Michelle Dolphin - 27-Sep-2007
The Environment Agency has published the
final strategy for managing the water resources
of the Shropshire Middle Severn.
The ‘Shropshire Middle Severn Catchment
Abstraction Management Strategy’ (CAMS)
document sets out a framework for how water
resources should be managed.
The main watercourses are the Rivers Tern,
Perry, Roden, Strine and Meese, the Cound
Brook and Rea Brook. It does not include
the River Severn at it was considered in
the Severn Corridor CAMS which was published
in June 2003.
It sets out the licensing system for the
removal, or abstraction, of water from the
river, and how water resources can be protected
for the future.
Water is a precious resource and there
are competing priorities between the needs
of public water supply, agriculture, power
companies, industry, navigation and recreation.
The CAMS makes more information on water
resources publicly available. It will also
allow the balance between the needs of abstractors,
other water users and the water environment
to be considered, in consultation with the
local community and other interested parties.
The finished strategy sets out the licensing
practice for taking water out of the Shropshire
Middle Severn area and identifies how this
should be managed in a sustainable way.
The strategy will then be reviewed every
six years.
Environment Agency Regulatory Officer,
Kate Hurst, says: “Water is a vital resource.
It is important that we manage it in a sustainable
way so as to protect the river for future
generations, but we must regulate it in
a way that is fair to everyone. This is
set out in our Strategy for the area”
A copy of this document will also be posted
on the Environment Agency’s website www.environment-agency.gov.uk.
Copies can also be obtained from Kate Hurst
at the Environment Agency, Hafren House,
Welshpool Road, Shelton, Shrewsbury SY3
8BB or by e-mail request to cams.uppersevern@environment-agency.gov.uk.
According to Chambers Dictionary, a catchment
is ‘the area of land that is drained by
a particular river system or lake.’
Abstraction
Abstraction is the removal of water, either
permanently or temporarily, from rivers,
canals, reservoirs or underground rocks.
The main challenge is to meet the reasonable
needs of abstractors while leaving enough
water in the environment to conserve aquatic
habitats, and for other water users.
Catchment Abstraction Management Strategies
(CAMS)
The development of CAMS was one of a number
of proposals made by the Government following
a review of the abstraction licensing system
in 1999. There are 129 CAMS areas in England
and Wales, where abstraction is controlled
by a licensing system that was introduced
in 1965. This system is administered by
the Environment Agency. In 1999 the Government
reviewed the licensing system and identified
a number of changes. Foremost among these
was the proposal for Catchment Abstraction
Management Strategies (CAMS). Another key
outcome of the Government’s review was the
decision that abstraction licences should
be time-limited. CAMS is the mechanism for
managing time-limited licenses by determining
whether they should be renewed and, if so,
on what terms.
+ More
Environment Agency hunting waste cheats
in Staffordshire
Michelle Dolphin - 27-Sep-2007
The Environment Agency’s Environment Management
Team is warning local businesses that they
are out and about in the Staffordshire area
to clamp down on sites where it is suspected
that waste is being kept, treated or disposed
of illegally.
The crack down comes as investigations
this year alone reveal that 25 sites across
Staffordshire are breaking the law. A further
60 sites across the county are currently
being investigated and there may be more
illegal sites out there.
Businesses who are breaking the law undercut
legitimate waste businesses. These sites
also have a greater potential for causing
environmental pollution.
Illegal sites face a possible maximum fine
of £50,000 and 12 months in prison
on conviction in a magistrates court. Earlier
this year, a company was found guilty and
fined £3,000 in Stafford Magistrates
Court for storing and dumping waste without
a Waste Management Licence.
In Staffordshire the Environment Agency
is committed to working with the local council,
Staffordshire Police and Staffordshire Fire
& Rescue Service as part of a County-wide
Fly-Tipping Forum. The forum aims to tackle
both fly-tipping and other aspects of waste
crime which blight local communities.
Mark Smith, Environment Management Team
Leader says: “ We will be visiting all waste
sites in Staffordshire which do not have
licences and we will take appropriate legal
action. Illegal sites can be reported to
the Environment Agency on 0800 80 70 60.
To reduce the risks to people and the environment,
anyone who handles waste needs to take all
the necessary steps to ensure that it is
handled correctly. We want to make South
Staffordshire a better place.”
+ More
Environment Agency managers get their hands
dirty for the environment
Michelle Dolphin - 25-Sep-2007
The Environment Agency’s Midlands Regional
Management Team will get their hands dirty
to make Birmingham Ecopark a better place
on Thursday 27 September 2007, as part of
their ongoing contribution to World Environment
Day (5 June each year).
They will spend the day building a rustic
outdoor classroom for The Wildlife Trust
for Birmingham and the Black Country’s Education
Centre, The Ecopark, Small Heath, Birmingham,
to help encourage local children to understand
and respect the environment.
The volunteers, all senior managers from
the Environment Agency’s Solihull, Shrewsbury,
Nottingham and Lichfield offices, are using
their Environmental Leave to carry out the
project. Every Environment Agency employee
is encouraged to spend up to two days each
year on practical work to improve the environment.
The team will build the 3-metre wide hexagonal
structure from Sweet Chestnut logs. The
classroom will, initially, remain open at
the sides. These will be built later by
local schoolchildren.
The classroom will be used by the Cole
Heath Consortium of Schools and for the
Forest Schools Activity for running environmental
education activities.
Forest Schools Activity is an idea brought
across from Scandinavia. It teaches children
a respect for the outdoors and an awareness
of the changing seasons.
Environment Agency Midlands Regional Director,
Mark Sitton-Kent, says “It is important
that, as senior managers, we keep focused
on what the Environment Agency is trying
to achieve. By getting out of the office
and building an outdoor classroom in which
young people can be taught to value and
look after the environment, we are making
a direct contribution to the future of our
community.”
Craig Wood, of The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham
and The Black Country, says “Without the
support of organisations like the Environment
Agency, major improvements to our facilities
and those of other educational establishments
in the area would not happen. This is a
valuable way of organisations making a real
difference to the local community.”
