Working Together
Regional Water Planning Groups
The Environment Agency’s National Framework for Water Resources, published in 2020, aims to enable a clearer national response to water resource planning. The framework gives water companies and other sectors the task of developing long-term regional water resource plans together, ensuring that all the different water companies align across the country so there is enough to go around. They also enable better planning for other sectors to be developed alongside the water companies’ plans.
Water Resources East (WRE) was tasked with delivering the Regional Water Resources Plan for Eastern England, this looks ahead to 2050 and beyond. WRE cover the majority of Essex, another group called Water Resources South East (WRSE) cover the west of Essex county and will also publish a Regional Plan for this area. Three other regional groups represent the rest of England. Regional water resources plans are the first to bring together multiple water company plans, as well as considering the water needs of other sectors including agriculture and industry users.
Catchments Partnerships
Catchment Partnerships are officer groups who operate together at a much more local level; they understand the water challenges and character of their area by involving a range of groups. Catchment partnerships are actively working in all 100+ river catchments across England, directly supporting achievement of many of the targets in the Anglian and Thames River Basin Management Plans.
There are five catchment partnerships in Essex, these are:
- Essex Rivers Hub
- South Essex Catchment Partnership
- Roding, Beam & Ingrebourne (RBI) Catchment Partnership
- Lea and Lower Lea Catchment Partnerships
- CamEO Catchment Partnership
Visit each Catchment Partnership websites to view local catchment plans and activities in your area. Like this river restoration project from the Essex Rivers Hub. You can work with catchment partnerships as part of a community group or become a local river champion.