East Devon Catchment Partnership

Catchment partnership vision

Our vision is for healthy and naturally functioning rivers teeming with life and free from pollutants. This covers our whole catchment from the upper reaches of the Axe and Exe right down to the estuaries and coasts, and along from Lyme Regis to Dawlish. We want safe, clean waters and river beds to be enjoyed by our native wildlife, communities and leisure visitors. We need the communities and habitats of East Devon to be resilient to our changing climate.

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

    Intensive agriculture on vulnerable soils results in landscape-scale impacts to our water environment

  • Physical modifications

    Channel-straightening and re-routing of watercourses is prevalent across the catchment

  • Invasive Non-native Species

    Invasive Non-native Species are increasingly affecting wildlife and natural processes from moor to sea

Wider water environment challenges identified by partnership

The partnership have not identified any wider water environment challenges

Future challenges predicted by partnership

  • Pollution from agriculture and rural areas

    Agriculture is an important business sector in East Devon, future climate change events will present a greater challenge to land management pressures on the water environment

  • Physical modifications

    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

  • Physical Modifications
  • Invasive Non-native Species
  • Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels

Emerging challenges

  • Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels
  • Pollution from waste water
  • Pollution from Agriculture and Rural Areas

Partnership success highlights 2016 to 2021

Since 2016 we have completed:

  • East Devon Diffuse Pollution Project
  • Soils and Natural Flood Management Manual
  • catchment communities conference
  • Connecting the Culm Project
  • River Otter beaver Trial
  • Lower Otter Restoration Project
  • Ottery St Mary natural flood management Project
  • ‘Upstream Thinking’
  • Headwaters of the Exe Project
  • Exmoor Invasive Non-native Species Project
  • Great Trees of the Clyst Project
  • Corry and Coly natural flood management Project
  • Culm crayfish Project
  • developing Clyst and Axe projects
  • developing re-naturalising Exeter's waterbodies project
  • Devon and Cornwall Soils Alliance.

Partnership development plans

We recognise that the key challenge of climate change now supersedes all the issues raised above. This will be an over-riding theme for our work and development and will link to tools like the Nature Recovery Network. The development of a greater community action agenda will mean our role may change in some areas from delivery to supporting communities to deliver

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
    Devon East

  • Confident

    Connecting the Culm

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    EU funding
    Location
    Devon East

  • Confident

    Axe Restoration Project

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Developer funded
    Location
    Devon East

  • Confident

    River Otter Beavers

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    Grant giving trusts and businesses
    Location
    Devon East

  • Confident

    Lower Otter Restoration Project

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    EA asset capital investment
    Location
    Devon East

  • Confident

    Upstream Thinking

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Confirmed water industry national environment programme 2020-2025
    Location
    Devon East

  • Less certain

    Crystal Clear Clyst

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    Grant giving trusts and businesses
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding
    Location
    Devon East

  • Less certain

    Renaturalising Exeter's Waterways

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage urban diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    EA asset capital investment
    Barriers to delivery
    Feasibility and funding
    Location
    Devon East

  • Less certain

    Marine Nature Recovery in East Devon

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    Marine Habitat Restoration/Fisheries Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Investigation, feasibility, funding
    Location
    Devon East

  • Less certain

    Agricultural soils

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Grant giving trusts and businesses
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding
    Location
    Devon East

Catchment Partnership contributors

Partners involved in the creation of this page and the actions of the partnership: