How We Work

Guided by our 2021-2027 Catchment Plan

Our catchment management plan is a live document and guides our priorities between 2021 and 2027. It helps us to work with others productively towards our shared aims for a nature-rich, sustainable water environment.

Catchment Management Plan

Collaboratively

Partners

Discussion and decisions made about the future and actions of the EHCP are open to and made by all partners, no matter their affiliation. This includes community groups, water companies and landowners alongside local authorities and regulators. Discussions are honest and supportive with actions taken together towards a common aim.

Four meetings a year

We meet up every 3 months or so. Two of those are in-person (June and December) with a hybrid online presence and optional site or project visit afterwards for those attending in person. The other two are held online.

These follow a regular structure but as there are several different catchments and many other calls on the partners’ time, we also use pre-arranged themes for each meeting that address one of our 5 objectives . In this way they can choose which meetings are most relevant or important for them.

COGs

As we are not one single river catchment and whilst we all bring many similar and overlapping needs and issues to the partnership, the local context of each unique catchment is important to embrace within the identity of the whole East Hampshire area. For this reason, we established Catchment Opportunity Groups which focus on each river catchment and gather to discuss their relevant local issues and then share through the EHCP. Each river or coastal catchment is a cog in the larger workings of the EHCP machine; each as important and valuable as any other, each facilitating the work of the others.

Through Projects and Proposals

We are jointly constructing project proposals to alleviate issues in the catchments and by bolstering individual partners capacity to achieving their shared targets.

Current projects

Shawford Lake river restoration. Revitalising 9km of stream from its source to sea through creating a new river channel around and obstruction, whilst supporting community use of the historic lake and opportunities to engage with the new stream. This project will help to build resilience to the River Hamble trout and sea trout populations in the face of pollution, development pressure and many other threats to natural river ecosystem functions including adapting to the extremes of climate change.

Developing project proposals

- Catchment CARE– Community Action for River Ecosystems. Enabling a step change in data and evidence through citizen science, supported by focussed, skilled interpretation and action.

- SPACEpilot – Spatial Planning Application Commitments to the Environment. supporting greater understanding of environmental improvements gained through developments.

In the future

Aspirations for the catchment and how we bring change and improvement are in discussion in every one of our quarterly meetings and working groups discussions. These areas of focus could include:

Greater use of ecosystem services and a natural capital framework for our decisions and support
Improved links with landscape scale opportunities and decisions such as through ELMS, countryside stewardship and sustainable farming incentives.
Engaging fully with action that supports the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, or Land Use Framework approaches.
Raise awareness and engage a broad range of society in how these natural water catchments are managed and protected and how truly sustainable and circular economies can be used for reliable sustainable growth.

We look forward to a time when our existence and core activities are supported with funding and we are recognized for the many beneficial collaborations and outcomes we are facilitating at a scale no individual or organization can achieve alone.

Do you want to help us in this challenge?

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