Upper & Bedford Ouse Catchment Partnership

Catchment partnership vision

The Upper & Bedford Ouse Catchment Partnership vision is for our rivers and their catchment to be healthier, richer in wildlife and valued by all. To achieve this vision the work and objectives of the Partnership can be identified under 8 themes:

  • Water quality, surface water and groundwater
  • Water quantity, surface water and groundwater
  • River function and form
  • Biodiversity
  • Recreation and amenity
  • Community engagement through education and involvement
  • Wider engagement
  • Resourcing the partnership and its activities.

UBOCP

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 waste water

    Large settlements in the catchment headwaters results in up to 80 percent of the regular flow volumes being waste water

  • Pollution from agriculture and rural areas

    Agricultural land use, sometimes intensive, dominates the catchment, resulting in severe rural diffuse pollution

  • Physical modifications

    The industrial heritage of the area has resulted in a legacy of river modification for mills and navigation

Wider water environment challenges identified by partnership

  • Support Nature Recovery Network and Local Nature Recovery Strategy

    The level of development happening within our catchment, which is central to the Ox-Cam Arc is putting great pressure on the environment

  • Reduce storm overflows and drainage system incidents

    Storm overflows are unsightly, pollute flood waters and contaminate groundwaters

  • Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance

    Agriculture is a major landuse in the catchment, including on vulnerable soils like Greensand Ridge, leading to erosion, pollution and siltation

  • Build environmental resilience and adaptation to climate change

    Headwaters in our catchment - particularly the chalk stream, are already experiencing more and longer periods of low or no flows

  • Connecting communities with nature

    There is great power in the collective understanding, action and lobbying of individuals

Future challenges predicted by partnership

  • Pollution from waste water

  • Pollution from agriculture and rural areas

  • Changes to the natural flow and water levels

Future challenges predicted by Environment Agency

Future challenges in 2050

  • Invasive Non-native Species
  • Pollution from waste water
  • Pollution from Towns Cities and Transport

Emerging challenges

  • Pollution from waste water
  • Pollution from Towns Cities and Transport
  • Pollution from Agriculture and Rural Areas

Partnership success highlights 2016 to 2021

Early activity of the Catchment Partnership focused on a number of river restoration projects. Projects used natural materials (tethered willow bundles and logs) to protect banks, increase channel morphology and flow diversity. The projects reduced erosion and runoff, decreasing pollution and enhancing habitats. Other projects included reinstating an old watercourse to provide a bypass around a major weir and the creation of designed cattle drinkers which with associated fencing have reduced erosion, sedimentation and pollution. We have established a Volunteer River Warden scheme which operates in a number of localities across the catchment. Volunteers undertake regular surveying and monitoring of allocated reaches; reporting issues and identifying potential projects. Some volunteers have been trained in water quality sampling and invertebrate surveys and others participate in practical river restoration tasks. Our Agriculture Group has hosted some very successful Farm Business Resilience events, increasing opportunities for the Partnership to engage with this sector. The Partnership has engaged with a wide range of sectors, including at the community level, and operates in a democratic manner with no individual sector/partner dominating discussion or decisions.

UBOCP

Partnership development plans

We want to:

  • increase the resourcing and capacity of the Partnership, to creating a pipeline of developed projects
  • make better use of evidence to inform our strategy and activities, while still being sufficiently agile to respond to opportunities as they arise
  • better engage with and involve the business/ industry sector in the Partnership
  • increase our understanding and activity in areas including; the Climate Agenda, chalk streams, headwater issues and INNS
  • better engage and collaborate with local nature partnerships and local nature recovery strategies

Partnership priority actions and measures for 2022 to 2027

  • Confident

    Volunteer River Wardens, continuation and expansion of the programme

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage point source discharges
    Delivery mechanism
    Voluntary initiatives
    Location
    Ouse Upper and Bedford

  • Confident

    Upper Ouse natural flood management project

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Location
    Great Ouse Upper

  • Confident

    INNS - continue work to tackle Himalayan Balsam and Mink

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage invasive non-native species
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Location
    Ouse Upper and Bedford

  • Confident

    Alconbury Brook natural flood management project

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Location
    Alconbury Brook

  • Confident

    Pix Brook catchment enhancements, including natural flood management to reduce flooding and increase water quality

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage urban diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF)
    Location
    Ivel

  • 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
    Ouse Upper and Bedford

  • Less certain

    Produce and implement Strategic Catchment River Restoration Strategy

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Barriers to delivery
    Resources and capacity to develop pipeline of projects and funding to deliver projects
    Location
    Ouse Upper and Bedford

  • Less certain

    River Ivel Restoration Scheme - including the decommissioning and/or removal of redundant EA structures

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Modelling, landowner and community engagement
    Location
    Ivel

  • Less certain

    Great Ouse Turvey to Clapham agriculture and morphology project

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    Environment Land Management Scheme (future full-scale roll-out)
    Barriers to delivery
    Resources, enabling development, partnership working
    Location
    Great Ouse Bedford

  • Less certain

    Bedford River Valley Park - the creation of a major floodplain forest, including marsh, pools and channels

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage point source discharges
    Delivery mechanism
    Potential future water industry programme
    Barriers to delivery
    Resources, enabling development, partnership working
    Location
    Ouse (Newport Pagnell to Roxton)

  • Less certain

    Towcester water meadows scheme, including restoration and creation of in-channel and floodplain features and habitats

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Resolution of technical issues
    Location
    Ouse Upper and Bedford

  • Wider water environment

    Development of an agriculture group to improve engagement with the agricultural community promoting sustainable practices

    Reason for measure
    Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance
    Delivery mechanism
    Voluntary initiatives
    Location
    Ouse Upper and Bedford

Catchment Partnership contributors

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