Cornwall Catchment Partnership (North Cornwall Seaton Looe and Fowey)
- Catchment HostCornwall Wildlife Trust
- River Basin DistrictSouth West
- Management CatchmentNorth Cornwall Seaton Looe and Fowey
- Management Catchment ID3061
Catchment partnership vision
Working to secure a sustainable, clean water environment throughout Cornwall for people and wildlife. Our water environment is essential to our quality of life. We need to protect and enhance rivers and groundwater as systems which means thinking about them from source to shore and all the places in between. The Cornwall Catchment Partnership (CCP) is committed to working collaboratively with key partners and stakeholders on priority catchment issues, working across themes to deliver integrated catchment management. The Partnership acts as a focal point for wider strategic catchment based activity with the intention of encouraging the catchment-based approach (CaBA) in all appropriate areas of planning, development and resource management throughout Cornwall. The Partnership recognises the importance of empowering landowners and farmers and aligning funding to support delivery of nature recovery in Cornwall and to secure healthy river catchments, freshwater bodies and coastal waters.
Related websites
Find out more about the activities and ambitions of this catchment partnership and how you can get involved to help improve the water environment in the catchment.
Catchment challenges
Current challenges identified by partnership
Pollution from agriculture and rural areas
Sediment runoff and diffuse nutrient, bacterial and pesticide pollution is impacting freshwater, coastal and marine environments
Changes to the natural flow and water levels
More drought and flood events alongside abstraction and development pressures are affecting people and wildlife
Pollution from waste water
With Cornwall's growing population and increase in tourism, wastewater discharges are impacting our rivers, bathing waters and shellfish waters
Wider water environment challenges identified by partnership
Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance
Healthy fertile soils that are in nutrient balance provide multiple environmental benefits, particularly when restored on a catchment scale
Build environmental resilience and adaptation to climate change
Climate change is the single biggest risk facing our river catchments and urgent action is needed to both adapt and mitigate
Reduce storm overflows and drainage system incidents
Storm overflows and issues with drainage systems can have negative impacts on the water environment for both communities and nature
Support Nature Recovery Network and Local Nature Recovery Strategy
Joined-up approach to nature recovery and making space for nature, including farming incentives, are crucial to improving the water environment
Improved bathing waters (including inland)
Cornwall is a popular holiday destination and the quality of both bathing and shellfish waters impacts public health, tourism and local industry
Connecting communities with nature
Community engagement with nature delivers health and wellbeing benefits alongside greater protection and understanding of nature itself
Future challenges predicted by partnership
Pollution from agriculture and rural areas
Agriculture is an important business sector in Cornwall, future climate change events will present a greater challenge to land management pressures on the water environment
Changes to the natural flow and water levels
Climate Change is predicted to greatly reduce some seasonal low flows, further impacting existing water resource pressures and their dependent habitats
Invasive Non-native Species
Increased global temperatures are predicted to increase the threat of invasive species displacing native, iconic and protected species
Future challenges predicted by Environment Agency
Future challenges in 2050
- Invasive Non-native Species
- Pollution from Agriculture and Rural Areas
- Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels
Emerging challenges
- Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels
- Physical Modifications
- Pollution from waste water
Partnership success highlights 2016 to 2021
- Water for Growth is a flagship partnership project in the North Cornwall, Seaton, Looe and Fowey catchment, securing investment and removing barriers to fish migration on the rivers Camel and Fowey. One of the highlights for this European funded project was the removal of Keybridge Weir and Grogley Gauging Station on the River Camel in 2019-2020 which opened up the river for migratory fish and improved riparian habitat in a Special Area of Conservation.
- The Cornwall Catchment Partnership is keen to develop and support projects which look to re-naturalise rivers and reconnect them to their floodplain. The River Seaton Restoration Project is a brilliant example of how this can be done by working collaboratively with partners, and in this case, taking advantage of works to protect critical road infrastructure to also secure environmental improvements. This project has proven to be a pathfinder in cost effectively underwriting critical infrastructure investment whilst also addressing the longer term challenges of climate change and nature recovery.
- The catchment has also benefited from South West Water’s Upstream Thinking (UST) 2, a catchment management programme targeting the Fowey. UST is designed to combat deterioration in soil, nutrient and water management in the farmed landscape, targeting catchments where there are abstractions for drinking water supply. The project offers farm advice and grants to support improvements to farm infrastructure.
