Introduction

Catchment Management Planning in Dumfries and Galloway started in 2000. Publication of the Dumfries and Galloway Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) in 1999 led to a pilot project to co-ordinate and promote biodiversity through catchment management. This in turn has led to the publication of the Annan Catchment Co-ordination Plan (2002), the Dee-Ken Catchment Management Plan (2003) and the Nith Catchment Management Plan (2006).

The Catchment Management Project is joint funded by SEPA and Scottish Natural Heritage as a partnership project, and co-ordinated by SEPA’s Catchment Management Planning Officer.

Catchment management is a voluntary process and is dependant on those who live and/or work in the catchment to participate collectively to make things happen. A catchment plan itself is only the first step to successful catchment management. Joint action is vital to increase awareness, obtain funding and to encourage valuable work to be undertaken.

Steering groups have been created for the Annan, Dee-Ken and Nith catchments to help deliver objectives for the benefit of the catchments.

Aims and Objectives

The main aim of catchment management planning is to encourage the partnership of key individuals and organisations to work together for the benefit of whole catchments.

In order to do this Catchment Management Plans attempt to:

• record the state of the catchments including: water quality; the status and extent of habitats and species within the catchment; and key land management activities;
  
  
• review the main impacts on the water quality of the river;
  
  
• identify where issues may need to be addressed in different areas of the catchment;
  
  
• identify appropriate long-term objectives for the catchment from which beneficial short, medium and long-term actions can be developed through partnership working.

Action

Issues associated with catchment management continue to evolve. The delivery of actions to address issues therefore evolve over time. It is not the aim of catchment plans to solve all catchment issues. Instead the main objective is to encourage communications and partnerships among those who can contribute to common objectives for each catchment’s conservation and enhancement, to contribute to the positive environmental work that already takes place within Dumfries and Galloway.

Future

It is anticipated that catchment management will work alongside River Basin Management Planning (RBMP) to contribute catchment level information to the larger-scale river basin planning process and, where appropriate, collectively deliver key objectives or targets under the Water Framework Directive (WFD).