June 2022 News

Introducing our Catchment Strategy and website

We're very pleased to be sharing both our Catchment Strategy and website with you today.

Firstly, we'd like to thank all of our partners for their support and input in the process of refreshing the strategy. It began with attending workshops to decide on the group's shared vision and ended with spotting typos in the final draft, with many discussions and decisions along the way.

The result is a guiding document which has been agreed upon and powered by the partnership, that'll steer the next 5 years of our work towards our vision of Dorset's river catchments being sustainably healthy, resilient and safe for people and wildlife.

You'll find the strategy on the Resources page of our updated website, which is another milestone recently reached by our core team. The aim of the website is to better communicate and consolidate the work of the partnership among our partners and the wider public. We want to ensure that the website is a useful resource for the partnership so if you have any feedback or ideas for improvements, please pass them on to us.

News from our catchments

• Wessex Water is still accepting expressions of interest for habitat creation projects which would reduce or trap phosphorus in surface runoff in the Blackmore Vale and Mid-Stour area. Applications for Round 2 of their River Stour Phosphorus Reduction Scheme will close on Monday 11th July - more details are available on their website.
• Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, a partner in the development of the Poole Harbour Nutrient Management Scheme, has worked with the scheme's team to produce a detailed case study about the project and its opportunities and challenges. 
• In 2021, GWCTs research found that the number of wild adult Atlantic salmon returning to the River Frome was almost 20% lower than the 10-year average.
• The Environment Agency produced a press release on the Devils Brook project, which is led by the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group South West within the Dorset Wild Rivers programme and is supported by the EA's Water Environment Investment Fund.
• A pair of wild Ospreys in Poole Harbour have hatched the first young in southern Britain for nearly 200 years.

Wider news

• CaBA has released its 2020 - 2021 Benefits Assessment, which showcases the significant contribution that Catchment Partnerships are making nationwide to improve our water environments. The information we gather each year for CaBA monitoring is totalled for these assessments, so thank you to all of our partners for their help with this process that demonstrates the value of the Catchment Based Approach.
• The Environment Agency has published a summary of the responses to the draft Flood Risk Management Plan consultation.
• The guidelines for riparian woodland creation on or near protected sites have been updated by Natural England.
• Angling clubs can apply for a maximum of £5k-£10k per club of the Angling Improvement Fund, to tackle invasive non-native species, like Himalayan balsam, Japanese knotweed and Signal crayfish.
• Professor Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer for England), Jonson Cox (Ofwat chair) and Emma Howard Boyd (Environment Agency chair) wrote a join opinion piece on Sewage in water - a growing public health problem.
• Local Authorities in England can apply for up to £150 000 to train and employ new staff to support woodland creation and tree planting, through the Woodland Creation Accelerator Fund. Applications close Friday 8th July.