Witham Catchment Partnership

Catchment partnership vision

Our aim is to work jointly to protect and improve the water environment in the Witham valley, for the benefit of its people and wildlife. Our objectives are:

• identifying and understanding the issues and priorities in the Witham catchment through continual sharing of information
• identifying interested groups, organisations, businesses and local communities and, where appropriate, involving them into the partnership and its decision making
• be the forum for understanding relevant work and funding opportunities in the catchment that will contribute towards its improvement
• develop and administer a shared list of proposed future projects that will contribute towards the priorities of the partnership
• identifying opportunities for organisations and groups to work together to complete effective outcomes
• look for appropriate opportunities to link environmental benefits with flood risk management outcomes through the use of natural processes.

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.

• Witham Catchment Partnership webpage
• Catchment Management Plans on CaBA website

Partnership success highlights 2016 to 2021

The partnership’s successes have focused on the Limestone Becks, Slea and Upper Witham. Habitat improvement projects have been completed on Branston, Dunston and the Upper Cringle Limestone Becks. This will help reinstate and protect these special watercourses and offer a demonstration of the benefits of larger scale river restoration. Grantham and Sleaford have a large, funded programme of works to improve their rivers for wildlife and people. This is headed by the ESIF funded Blue, Green Project which complements the recently completed Heritage Lottery funded ‘Reconnecting the Witham’ project in Grantham. Work in Lincoln has seen fish refuges installed along the Witham and beautiful floating islands, planted by volunteers bringing enhancement to lifeless concrete banks on the Brayford Pool. These projects are helping to transform the urban river corridors across the Witham catchment. Work continues to target Himalayan balsam and floating pennywort. Rivercare in Grantham, Lincoln and Sleaford brought volunteers together to improve urban rivers for their communities, collecting data through citizen science. Mayfly and elver in the classroom initiatives are introducing the next generation to the value of the natural world. The partnership is looking to support the landowner facilitation groups forming in the catchment to help get it’s messages out and develop future project work. The Upper part of the Witham catchment remains a focus for large scale wetland and floodplain reconnection work with the recent project at Manthorpe providing a catalyst for exciting up and coming projects.

Partnership development plans

We will secure resilient, longer term funding from a range of sources for water quality and habitat improvements. Natural environment and future changes to farm payments will scale up current projects and we promote working with natural processes. Rivercare projects, citizen science data and classroom work brings communities together. The Cringle Brook land managers group targets diffuse pollution and habitat improvement; further work with landowners will aid large scale restoration projects.