Actions planned to achieve our objectives
River basin management planning requires us to
establish a programme of actions, or measures, to improve water
bodies that are not currently at good or high ecological status and
to protect all water bodies from deterioration.
This plan will deliver improvements through a
combination of regulation, investment, awareness raising and
guidance. The measures in the Scotland river basin management plan
automatically feed into this area management plan for North
Highland. Those most relevant to North Highland are described below
and further information on them can be found in Chapter 3 of
the Scotland river basin management plan 
. Also below are more local measures to tackle North
Highland issues that require a partnership approach.
The action plan which accompanies this
document summarises measures which will be delivered by a local
partnership approach through the North Highland Area Advisory
Group. More specific information on the measures being taken in
North Highland is included in catchment summaries and, for
individual water bodies, on the water body information sheets on
the interactive map.
These will be kept as live documents during
the planning cycle and updated as more measures are developed and
implemented.
Some of the key national and local measures
that will deliver improvements in North Highland are described
below.
Actions to address changes to flow
and/or the amount of water in rivers and lochs
Regulation
SEPA will work with operators in the
hydropower sector, Scottish Water, arable farmers and the whisky
industry to reach agreements on how they can provide improved flow
to affected rivers by minimising leakage, waste and overflows of
abstracted water, changing the pattern of abstraction or reducing
net abstraction to meet required standards. SEPA is the lead
authority for the Controlled Activities Regulations
(CAR) to achieve these
measures, but will also work with the Fish and Fisheries Advisory
Group and operators to
produce guidance on appropriate mitigation measures.
Investment
Scottish Water will minimise the amount of
water required to supply customers through efficient management of
their water supply systems. Scottish and Southern Energy aims to
redistribute flows in sections of rivers within the Conon and
Moriston systems in order to achieve good ecological potential in
those water bodies by 2015.
Planning
SEPA and Scottish Water will work with local
planning authorities 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.
Action to address
changes to beds and banks, and barriers to migratory fish
movement
Forestry
Forestry Commission Scotland are improving
water bodies affected by forestry pressures through measures
including removal of non-native conifers close to the bank side and
establishing well structured native vegetation cover to form buffer
zones along banks in compliance with relevant legislation and
guidance (including the Forest & Water Guidelines). Forestry
Commission Scotland and the Scottish Government are leading on
ensuring similar measures can be implemented on privately owned
forest estates. In North Highland partners are working together to
raise awareness of these guidelines and funding opportunities to
forest managers of both estate and private land.
Economic incentives and regulation to
remove fish barriers
SEPA’s 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. For example, in
North Highland, restoration funding will be used to remove fish
barriers in the Shin and Conon catchments.
Local partnership working
The North Highland Area Advisory Group has an
important role to play in reviewing the local actions required to
address these pressures and consider the process for removal or
mitigation. This will involve working with landowners, land
managers and local authorities to establish what measures can be
implemented, and the timescales for implementation. The group will
consider options for the restoration of rivers and burns
straightened for agriculture while balancing the needs of land
managers and the water environment. We will also work together to
identify funding for these measures where they are eligible, such
as the SEPA restoration fund or the Scottish Rural Development
Program (SRDP).
Actions to address nutrient enrichment
from diffuse pollution from rural land use
National plan for managing the rural
diffuse pollution in Scotland
A two tier approach to the management of rural
diffuse pollution has been developed by a partnership of national
organisations called the Diffuse
Pollution Management Advisory Group.
The approach consists of:
(a) A national awareness raising campaign
to improve water bodies affected by diffuse pollution and prevent
further deterioration, including promoting the uptake of the
diffuse pollution General Binding Rules.
(b) A targeted approach in 14 priority
catchments where the extent of the diffuse pollution pressure on
the water environment requires a more focused effort.
Local application of the national
awareness campaign
To ensure there is no deterioration of the
water environment in North Highland due to rural diffuse pollution,
the Area Advisory Group has a role to play in the local promotion
of the national diffuse pollution awareness raising campaign
(including both forestry and agricultural sectors).
The targeted approach in North
Highland
None of the 14 priority catchments being
focused upon in the first river basin planning cycle (described in
(b) above) are in North Highland. However, Wick Coastal, Wick
River, Dornoch Coastal, Cromarty coastal, River Nairn, River Lossie
and Moray Coastal are candidate priority catchments in cycles two
and three. It is particularly important that we raise awareness of
the General Binding Rules for diffuse pollution in these
catchments.
