Your Tees Catchment Partnership

Catchment partnership vision

Our vision is for the Tees and its tributaries to be vibrant, healthy and resilient waterways, rich in biodiversity, accessible to all and valued as a ‘blue asset’. From our wild peaty uplands, cascading over falls, meandering through our fertile lowlands, feeding industry and innovation and connecting us with the North Sea, we are committed to working together to make the Tees the best it can be.

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 loss, land drainage, lack of buffer strips, waste disposal to land, poor infrastructure, farmed flood plain

  • Physical modifications

    Land drainage and flood protection of agricultural land, barriers to fish migration

  • Pollution from waste water

    Phosphorous and nitrogen nutrient load from industrial activity, waste water treatment works, combined sewer outfalls, misconnections

Wider water environment challenges identified by partnership

  • Nature Recovery, designated areas for nature and biodiversity

    Tees river corridors need more regenerative activity to realise sustainable environmental benefits e.g. flood reduction, water quality

  • Connecting communities with nature

    Greater engagement needed to encourage increased awareness and community stewardship, will have direct benefits to mental and physical health

  • Support Nature Recovery Network and Local Nature Recovery Strategy

    Nature recover network must include rivers to drive improvements to water quality, habitat and river basin planning ecological status

  • Improved bathing waters (including inland)

    Increasing number of people wanting to swim, bacteria from multiple sources make this unsafe, also greater awareness of river safety needed

  • Build environmental resilience and adaptation to climate change

    Requires cultural policy change and increased urgency in public awareness and investment to drive acceptance of need for adaptive management

  • Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance

    Increasingly volatile weather is accelerating loss of already degraded soils, supporting improving soil health will sustain food security

Future challenges predicted by partnership

  • Pollution from agriculture and rural areas

    High sediment loading in river due to need for better soil management

  • Physical modifications

    River flow, water quality and fish passage compromised and in parts restricted by modifications installed for historic industrial purposes or agriculture

  • Pollution from waste water

    Improvement needed in infrastructure for waste water treatment for both domestic and industrial sources

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
  • Pollution from waste water
  • Physical Modifications

Partnership success highlights 2016 to 2021

The Tees Catchment Partnership have established a sound base with partners in the Tees catchment with emerging sub-catchment partnerships in the Leven, Clow,Tees Estuary, Billingham Beck and Skerne catchments. The wider partnership community is engaged through the annual Tees Nature Conference held jointly with the Tees Valley Local Nature Partnership, now in its 6th year and in 2022 will welcome the first National Nature Recovery Network Conference. Engagement with the key agricultural sector has improved through facilitated farm groups in the Leven and Skerne catchments, the Tees Catchment Sensitive Farming project, Water Environment Grant Langley Beck Scheme and FRAMES (Flood Resilient Areas by Multi-layered Safety) project. Representation on the Tees regional strategic flood group inputs on flood risk and physical modification issues. Catchment-wide projects to engage people with their rivers, enhance and restore habitats, improve access and highlight the value of nature based tourism:

  • River Tees Rediscovered
  • Discover Brightwater
  • the developing Tees Swale Naturally Connected and Living Leven projects.The ‘Tees Angling Passport’ was launched, putting the Tees on the map. The annual Tees Tidy is now a well-supported initiative focussing on and rewarding local care for the water environment. Specific projects such as ‘Fish for Tees’ and ‘Eels of Steel’ help fish to reach spawning grounds. The IMMERSE project is enhancing estuary edge habitat. Invasive species have been tackled through Tees Operation Hogweed and the Tees Biological Control of invasive non-native species project.

Partnership development plans

The partnership would like to:

  • achieve greater representation and commitment from a broader range of stakeholders, including agriculture, business and industry
  • support innovation in approaches to land management and development planning that work towards improving the water environment
  • achieve a financially sustainable partnership, supporting the development of circular investment to improve water habitat
  • support the development of nature recovery networks
  • increase habitat connectivity throughout the catchment.

Partnership priority actions and measures for 2022 to 2027

  • Less certain

    Mid Tees wetlands; restore water dependent habitat & flood plain connection by lowering defences of agricultural land

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding, land manager & owner agreement, Environmental Land Management scheme incentives
    Location
    Tees from Skerne to Tidal Limit Tees from River Greta to River Skerne

  • Less certain

    Better evidence the impacts of invasive species so that the need for intervention is clear

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage invasive non-native species
    Delivery mechanism
    Green Recovery Challenge Fund/Challenge Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding
    Location
    Tees

  • Less certain

    water dependent/intertidal/estuary habitat improvements, Seal Sands and Bran Sands; currently affected by physical modifications and nutrients

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage point source discharges
    Delivery mechanism
    Green Recovery Challenge Fund/Challenge Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Investigation to identify appropriate beneficial and prioritised interventions
    Location
    TEES

  • Less certain

    Aspiring to urban waterways becoming a recognised, valued and cared for part of the community amenity

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage urban diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding
    Location
    Tees

  • Less certain

    Achieving waterbody improvements through environmental net gain opportunities contributing to nature recovery networks

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    Developer funded
    Barriers to delivery
    Nature recovery network that includes rivers /river corridors needed
    Location
    Tees Middle Skerne Tees Lower and Estuary TraC Leven Northumbria Tees Upper Tees Lower and Estuary

  • Less certain

    Bluespaces improvements delivered to publicly accessible water environments in the catchment through partnership projects

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage regulated flows
    Delivery mechanism
    Other Public funding
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding to be identified
    Location
    Tees Lower and Estuary

  • Wider water environment

    YTCP to play a role in relevant NRN Partnerships to ensure the water environment is central to the network

    Reason for measure
    Nature Recovery, designated areas for nature and biodiversity
    Delivery mechanism
    Nature Recovery Network
    Location
    Skerne Leven Northumbria Tees Lower and Estuary

  • Wider water environment

    YTCP to explore opportunities for urban river restoration projects

    Reason for measure
    Connecting communities with nature
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Location
    Tees Middle Skerne Leven Northumbria Tees Upper Tees Lower and Estuary

  • Wider water environment

    YTCP to play a role in relevant NRN Partnerships to ensure the water environment is central to the network

    Reason for measure
    Support Nature Recovery Network and Local Nature Recovery Strategy
    Delivery mechanism
    Nature Recovery Network
    Location
    Tees Middle Leven Northumbria Tees Upper Tees Lower and Estuary

Catchment Partnership contributors

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