Water
environment
as a whole;
status plus
wider benefits
Beyond
Environment as a whole
(water cycle remains core
but ecosystems approach
prompts holistic
management)
One
voice
One action,
joint action
Together
facilitate shared
stewardship
The local
partnerships
Established,
initiated,
Co-designed
Co-active,
co-productive
and making
new linkages
Pro-active,
Empowered,
Influential
Communities
(including
businesses)
Controlled,
protected,
regulated
Engaged,
consulted,
supported
Informed and
responsible
participants
Defra and its
Agencies

20. How can you have regard to this longer term
vision?
By considering all stakeholders’ environmental interests and
working with other partnerships
• The Catchment Based Approach is the largest of a number of Defra placebased initiatives that include Nature Improvement Areas, Local Nature
Partnerships, et al.
• They all share a common aim to engage local communities to raise
awareness of and the value placed on the natural environment.
• Each was established to tackle specific environmental pressures in the best
way to reflect the preferences of the respective interest groups.
• The catchment pilots have shown that these other initiatives can coordinate
and dovetail with catchments where they are co-located.
• So, as an operating principle, catchment partnerships should seek to
optimise opportunities for integration across such initiatives and agree
appropriate join up.
• In this way, we hope that over time all such initiatives can act in concert to
address components of the same ecosystem.

21. Key messages for you to take away
• Catchments are key to managing the water
environment; this is an opportunity to determine
the future of your river for the long term
• We recognise it takes time to build a partnership
and this is a long game which will go through
changes
• It’s your catchment; it’s in your hands and we’re
here to help you
• You are free to achieve as much as you can.
Carry on doing what you already do well!