The Till and Tweed Catchment Partnership

Catchment partnership vision

The Till and Tweed Catchment Partnership work in both the Till and the Tweed management catchments and is hosted and facilitated by the Tweed Forum. Tweed Forum was formed in 1991 to promote the sustainable use of the whole of the Tweed catchment through holistic and integrated management and planning. In close partnership with our members, Tweed Forum staff work to protect, enhance and restore the rich natural, built and cultural heritage of the River Tweed and its tributaries. The Forum works at both the strategic level and the project level in order to achieve tangible benefits on the ground. From our inception as an informal liaison group, we have grown to become a leader in the field of integrated land and water management.

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

  • Physical modifications

    Agricultural flood embankments have disconnected river from floodplain; fish passage is restricted by barriers

  • Pollution from agriculture and rural areas

    Diffuse pollution from agriculture is impacting water quality in rivers and Fell Sandstone aquifer

  • Invasive Non-native Species

    Highest impact INNS are American Signal Crayfish, Himalayan Balsam, Giant Hogweed and Japanese Knotweed

Wider water environment challenges identified by partnership

  • Nature Recovery, protect and enhance rare habitats including chalk streams

    None of the SSSI units are in favourable condition due to lack of river habitat and invasive non-native species pressure

  • Support Nature Recovery Network and Local Nature Recovery Strategy

    The LNRS will help to tackle biodiversity loss and impacts of climate change, with a more nature-friendly, strategic, and joined-up approach

  • Reduce storm overflows and drainage system incidents

    Discharges from storm overflows impact water quality, actions to improve the condition of our waterbodies for people and wildlife is needed

  • Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance

    The Till catchment economy is linked to agricultural health, soils are at its heart and must be protected for future generations as climate changes

  • Build environmental resilience and adaptation to climate change

    Climate change will increase pressure from flooding, drought and river temperature (e.g. causing thermal stress to fish)

  • Connecting communities with nature

    The resilience of rivers, habitats and communities benefit from better integration with our local natural heritage

Future challenges predicted by partnership

  • Pollution from agriculture and rural areas

    Drought and flooding events will become more frequent under current climate change predictions, this will, in turn, increase pollution from agriculture and rural areas

  • Changes to the natural flow and water levels

    Extreme weather events are predicted to increase with climate change, both drought and flooding can negatively affect natural flows and water levels

  • Invasive Non-native Species

    The impact of climate change and rising average temperatures will accelerate the expansion of INNS, each year 12-15 new non-native species are found in the UK

Future challenges predicted by Environment Agency

Future challenges in 2050

  • Invasive Non-native Species
  • Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels
  • Pollution from agriculture and rural areas

Emerging challenges

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

Partnership success highlights 2016 to 2021

Tweed Forum is at the heart of land and water management in the cross border Tweed catchment (including the Till sub catchment) and has continued to deliver key outcomes for the catchment over the period 2016-2021. Our programme of environmental improvements has planted 738,447 trees, created 52 ponds and wetlands (covering over 5 ha), carried out 38 km of ditch blocking and hagg reprofiling (peat land restoration measures), installed 116 km of stock exclusion fencing, eased fish passage by removing Lilburn Weir (opening up 8 km of upstream habitat), emplaced 150 m of green bank protection, carried out 750 m of embankment removal, remeandered 830 m of watercourse, installed 110 log jams, secured 3566 ha of land for conservation management, actively controlled INNS on 300 km of watercourse throughout the Tweed catchment and engaged with 13,170 people.

Partnership development plans

Tweed Forum will continue to deliver integrated catchment management for the cross-border Tweed with particular focus on exploring novel funding mechanisms; updating the Tweed Catchment Management Plan and associated processes; continuing to deliver the Till River Restoration Strategy; developing the ambitious source-to-sea, multi-million Destination Tweed initiative; refining our methodologies for targeted measure delivery - ensuring the right measure in the right place at the right scale.

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
    Till Tweed

  • Confident

    Haugh Head ford removal – easement of fish passage and reconnecting the Wooler Water with floodplain, £1 million+

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    EA Flood/coastal risk management programme
    Location
    Wooler Water from Harthope Burn to Till

  • Confident

    Continued control of riparian INNS

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage invasive non-native species
    Delivery mechanism
    EU funding
    Location
    Till Tweed

  • Confident

    River Glen - removal/set-back of extensive flood embankments to dissipate flood energy, £400k

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    EU funding
    Location
    Glen from College Burn to Till

  • Less certain

    Till from Linhope Burn to Roddam Burn - restore modified waterbody and introduce riparian vegetation

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    EA Flood/coastal risk management programme
    Barriers to delivery
    Improved flexibility and coordination between agri-environment schemes and capital funding
    Location
    Till from Linhope Burn to Roddam Burn

  • Less certain

    Till Source to Linhope Burn - introduce riparian vegetation for shade and morphological diversity in reach

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    None identified
    Barriers to delivery
    Improved flexibility and coordination between agri-environment schemes and capital funding
    Location
    Till from Source to Linhope Burn

  • Less certain

    Reconnecting the Wooler Water

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    Other Public funding
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding and permissions
    Location
    Wooler Water from Harthope Burn to Till

  • Wider water environment

    Life WADER is a 5 year project beginning in 2021 that will address water quality and invasive non-native species pressure

    Reason for measure
    Nature Recovery, designated areas for nature and biodiversity
    Delivery mechanism
    EU funding
    Location
    Tweed

  • Wider water environment

    Destination Tweed aims to celebrate, promote and conserve the natural, built and cultural assets of the River Tweed

    Reason for measure
    Connecting communities with nature
    Delivery mechanism
    Other Public funding
    Location
    Tweed

  • Wider water environment

    The Till River Restoration Strategy works to improve the morphology of the River Till Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

    Reason for measure
    Nature Recovery, designated areas for nature and biodiversity
    Delivery mechanism
    EA Flood/coastal risk management programme
    Location
    Till River

Catchment Partnership contributors

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