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Actions planned to achieve our objectives

River basin management planning requires us to establish a programme of measures to protect water bodies from deterioration and restore water bodies that are below good ecological status. Chapter 3 of the River basin management plan for the Scotland river basin district  provides information on the programme of measures for Scotland. The measures include regulatory tools, the latest investment planning work for Scottish Water, partnership working with landowners to reduce pollution and to tackle pressures from physical changes, awareness raising and guidance provision.

Specific information on the key measures that the Forth advisory group members will take forward is included in the catchment profiles, and on the water body sheets on the online interactive map. The catchment profiles will be kept as live documents during the planning cycle and will be updated as more measures are developed and implemented.

Some of the measures carried out locally will contribute to protecting or improving water body status in a less direct way, for example through awareness raising and education, while others involve long-term projects and multiple partners. For the Forth advisory group area, some key measures to alleviate the pressures outlined in Table 3a-e are described below.

Point source pollution

Sewage discharges

Targeted investment in sewerage infrastructure through Scottish Water’s planned programme of investment has been developed in partnership with SEPA and others in order to address pressures on water bodies. This programme will deliver specified improvements in sewerage provision, sewage treatment and water supply. In the Forth, a catchment-wide drainage study has just started for the River Almond catchment, where sewage is a key pressure. The results of this study are likely to direct future investment in the Almond catchment in the next river basin planning cycle.

As part of SEPA’s regulatory function, private sewerage disposal (including septic tanks, soakaways and small package plants) will be authorised through the Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR).

SEPA, Scottish Water and developers will also work closely with local planning authorities to ensure that the impacts of future developments are considered in an integrated way.

Other point source discharges

SEPA regulates discharges through the Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR) and, if a discharge is causing a pressure within a water body, SEPA will review the licence and work closely with licensed operators to reduce the impact of the discharge.

Mining and quarrying

The Coal Authority and some local authorities operate minewater treatment schemes throughout the Forth advisory group area to improve the condition of minewater from point and diffuse sources prior to it entering watercourses. Further work to tackle discharges which are currently untreated will commence throughout the river basin planning cycles.

Rural diffuse pollution

A focused work programme to address rural diffuse pollution using voluntary, economic and regulatory measures started in March 2010. This work is steered by a national partnership, the Diffuse Pollution Management Advisory Group, and includes a campaign to promote the uptake of the diffuse pollution General Binding Rules, coupled with a targeted catchment approach where SEPA staff will work directly with land managers in ‘priority’ catchments. In the Forth, the Eye Water has been designated a priority catchment between 2010 and 2015.

In addition, we have the following candidate priority catchments for rural diffuse pollution in subsequent river basin planning cycles:

To help tackle the rural diffuse pollution pressures and to ensure no deterioration within the Forth advisory group area, the Forth Area Advisory Group will help to promote the national diffuse pollution awareness raising campaign locally. This will help ensure that diffuse pollution General Binding Rules and other general best practice is being adhered to in forestry and farming operations.

Whilst focusing on these catchments for diffuse pollution, the Area Advisory Group will also consider how to mitigate of other impacts on the water environment, such as changes to beds and banks, abstractions, flooding and invasive non-native species.

Urban diffuse pollution

Forth advisory group members have suggested areas where retrofit sustainable urban drainage systems could be installed to help alleviate urban diffuse pollution. The potential to install these in areas where urban diffuse pollution is causing a problem will be investigated throughout the Forth advisory group area. In addition, local authority development planning guidance and policy on topics such as sustainable urban drainage systems, soakaways and buffer strips will help prevent deterioration in water bodies and reduce the impacts from new development.

Physical changes

The Forth Area Advisory Group has a key role to play in reviewing the local actions required to fix physical pressures. This will involve working with local authorities and landowners to establish what measures can be implemented and the timescales for them. We will also work together to identify funding for these measures such as the SEPA administered Restoration Fund or the Scottish Rural Development Program (SRDP).

