THE RIVER ALMOND CATCHMENT: -A PLAN FOR INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT
This 1999 nomination, submitted on behalf of the members of The River Almond Forum, is for its plan for river catchment management. The River Almond is one of the most polluted rivers in Scotland. To improve its quality and environmental value it will require a long-term and multi-partner commitment. The launch of the integrated management plan in 1998 (the first comprehensive river catchment management plan to be published in Scotland) was the first step in this process. West Lothian Council is leading this strategic initiative and through a developing action programme is working with the statutory, voluntary and private sectors, to meet the objectives set in the plan. Before the reorganisation of local government in 1996 a broad partnership was brought together by The Scottish Wildlife Trust to prepare an integrated management plan for the River Almond, as a pilot, driven by the European Water Directive that is now expected to come into force in late 2000. Interrupted by the events of 1996, including changes to other statutory bodies at that same time, West Lothian Council re-established the lead project group partnership and this culminated in the publication of the plan in July 1997. The plan, co-ordinated on behalf of the partnership by the SWT, pioneers a comprehensive approach to river catchment management. In addressing the priorities the working partnership is introducing new mechanisms and initiatives and it is these that will be of particular value to others as river catchment management becomes a strategic planning issue in the future, to be responded to by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency [SEPA], local planning authorities and other key players. The river is 48 kilometres in length and has a catchment of 375 square kilometres; most of which is in West Lothian although its source is in North Lanarkshire and it enters the Forth at Cramond, in Edinburgh. It is for this reason that the initiative also includes close working with the adjoining local authorities. Much of the catchment is urbanised which, added to the effluent arising from abandoned coal mines and tips, and intensive agriculture in its lower course, contributes to the legacy of a polluted river that only co-operative working will improve. In June 1998 West Lothian Council hosted a conference to launch the plan and this marked the public start of the integrated action programme. This is being delivered by the River Almond Forum, chaired by the Council, and is largely made up of all the statutory bodies that have a role to play. It is responsible for steering the action programme across the catchment-since the river is an entity and no artificial boundaries should therefore matter. For its part the Council has introduced a range of initiatives, through policy, integrated projects, targeted investment and community involvement. Selected examples illustrate this; 1. Through its adopted planning policy to apply the principles of sustainable urban drainage to all developments, West Lothian Council has been the leading authority in applying the associated techniques to minimise surface urban water pollution. Its partnership with SEPA has pioneered the application of the practice in the UK and is ensuring that no future development will add to the pollution load of the Almond. 2. The Council now has a programme of capital investment to tackle effluent entering the Almond from mineral waste tips held in its ownership. The most recently completed scheme, to halt pollution from the Foulshiels Bing, Stoneyburn, required an investment of £150k and this has successfully resolved the problem through the introduction of a reed bed treatment system. 3. The White Burn Initiative, Whitburn, a tributary of the Almond, has been the first demonstration driven by the plan to develop an entirely community led project to improve and enhance what has become an urbanised water course, flowing through parkland within the centre of the town. Previously contaminated by sewage and mine water effluent the water quality has now been cleaned-up sufficiently through independent action by East of Scotland Water and The Coal Authority, to enable the first phase of landscape and biodiversity enhancement work to take place. This is currently being planned in association with the community steering group, with a project budget of £40k, a training element and school participation. 4. The commitment to the catchment plan influenced the selection of the "rivers and streams" habitat by the West Lothian Biodiversity Steering Group. As a national [UK] and local habitat priority, an action plan was adopted by the Council and its partners in June 1999. With agreed actions and long term targets, the plan focuses on the Almond and is also to be adopted, in a modified form, by the adjoining local biodiversity partnerships, to reflect that biodiversity management cannot be effective if constrained by statutory boundaries. 5. Community involvement must feature highly if catchment management is to be effective. For this reason a local grant aimed at landowners, funded jointly by the Council and Scottish Natural Heritage, provides sums of up to £3000 for river and stream side improvement works. A themed "Water Week" was held for the first time in the spring by the West Lothian Environmental Support Group-a Ranger led body representing a wide range of volunteers in the county. And, in the annual "Spring Clean" that nationally raises the profile of litter and the responsibility of the individual, rivers, streams and the canal featured highly in the Council's co-ordinated programme. In its state of the environment report on water, launched in May 1999, SEPA referred to the Almond initiative as an example of a partnership led management plan, and listed its own targets to improve the river quality by 2005. This illustrates that the plan, while ambitious, depends upon a wide contribution across many sectors. The Council has identified its commitment through new strategic initiatives and this is being mirrored by the other partners involved through linked projects.
The judges sought a presentation on this nomination and visited the Almond catchment. They found this entry a difficult one to appraise fairly within the criteria established for these Awards. This is not because they are in any doubt about the value of the outcomes on the ground, or the involvement of the West Lothian planning service. The difficulty arises from the fact that this nomination relates to the implementation of action over a wide area, with opportunistic as well as programmed elements, results are dispersed, and the process is one that will continue and develop into the future. All the judges were emphatic about the outstanding value of the work being done here, in an area which goes beyond West Lothian to include parts of Edinburgh and North Lanarkshire. They looked on the ground at the example of innovative water treatment arrangements at Foulshiels bing. With the obligations for the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and others which will arise from the Water Framework and Urban Waste Water Treatment Directives, the judges could see that these pioneering efforts in the River Almond catchment will have a wider interest and applicability. They have been encouraged by the range of action on the ground that this nomination covers, by its engagement of local interests, by its imaginative use of limited resources, and by its importance for economic development and the well being of communities. Accordingly, the judges recommend it for 1999 Commendation in this category.