Environment Agency Plan
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EA South West LEAPs/113l environment agency plan WEST DORSET FIRST ANNUAL REVIEW April 1999 - March 2000 Blandford * Forum Bournemouth E n v ir o n m e n t Ag e n c y E n v ir o n m e n t Ag e n c y Additional copies her copies of this Annual Review can be obtained from: NATIONAL LIBRARY & The LEAP Team INFORMATION SERVICE Environment Agency SOUTH WEST REGION Rivers House Manley House, Kestrel Way, Sunrise Business Park Exeter EX2 7LQ Higher Shaftesbury Road Blandford Forum Dorset DT11 8ST Tel: 01 258 456080 Fax: 01258 455998 Or by e-mail to: [email protected] General Enquiries For general information about the work of the Environment Agency or information about a specific matter, please contact our Customer Contact Team at the Blandford Office. Tel: 01258 456080 The Internet For general information about the Environment Agency please visit our website at: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk Environment Agency Copyright Waiver This report is intended to be used widely, and may be quoted, copied or reproduced in any way, provided that the extracts are not quoted out of context and that due acknowledgement is given to the Environment Agency. Maps are reproduced from Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 scale map by the Environment Agency with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office © Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Licence Number CD 03177C Published September 2000 Publication code: SW-09/00-0.4k-D-BFPE £A-S©ukWW«** LSA<S )|*3 / CONTENTS • Contents 1. Introduction....................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Who are the Environment Agency?.............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Funding and the Environment Agency......................................................................................... 1 1.3 Local Environment Agency Plans..................................................................................................1 1.4 Our Environmental Strategy.........................................................................................................2 1.5 Activity tables............................................................................................................................ 3 1.6 Fund-raising and partnerships........................... ..........................................................................3 1.7 Overview of the LEAP area.......................................................................................................... 3 2. A better environment through partnership......................................................................................6 2.1 Working with regional government............................................................................................. 6 2.2 Working with local planning authorities........................................................................................6 2.3 Coastal zone management plans................................................................................................. 7 2.4 . Working with Wessex Water......................................................................................................... 8 2.5 Local Agenda 21........................................................................................................................ 9 2.6 Working with farmers and landowners......................................................................................... 9 2.7 Working with business.............................................................................................................. 10 2.8 Conservation........................................................................................................................... 10 2.9 Developing recreation.............................................................................................................. 11 2.10 Education................................................................................................................................ 11 2.11 Public Registers and access to environmental information.............................................................12 3. Progress overview........................ ....................................................................................... ......... 13 3.1 Progress overview.....................................................................................................................13 3.2 Priorities..................................................................................................................................13 4. Activity tables................................................................................................................................ 14 4.1 The setting and maintenance of river water quality targets...........................................................14 4.2 Impact of rural land use on water quality....................................................................................15 4.3 Impact of sewage and sewerage on water quality........................................................................16 4.4 Protection of ecologically important habitats and species.............................................................19 4.5 Loss and decline in the value of riverine and floodplain habitat..................................................... 24 4.6 Limited distribution of salmonid fish...........................................................................................25 4.7 Need to protect features of archaeological interest......................................................................25 4.8 Maintaining our rivers and flood defences.................................................................................. 26 4.9 Provision of new flood alleviation facilities.................................................................................. 26 4.10 The adequate provision of flood warning and emergency response.............................................. 27 4.11 Potential impact of development on the environment................................................................. 28 4.12 Developing strategies for sustainable waste management.............................................................29 4.13 Contaminated land................................................................................................................... 32 4.14 Securing future public water supplies..........................................................................................33 4.15 Flow fluctuations at Upwey Springs............................................................................................35 5. Appendices....................................................................................................................................36 5.1 Duties, powers and interests of the Environment Agency..............................................................36 5.2 Guide to previous West Dorset LEAP actions............................................................................... 40 5.3 The setting and maintenance of water quality targets.................................................................. 41 5.4 EC Habitats and EC Birds Directive......... ....................................................................................42 5.5 Biodiversity in the LEAP area...................................................................................................... 44 6. Glossary.........................................................................................................................................46 7. References.....................................................................................................................................48 • 29 September 2000 West Dorset LEAP First Annual Review Page i • ENVIRONMENT AGENCY IIBIU lllll lllll 081002 • INTRODUCTION Foreword The Environment Agency for England and Wales has extensive responsibilities for pollution prevention and control, flood warning and defence, water resource management, conservation, recreation, navigation and fisheries. Across these functions we also have a wider remit to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development to form opinions on the state of the environment. We are committed to delivering environmental improvement at the local level and one of the ways we do this is through Local Environment Agency plans - or LEAPs for short. The LEAP process consists of a Consultation Draft, a Plan and Annual Reviews. The LEAP describes the environmental issues that we have Identified in the LEAP area and details the work or actions, as they are referred to, that we intend to undertake towards resolving these problems over the next five years. During the five years, the actions are monitored and we report on progress in a published Annual Review. This is the First Annual Review of the West Dorset LEAP which was originally published in 1999 and reports on progress from March 1999 to February 2000. The LEAP area is a collection of small river catchments sharing the common feature of flowing into the sea on the south coast of West Dorset. Development is concentrated in the east of the area around the town of Weymouth, the market town of Bridport is important in the west of the area. There are also three significant harbours, Weymouth, Portland and West Bay. The plan area lies entirely within