Actions planned to achieve our objectives
River basin management planning requires us to
establish a programme of action, 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 the West
Highland area. Those most relevant to the West Highland area are
described below and further information can be found in Chapter 3 of
the Scotland river basin management plan 
(960kb).
Also described below are more local measures to tackle 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 West Highland Area Advisory Group.
More specific information on the measures being developed in the
West Highland area is included in catchment summaries and, for
individual water bodies, on the water body information sheets on
the interactive map. These will be
updated as more measures are developed and implemented.
Some of the key national and local measures
that will deliver improvements in the West Highland area are
described below.
Actions to address changes to flow
and/or the amount of water in rivers and lochs
Regulation
SEPA is working closely with Scottish Water
and hydropower operators 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 to produce guidance
on appropriate mitigation measures.
Investment
Scottish Water aims to reduce water supply
demands in areas currently under pressure through action on
efficiency measures and the use of water saving technology.
Scottish and Southern Energy aims to redistribute flows within the
Giosla system in order to achieve good ecological status and good
ecological potential in the affected water bodies.
Planning
SEPA and Scottish Water will work with The
Highland Council and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 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
alterations to beds and banks, and barriers to migratory
fish movement
Regulation
SEPA will work to review and enforce the
requirements for provision of fish passage and the necessary flows
to support this in existing licences granted under the Controlled
Activities Regulations (CAR).
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 the
West Highland area, restoration funding will be used to identify
(and, if appropriate, implement) possible actions to remove
barriers to fish passage in the Loch nan Geireann catchment on
North Uist.
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 the West Highland area partners are working
together to raise awareness of these guidelines and funding
opportunities to forest managers of both estate and private
land.
Local partnership working
The West 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, and with The
Highland Council for road culvert pressures, to establish what
measures can be implemented and the timescales for implementation.
We will also work together to identify funding for these measures
such as the SEPA restoration fund or the Scottish Rural Development
Program (SRDP). The group will consider options for the restoration
of any rivers and burns straightened for agriculture while
balancing land managers’ needs with those of the water
environment.
Actions to address nutrient enrichment
from diffuse pollution from rural land use
National plan for managing the rural
diffuse pollution in Scotland
There is a two tier approach to the management
of rural diffuse pollution developed by a partnership of national
organisations called the Diffuse Pollution Management Advisory
Group. Further information is available from the rural diffuse pollution plan for
Scotland and diffuse pollution priority
catchments pages.
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 catchments where the extent of the diffuse pollution pressure on
the water environment requires a more focused effort. Whilst
focusing on these catchments for diffuse pollution, the mitigation
of other impacts on the water environment will also be considered,
such as changes to beds and banks, abstractions, flooding and
invasive non-native species.
Local application of the national
awareness campaign
To ensure there is no deterioration of the
water environment in the West Highland area 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 the West
Highland area
None of the 14 diffuse pollution priority
catchments being focused upon in the first river basin planning
cycle [described in (b) above] are in the West Highland area.
However, Barra coastal, Isle of Skye coastal, Lewis and Harris
coastal, Minch coastal, North Uist coastal and Sounds coastal are
candidate priority catchments in cycle two. 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 which is required to establish
the source of the 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 point source
pollution from aquaculture
Regulation
SEPA will work to review the impacts of
discharges from aquaculture activities and where necessary, having
balanced the needs of industry and the water environment, alter the
conditions of CAR licences which are causing point source pollution
pressures.
Action to address the presence,
prevention and spread of invasive non-native
species
National actions for prevention,
control and eradication
There are several actions that are 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 being developed and will be available on the SEPA website.
Local co-ordination of
action
The West Highland Area Advisory Group has a
role to play in the co-ordination of INNS management at a local
level. Management responsibility is shared by several organisations
and, as a result, there are many actions that could usefully be
carried out at a local 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 and encouraging the
sharing of good practice and rapid response protocols. Preventing
the introduction and spread of invasive non-native species is
particularly important in the West Highland area as the area
currently has relatively few, relatively recent introductions. Any
local co-ordination of work must link with the Highland Invasive
Species Forum and the Western Isles Local Biodiversity Action Plan
Steering Group as appropriate.
Action to promote and implement a
catchment based approach to improving our water
environment
The Area Advisory Group will promote and
develop catchment management approaches, where locally relevant,
through local partnership working.
Action to improve the management of
sites protected for freshwater pearl mussels
National research will take place to
investigate the reasons for the unfavourable condition of areas
protected for fresh water pearl mussels
Local investigations will be carried out and
appropriate management measures put in place through local
partnership working.
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 five 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
established and will include the relevant area advisory group
members and others. Where there is an existing group in the area,
we will work with them to deliver river basin planning objectives.
The frequency of meetings and longevity of the task group 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.
It is suggested that, for the West Highland
mainland and Skye, task groups 1, 2 and 3 set out below are linked
with similar task groups being set up for the North Highland
advisory group area. It is also suggested that task groups 1, 2 and
3 are developed for the Western Isles utilising existing groups
where they exist, such as the Western Isles Local Biodiversity
Action Plan Steering Group.
Task Group 1: Alterations to 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 develop these
actions.
Task Group 2: Rural diffuse
pollution
This task group will co-ordinate local
awareness raising and will facilitate discussion on preparation
needed for action in future river basin planning cycles. The group
will develop a research programme to investigate pressures causing
protected shellfish waters to fail, in preparation for the priority
catchment work in later cycles (include data from Food Standards
Agency in this research).
Task Group 3: 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 and the Western Isles Local
Biodiversity Action Plan Steering Group as appropriate.
Task Group 4: Catchment
restoration
This task group will promote, develop and
implement catchment–wide projects with the aim of improving or
preventing deterioration of water body status at a catchment
scale.
Task Group 5: Fresh Water Pearl
Mussels
This task group will investigate the reasons
for the unfavourable condition of areas protected for fresh water
pearl mussels and put in place appropriate management measures
A work plan has
been developed to guide the work of the Area Advisory Group during
the year. This will be used to assess progress and will be annually
updated.
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 Area Advisory Group will continue to help
identify actions needed in the West Highland area and to translate
nationally agreed actions into local work. They will co-ordinate
action and identify gaps where key pressures have been identified,
but no action agreed, and consider how best to tackle such
gaps.
- The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland)
Regulations 2011.
- SEPA has created a Fish and Fisheries
Advisory Group to provide advice to SEPA within the Scotland and
Solway Tweed river basin districts on monitoring and classification
of fish populations and the protection of fish populations and
fisheries interests when regulating activities which affect the
water environment. More information about the group can be found
here:
http://www.sepa.org.uk/water/river_basin_planning/fish_and_fisheries_ag.aspx