South Cumbria Catchment Partnership (Becks to Bay including Duddon)

Catchment partnership vision

The vision for our partnership is 'A healthy, sustainable and diverse catchment system, providing a wide range of benefits which are valued by all'. This partnership covers the Kent/Leven management catchment and the Duddon operational catchment within the South West Lakes management catchment, this catchment pages also includes the evidence and information for the Duddon catchment.

John Malley

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

    Septic tanks and a lack of slurry storage is an issue across South Cumbria

  • Physical modifications

    Restricted fish passage and modified river channels are affecting natural function

  • Changes to the natural flow and water levels

    Historic modifications have changed the landscape, cultural value needs to balanced with environmental gain

Wider water environment challenges identified by partnership

  • Support Nature Recovery Network and Local Nature Recovery Strategy

    Joined up landscape scale restoration for habitats and species, linked to the Cumbria Local Nature Recovery Strategy

  • Build environmental resilience and adaptation to climate change

    Adapting to pressures of a growing population and tourism, increasing resilience to flood and drought, and reducing habitat and species loss

  • Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance

    Improve water quality, store water, capture carbon and increase yields in a largely rural area

  • Reduce storm overflows and drainage system incidents

    Reduce the impact of wastewater on the catchment including improvements to storm overflows and upgrading septic tanks

  • Connecting communities with nature

    Connecting communities and tourists with nature, empowering people to make a change, enhancing health and well-being

  • Achieving Net Zero including supporting a move to a low carbon economy

    Becoming carbon neutral whilst supporting jobs and promoting sustainable growth

Future challenges predicted by partnership

  • Pollution from agriculture and rural areas

    South Cumbria is a largely rural area, source apportionment shows agriculture and septic tanks to be key contributors to water quality issues

  • Changes to the natural flow and water levels

    South Cumbria has been affected by large scale storms events in recent years and issues with drought are increasing

  • Physical modifications

    Man-made physical modification are widespread across South Cumbria impeding natural processes

Future challenges predicted by Environment Agency

Future challenges in 2050

  • Invasive Non-native Species
  • Physical Modifications
  • Pollution from Agriculture and Rural Areas

Emerging challenges

  • Pollution from Agriculture and Rural Areas
  • Physical Modifications
  • Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels

Partnership success highlights 2016 to 2021

The partnership was established in 2015 and now comprises of more than 15 organisations who meet regularly to network, discuss project opportunities and drive forward a strategy for the future of South Cumbria. This has allowed for the development of a shared set of aims and objectives underpinned by robust data and evidence from a wide range of sources. A catchment plan has been developed and is now hosted online. Additionally, over the past few years the group have improved engagement around flood work, bringing together a range of partners to prioritise communities at risk and develop multi-benefit projects to both reduce flood impact and deliver environmental enhancements. This approach has also been seen in some of the other projects supported and delivered by the partnership, including the catchment wide Conserving Coniston and Crake project, the Morecambe Bay facilitation fund and wholescape approach to marine management projects, and the United Utilities Raw Water project, which take a collaborative approach to catchment management.

Aerial Artwork

Partnership development plans

The partnership is developing a pipeline of collaborative projects. It is also establishing new ways of working to become more inclusive, through the establishment of local working groups who aim to draw together a wider range of stakeholders, including businesses, local councils and community members. Concentrating on actions to improve a wider range of eco-system services, balancing cultural value, including tourism, with environmental gain. The partnership is also looking to identify more sustainable ways of drawing in investment to help achieve the long-term ambitions and scale required.

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
    Kent and Leven

  • Confident

    Trial innovative non mains drainage technology working with land manages to address nutrient pollution in Windermere

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Potential future water industry programme
    Location
    Leven

  • Confident

    Drinking water protected area catchment management measures

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Confirmed water industry national environment programme 2020-2025
    Location
    Pennington Reservoir Duddon - Upper Yewdale Beck Poaka Beck Reservoir Church Beck

  • Confident

    Implement the River Restoration Strategy (catchment scale) and low risk barriers programme

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Location
    Kent

  • Confident

    Water quality improvements via Catchment Sensitive Farming programme

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Environment Land Management Scheme (future full-scale roll-out)
    Location
    Duddon

  • Confident

    Deliver actions within Lake District National Park Partnership plan

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Heritage Lottery Fund
    Location
    Duddon

  • Less certain

    Furness Becks project, including measures to improve eel passage

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding required to support the project
    Location
    Deep Meadows Beck Mill Beck (Poaka Beck) Dragley Beck

  • Less certain

    Measures to address catchment wide diffuse pollution above bathing waters

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Heritage Lottery Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding required to continue Love My Beach project
    Location
    Duddon

  • Less certain

    Wholescale approach to sustainable tourism, supporting businesses and the environment

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    None identified
    Barriers to delivery
    Identify funding and engagement with stakeholders
    Location
    Kent and Leven

  • Less certain

    River Kent, measures to address objectives in the Special Area of Conservation to support improvements for ecology

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    EU funding
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding is required to support delivery
    Location
    Kent

  • Less certain

    Measures to address water quality decline in the Coniston and Crake catchment

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Heritage Lottery Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding is required to support delivery
    Location
    Crake

  • Less certain

    Measures to address water quality issues related to heavy metals in Little Langdale and Tilberthwaite

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage point source discharges
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding is required following feasibility study
    Location
    Brathay Upper Yewdale Beck

  • Wider water environment

    Delivery of landscape scale restoration schemes

    Reason for measure
    Support Nature Recovery Network and Local Nature Recovery Strategy
    Delivery mechanism
    Landscape Recovery (ELMS)
    Location
    Duddon

  • Wider water environment

    Develop a long-term (30 year) plan for Windermere

    Reason for measure
    Build environmental resilience and adaptation to climate change
    Delivery mechanism
    Other Public funding
    Location
    Leven

  • Wider water environment

    Delivery of Environmental Land Management schemes

    Reason for measure
    Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance
    Delivery mechanism
    Environment Land Management Scheme (future full-scale roll-out)
    Location
    Kent and Leven

Catchment Partnership contributors

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