Development of a high-level technical process and detailed participation strategy to support the implementation of Water Resources Management Strategies in Scotland and Northern Ireland Phase 1
WFD33/Ph1
October 2004

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Project code and title: WFD33, Development of a high-level technical process and detailed participation strategy to support the implementation of Water Resources Management Strategies in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Project funders/partners: Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA); Environment & Heritage Service (EHS, Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland).

Background to the research: The Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires the introduction of new regulatory regimes for abstraction and impoundment that are planned and managed at river basin and catchment levels. The agencies responsible for the administration of these new requirements (SEPA for Scotland, and EHS for Northern Ireland) wish to develop an approach for the catchment-based management of water resources that:

• ensures proper protection of the environment and secures the objectives of the WFD;
• delivers the equitable allocation of water resources between competing human and environmental needs;
• involves the public and stakeholders in adopting a consensus-building approach;
• supports the fair and effective regulation of abstraction and impoundments that reduces the regulatory burden and facilitates the achievement of environmental objectives; and
• has regard to the social and economic impact of regulatory decisions.

During the external consultation process undertaken by the Scottish Executive for the transposition of the WFD in Scotland, it was agreed that the mechanism for involvement of the public and stakeholders would be via the development of Water Resources Management Strategies (WRMS).

Objectives of the research: The overall purpose of the project was to develop the framework for WRMS to include the specific requirements of water resource management, and to indicate the scale of public and stakeholder involvement at the various stages of assessment and management. The criteria were that the WRMS framework needs to:

• provide a consistent and effective approach to participatory water resources management;
• be applicable in the context of catchments in both Scotland and Northern Ireland;
• be flexible in handling a wide range of catchment scales and complexities;
• deliver efficient and equitable water allocation between competing needs;
• propose where appropriate consultative and participative opportunities should lie within the process.

Key findings of the research:

International review: The research commenced with a brief review of international practice, concentrating on the technical and participatory elements of catchment-based water resources management. The review considered how various approaches might fit into a broad river basin planning framework, as provided by the WFD. The countries selected for the review were Canada (British Columbia), France, Australia (Queensland and South Australia), Ireland, Germany and Sweden. The aim was to benefit from the experience of others, and specific features or techniques were identified which could usefully be incorporated into the proposed WRMS process for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Catchment prioritisation: It is anticipated that WRMS will not be required for every catchment, but will only be undertaken in, for example: water-stressed surface and groundwater catchments; catchments with specific environmental and ecological protection requirements; catchments where there are high conflicting demands for water resources; or catchments where the overarching RBMP process identifies such a need.

A methodology was required for proposing which catchments to consider first. A form of multi-criteria decision analysis was chosen as the most appropriate prioritisation methodology. Criteria, scores and weights were developed to cover the following key areas (focussing on water -related issues): hydrological pressures; degree of abstraction; prevalence of irrigated agriculture; aquifer characteristics; and number of water-dependent environmentally sensitive sites. The methodology was tested on 5 catchments in Scotland.

High-level technical process: This can be described in terms of four main stages:

• Stage 1 Scoping: basic information and data about the catchment are collected; major data gaps and the key issues affecting water resources management are identified; and the collection of further data, or any extra studies, are initiated.
• Stage 2 Technical assessment: an assessment is made of the water resources of the catchment (both groundwater and surface water); and the catchment is given a water resource availability status, taking into account environmental and ecological needs.
• Stage 3 Strategy development and publication: a range of options is developed, and a preferred option selected, for achieving the target resource availability status, taking into account socio-economic factors, the equitable allocation of water resources and conflict resolution; the WRMS itself is developed and published.
• Stage 4 Implementation: the WRMS is implemented; the implementation is monitored and the success of the WRMS judged against suitable indicators; and the WRMS is reviewed if necessary.

Participation strategy: Participation is a core requirement of the WFD. Providing opportunities for the participation of stakeholders and the general public in the WRMS process was given a high priority in this project, with a consensus-building approach taken, to enable regulation to be more effective and efficient. Key aspects are as follows:

• Stakeholders would fall into one of three categories: 1) Core stakeholders, likely to be affected significantly by the WRMS, and closely involved throughout the process; 2) Interested stakeholders, who want to receive and comment on documents, and have some influence on the process; and 3) Other stakeholders and the general public.
• For efficient and effective engagement with stakeholders, the bulk of the communication would be by email or internet (although allowances are made for those without internet access). A catchment website would be established as the main channel for information, the source of key documents, and as a forum for feedback.
• A wide variety of methods is included in the participation process, such as: email communication; an informative and interactive website; stakeholder workshops; key documents openly available; and one-to-one meetings with stakeholders.
• The whole WRMS process, including the opportunities for participation, has been summarised in a series of annotated flowcharts. The process is designed to ensure consistency between catchments, while allowing flexibility to complete parts of the process quickly if the issues are simple, or agreement is reached early.

Recommendations for uptake: The high-level process for WRMS development set out in this report is flexible and robust, and able to be adapted to catchments with issues of different complexity. Before WRMS can be put into practice, further detailed work is required in the following areas: adjusting the prioritisation methodology to fit actual data; developing technical methodologies (or using existing methodologies from elsewhere) for resource assessment and options appraisal; and designing standard website and document formats.

Key words: water resources management, catchment, equitable allocation, environment, participation, consultation, stakeholder, Water Framework Directive.

Copies of this report are available from the Foundation, in electronic format on CDRom at £20.00 + VAT or hard copy at £35.00, less 20% to FWR members.

N.B. The report is available for download from the SNIFFER Website