1. The Role of the Environment
Agency and catchment coordinators
David Dangerfield
Director, Yorkshire & North East
22 November 2013 (Fountains Abbey)
Catchment Based Approach Conference
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2. Our hopes for the Catchment Based
Approach
! Catchment scale focus to integrate
regulation, delivery, and collaborative
working for benefit of wildlife and
livelihoods
! Vibrant partnerships involving a broad range of
stakeholders are vital to success
! You (Catchment Hosts and Catchment Coordinators) are
key to helping to develop these inclusive partnerships
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3. Our commitment to partnership
working
! Partnership working is
supported throughout the
Environment Agency
! For example, working with the
Wandle Trust to help tackle low
category pollution incidents
! We are using what we’ve learnt
from the pilot catchments to
inform how we work with
partners in other catchments
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4. Our Role – a valued Partner
! Share evidence (including economic) and expertise to
help groups:
! Develop a common understanding of key issues
! Create shared objectives
! Prioritise and target effort
! Deliver actions on the ground
! Undertake our regulatory duties to reduce the risk of
partners’ actions being undermined by illegal activity

5. Our Role – provide a strategic view
! Provide strategic overview across catchments at :
! Area,
! River Basin District and
! National levels
! A key role will be to gather Partnership Groups’
contributions to the river basin planning process
! Administer Defra’s Catchment Partnership Fund

6. Our Role - Catchment coordinators
! Catchment coordinators have a pivotal role:
! First point of contact with catchment hosts
! Enhance relationships with partners
! Feed information into groups, and gather contributions
from groups
! Integrate the activities of Environment Agency teams
with our partners
! There will be flexibility in this role to accommodate
differences in local circumstances (e.g. partners and
geography)
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7. Concluding Points
! We value partnership working and have worked with
many of you to deliver great benefits
! We now need to build on these successes
! We look forward to working with you so all partners
have greater opportunities to improving the water
environment
! THANK YOU
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