The Restoration Fund can contribute towards the removal of fish barriers from watercourses, while regulation can be used to ensure that the impacts of barriers are mitigated through the use of good design and fish passes. A catchment-scale partnership project with West Lothian Council, the Forth District Salmon Fisheries Board and SEPA has started in the River Almond to scope nine fish barriers for removal or mitigation. It is hoped that work to prioritise and remove or mitigate barriers will continue through the actions of area advisory group stakeholders.

The Restoration Fund can also be used to tackle other morphological impacts and we hope to address other legacy impacts in our urban and rural areas through partners developing and delivering projects. In the Eye Water rural diffuse pollution priority catchment landowners will be encouraged to apply for restoration funding to address physical pressures to beds, banks and shores.

Invasive non-native riparian species such as Japanese knotweed and giant hogweed have the potential to seriously affect the physical environment of our water bodies by undermining bank stability and causing erosion. These are not currently included in the classification. However, it is expected that they will be included before the end of the first river basin planning cycle and therefore it is important that steps are taken within the Forth advisory group area to identify locations where these species are established, and that a programme of eradication is undertaken by working in partnership.

Abstraction and flow regulation

Measures to tackle pressures associated with abstraction and flow regulation include:

• Investment
  Scottish Water actions will aim to minimise the amount of water required for supplying customers through efficient management of their water supply systems.
  
• Planning
  SEPA and Scottish Water will work with local planning authorities through the development planning process to highlight areas where abstraction for drinking water is putting pressure on water bodies, and where future development must be constrained or the development impacts mitigated.
  
• Regulation
  SEPA will work in partnership with those who abstract water (including Scottish Water, hydropower generation companies, whisky producers and farmers) to review licenses under the Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR).

More widely, the members of the area advisory group have identified a broad range of ongoing and future projects which can secure additional improvements in water body status. Examples include research, development of guidance, sharing best practice and awareness raising, catchment management planning, habitat management and restoration.

Putting the plan into action

The Forth Area Advisory Group will have an important role in taking forward the actions required to deliver river basin planning at an area level. The group will help to identify actions needed in the area and to translate nationally agreed actions into work on the ground. They will co-ordinate action, identify gaps where key pressures have been identified but no action yet agreed, and consider how best to tackle these gaps. The group will review the status of water bodies and the progress of measures delivery in the Forth on an annual basis, and will amend existing measures and develop new measures as required.

There are five key areas of work for the Forth Area Advisory Group to take forward during the first river basin planning cycle.

1. Develop and facilitate the implementation of local actions required in the area. This will be done on a catchment basis, linking to existing catchment management groups where possible, or potentially by creating specific sub-groups.
   
2. Increase the number of water bodies accessible to migratory fish, and tackle alterations to beds and banks. This could potentially be done by forming a small sub-group to review knowledge on fish barriers and other morphological pressures, prioritise actions and seek funding to remove or provide appropriate mitigation.
   
3. Reduce the effects of nutrient enrichment from rural diffuse pollution. The area advisory group will work with farming and land user representatives and will also help to advise on the ‘priority catchment’ approach on diffuse pollution.
   
4. Raise awareness of the importance of the water environment within the Forth advisory group area, and let people know how their actions can protect and enhance it. This will require communication, events and projects across the whole area and the area advisory group will investigate setting up a sub-group to co-ordinate this work.
   
5. Recording the presence of invasive non-native species and implementing the national work, outlined in the invasive non-native species implementation plan, at a local level will be a key focus of the group to prevent deterioration due to presence of such species.

The Area Advisory Group will receive updates from the sub-groups and annual updates on classification, which will enable them to monitor progress. They will produce a short briefing each year which will outline progress in delivering river basin planning in the Forth advisory group area, and which will highlight significant areas of achievement and issues of concern. Short action plans will be produced by sub-groups to tackle any issues of concern.