CIWEM Annual Conference, 30 th April 2009 River SSSIs: Prioritising Steps on the Road to Recovery...

CIWEM Annual Conference, 30th April 2009

River SSSIs:

Prioritising Steps on the Road to Recovery

Joanna Eyquem MCIWEM CEnv

30th April 2009


(1) What is the scale of the task?• Condition of SSSIs.

• Condition of river SSSIs.• Hydromorphological pressures on our rivers.

Presentation Structure

(2) How can we target resources? • Need for prioritisation.

• A tried and tested approach.


Sites of Special Scientific Interest

• >4000 sites in England• 7% land area

• 44 rivers with at least a part notified as SSSI

• > 2,500 km of river length (7881ha).

• Whole-river SSSIs


SSSI Public Service Agreement

2004…

…2010“Bring into favourable or recovering (target)

condition 95% of the area

of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)

in England by 2010”


(1) What is the scale of the task?


Progress since 2004 (all SSSIs)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Year

% in

Ta

rge

t C

on

dit

ion

Trajectory Actual


Progress since 2004 (all SSSIs)

62.967.4

72.375.4

82.785.98

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Year

% in

Ta

rge

t C

on

dit

ion

Trajectory Actual


Condition March 2009 (all SSSIs)

44.38%

41.60%

9.50%

4.47% 0.05%

Area favourable

Area unfavourablerecovering

Area unfavourable nochange

Area unfavourabledeclining

Area destroyed / partdestroyed

85.98% Meeting PSA Target Condition


Condition of Open Waters


State of the Environment 2008

Account for only 0.7% of designated SSSI area(total SSSI area = 1,076,986 ha)

River and Streams


Improvement in 2009?

• Investing in the East of England’s natural assets (16th April 2009)

91%


Hydromorphological pressures

Fine sedimentation

River Hull Headwaters, Yorkshire



Channelisation and disconnection from floodplain

Bubwith 1935: Pre widening Bubwith 1935 – Post widening

River Derwent, Yorkshire



Inappropriate bankside structure

River Axe, Devon



River Avon, Wiltshire

In-channel structures



5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000

Chainage Downstream (m)

Ele

vati

on

(m

AO

D)

Surveyed Water Level (Oct 02 with stopboards) Agreed Summer Water Levels Bed Elevation

In-channel structures

River Beult, Kent


(2) How can we target resources?


Mechanisms for improving SSSI Rivers

• Biodiversity Outcome Measureso Sites of Special Scientific Interest (OM4)o Biodiversity Action Plan priority habitats (OM5)

• Chalk rivers, fens, floodplain grazing marsh, lowland meadows, reedbed, wet woodland

• Water Level Management Plans

• Strategic SSSI Restoration Plans

• Hydromorphological mitigation measures for WFD

Now is the time for action, but where do we start?


The need for prioritisation

Limited resourcesFunding

ManpowerTime

Many potential actions to improve 1800km of river

Action plan to work towards“favourable condition” for riverine SSSIs.

Current prioritisation

based on “Area vs Cost”


Prioritisation approach

Secondary benefits

Ease of Implementation

Area vs Cost

Timescale required

Technical Effectiveness

Prioritisation Ranking



• Sustainability

• Certainty in delivering favourable condition

• River AND floodplain habitat improvement

• Upstream/downstream benefits

• “No regrets” / quick wins


Secondary Benefits

• SAC / other environmental features (not necessarily within designated SSSI)

• Flood risk management.

• Other enhancement initiatives.

• Public amenity & access



• Landowner support

• Requirement for legal consents

• Existing initiatives

• Low risk / high certainty


Timescales of implementation

2009…

…2010

Short, Medium and Long term actions


• River “area”+ Floodplain area

• Upstream/downstream benefit to SSSI?

• Design, construction and maintenance cost

Area vs Cost


Weightings


10%

Timescale for implementation

10%

Secondary benefits

10%

Area of SSSI vs cost (£/ha improved)

20%


Score50%


Lessons learnt

• Subjectivityo Prioritisation developed and agreed by project team.o Consistency check required.

• Limited control on influence of third parties.

• Flexibility of programme reduces over time.

• The measured “area” of benefit is low for SSSI rivers.


Headlines (1) Scale of the task

• Riverine SSSIs are our best rivers, but o 72% of designated river is in unfavourable condition. o Only 2% of rivers are designated.

• Historic and widespread channel modification means that the scale of the task is challenging!

• Hydromorphology is one key pressure.


Headlines (2) Targeting resources

• There are currently several high profile drivers, that we can use to improve riverine SSSIs in the short, medium and long-term.

• Current prioritisation of actions is undertaken on an “Area vs Cost” basis - rivers only account for 0.7% of SSSI by area in England.

• A more balanced prioritisation approach has been developed for SSSI rivers, which could be applied more widely.


Thank You

[email protected] 476612

CIWEM Annual Conference, 30 th April 2009 River SSSIs: Prioritising Steps on the Road to Recovery...

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