Research to establish sources of
diffuse pollution
SEPA and the Area Advisory Group can play a
role in facilitating the research required to establish the source
of diffuse pollution downgrading the water environment and, in
particular, in waters protected for shellfish growing. This will
allow us to prepare for the targeted approach on priority
catchments in future cycles.
Action to address the presence and
spread of invasive non-native species
National actions for prevention,
control and eradication
There are several actions being co-ordinated
at a national level to manage the risk of invasive non-native
species (INNS) to our water environment. These include the
prevention and early detection of INNS introductions, rapid action
to prevent spread and control, and eradication of established
populations. A supplementary plan for INNS management is currently
being developed and will be available on the SEPA website.
Local co-ordination of
action
The North Highland Area Advisory Group has a
role to play in the co-ordination of INNS management at a local
level. Responsibility for management is shared by several of
organisations and, as a result, there are several of actions that
could usefully be carried out at an area level. These include
sharing information on current control and eradication, identifying
gaps, encouraging co-ordination of actions and implementation
across catchments, raising awareness of nationally produced
material, data collection processes and protocols for rapid
reaction, encouraging the sharing of good practice and rapid
response protocols. Preventing the introduction and spread of
invasive non-native species is particularly important in North
Highland as we currently have relatively few, relatively recent
introductions. Any local co-ordination of action will need to link
very closely to the work of the Highland Invasive Species Forum and
avoid duplication of work.
Actions to promote and implement a
catchment based approach to improving our water
environment
River basin management planning advocates a
catchment approach to improving our water environment. In North
Highland we will initially focus on the following catchments.
Peffery catchment project
A project to address the current pressures on
the Peffery catchment is being led by the Cromarty Firth Fisheries
Trust. It aims to improve the Peffery to good ecological status by
co-ordinating a range of organisations’ actions, voluntary
community effort and several funding sources. The project will be
used by the North Highland Area Advisory Group to promote the value
of a catchment based approach and share best practice.
Loch Eye catchment
study
A project to gather existing information and
research on Loch Eye will be led initially by SEPA. Loch Eye is
affected by rural diffuse pollution and is also a Special
Protection Area for internationally important populations of
geese.
Promote and develop further catchment
management approaches
These will include an initial investigative
study of phosphorus loading in relation to land and water
management in the Shin catchment and further develop a co-ordinated
approach to water resource activities within the Ness
catchment.
Putting the plan into action – 2010
This area management plan identifies the
measures to be delivered in the first river basin planning cycle.
The Area Advisory Group has also initially identified three key
areas of work where a partnership approach to focusing on pressures
on the area’s water environment will be particularly useful.
The task groups identified below will be set
up, comprising relevant Area Advisory Group members and others. The
frequency of meetings and permanence of the task groups will depend
on the actions to be taken. The Area Advisory Group will retain an
overview role and the task groups will report back on progress to
the full group. We will work with any existing groups in the area
to deliver river basin planning objectives.
Task Group 1: Pressures on beds and
banks of natural water bodies including barriers to fish
migration
This task group will review information on
pressures on beds and banks of natural water bodies, action and
funding required and facilitate discussions to drive these actions
forward.
Task Group 2: Invasive non-native
species
This task group will co-ordinate local action
to manage the presence and risk from the introduction of invasive
non-native species, linking very closely to the work of the
Highland Invasive Species Forum.
Task Group 3: Rural diffuse
pollution
This task group will co-ordinate the local
delivery of awareness raising, and will facilitate discussion on
preparation for action required in future planning cycles.
Catchment groups
Catchment groups will promote, develop and
implement catchment–wide projects, including for the River Peffery
and Loch Eye.
A work plan has been developed to guide the
work of the Area Advisory Group during the year which will be used
to assess progress and will be annually updated. The work plan can
be found on SEPA's website.
The Area Advisory Group will have a continued
role in monitoring the plan’s implementation through an annual
report on progress of all actions, informed by an annual
classification update.
The group will continue to help to identify actions needed in
North Highland and to translate nationally agreed actions into
local work. The group will co-ordinate action, identify gaps where
key pressures have been identified, but no action agreed, and
consider how best to tackle these gaps.