The Arun and Western Streams catchment is in West Sussex. It includes the Rivers of the Arun and Rother and several small coastal streams which feed into Pagham and Chichester Harbours. The Arun and Western Streams water environment supports internationally important wildlife sites, agriculture, industry and tourism.
Vision:
Our vision is for a healthy river system where all interested sectors, groups or individuals may contribute towards restoring the natural environment to benefit people and wildlife now and in the future.
Aims
The aims of the Arun and Western Streams Catchment Partnership are to:
- Reach a shared understanding of the catchment’s priorities
- Facilitate delivery of the Catchment Plan
- Promote a community led approach to improving the water environment
This approach is called an ‘integrated catchment based approach’ by Defra. For more information about this click here.
The Issues
The condition of water courses in the catchment is not good enough and this means the abundance and diversity of plant and animal species is lower than it should be. We are working together to understand the pressures on the water environment, how to address them and actions required improve the environment. Investigations have shown that there are a number of issues having a significant impact in Arun and Western Streams Catchment. For further information on these click here.
Background
The Arun and Western Streams Catchment Partnership was established in 2012 for the purpose of inspiring community action to bring about water quality improvements. Defra appointed the Arun and Rother Rivers Trust (ARRT) to chair this partnership. The work is driven by the Water Framework Directive which commits European member states to achieve ‘good’ status for all water bodies (including marine waters up to one nautical mile).
In its first phase the primary aim of the partnership was to develop a Catchment Plan which lists the projects that will improve the river for people and for wildlife for the long term. Now that this document has been produced, the focus is now on securing funding to facilitating delivery.