Partnership development plans
Establish a strong partnership model and become recognised as the ‘go to’ forum, delivering a range of co-benefits with a continued focus on improving the water environment and drought and flood resilience. Cultivated through a collaborative approach, identifying funding streams to support integrated projects and delivery of multiple outcomes relating to the challenges of climate change, nature recovery and adaptation. Working in ways that engage and contribute to community health and wellbeing and broaden the diversity of our stakeholder engagement.
Partnership priority actions and measures for 2022 to 2027
Confident
Enhancement/no deterioration measures in 2020-2025 Water Industry National Environment Programme
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage point source discharges
- Delivery mechanism
- Confirmed water industry national environment programme 2020-2025
- Location
- North Cornwall Seaton Looe and Fowey
Confident
Upstream Thinking 3: working with farmers and landowners to improve water quality and benefit nature
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
- Delivery mechanism
- Confirmed water industry national environment programme 2020-2025
- Location
- Colliford Lake St Neot River
Confident
Devon and Cornwall Soils Alliance: strategic development of soils advisory capacity
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
- Delivery mechanism
- EU funding
- Location
- North Cornwall Seaton Looe and Fowey
Confident
Daras, Cornwall Land Hub: spatial mapping tool to link strategic need with potential economic opportunities for farming community
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
- Delivery mechanism
- Other local funding
- Location
- North Cornwall Seaton Looe and Fowey
Less certain
NATUREBASE: Camel nature-based solutions to tackle soils loss/sediment
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
- Delivery mechanism
- WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
- Barriers to delivery
- Successful Water Environment Investment Fund application for capital and revenue monies
- Location
- Camel
Less certain
Camel Nutrient Trading: on-farm integrated constructed wetlands providing nutrient credits for potential developments
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage urban diffuse pollution
- Delivery mechanism
- UK Shared Prosperity Fund
- Barriers to delivery
- Successful funding application to Shared Prosperity Fund
- Location
- Camel
Less certain
Delivering riparian woodland creation
- Reason for measure
- Manage modified habitats
- Delivery mechanism
- Other local funding
- Barriers to delivery
- Project funding successfully secured
- Location
- North Cornwall Seaton Looe and Fowey
Less certain
Water for Growth 2: extend the natural capital investment scheme to further catchments
- Reason for measure
- Manage modified habitats
- Delivery mechanism
- UK Shared Prosperity Fund
- Barriers to delivery
- Successful funding application to Shared Prosperity Fund
- Location
- North Cornwall Seaton Looe and Fowey
Less certain
Development of river restoration and habitat creation opportunities
- Reason for measure
- Manage modified habitats
- Delivery mechanism
- Other local funding
- Barriers to delivery
- Successful partnership approach to secure funding
- Location
- North Cornwall Seaton Looe and Fowey
Less certain
Citizen Science Initiative to improve community health and wellbeing through empowerment
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
- Delivery mechanism
- Other local funding
- Barriers to delivery
- Strong partnership approach supported by the Environment Agency
- Location
- North Cornwall Seaton Looe and Fowey
Wider water environment
Transform AR: build resilience and adaptation to climate change sharing knowledge and innovation across Europe
- Reason for measure
- Build environmental resilience and adaptation to climate change
- Delivery mechanism
- EU funding
- Location
- Camel
Wider water environment
Support a community of practice and knowledge exchange events/ activities for farmers, landowners and farm advisors in Cornwall
- Reason for measure
- Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance
- Delivery mechanism
- Other local funding
- Location
- North Cornwall Seaton Looe and Fowey
Wider water environment
Support Surface Water Management Plans and activities to separate surface water from sewerage to reduce pressure on urban drainage systems
- Reason for measure
- Reduce storm overflows and drainage system incidents
- Delivery mechanism
- Other Public funding
- Location
- North Cornwall Seaton Looe and Fowey
Catchment Partnership contributors
Partners involved in the creation of this page and the actions of the partnership:
- Environment Agency
- Cornwall Community Flood Forum
- Cornwall Wildlife Trust
- Westcountry Rivers Trust
- Cornwall Council
- National Highways
- Countryside Landowners Association
- Natural England
- Imerys
- Duchy of Cornwall
- National Farmers Union
- Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group
- Cornwall Beaver Project
- Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
- South West Water