local environment agency pi DOVE ENVIRONMENTAL OVERVIEW AUGUST 1999 Ashbourne Dove LEAP Foreword I am delighted to introduce the Consultation Draft for the Dove Local Environment Agency Plan. This is the third LEAP to be produced in the Upper Trent Area of the Midlands Region and looks at environmental issues within the River Dove catchment. The Agency in consultation with key organisations has identified a number of environmental issues relevant to this area. We need to confirm that we have addressed all current issues and the options to resolve them, taking into account the often conflicting demands on the environment by its users. The LEAP process will provide a vision for the environmental needs of the River Dove area. It will provide a framework within which we can seek to develop new partnerships with organisations and bodies with whom we wish to share a common approach on environmental , issues. This report is published as part of our commitment to being open and consulting with others about our work. This will be part of a major consultation exercise and marks the start of a three month period of consultation. Following the consultation period the Agency will produce a five year action plan which will set out a costed programme of work by the Agency and other organisations. Annual reviews over the five year period will report on significant achievements and progress being made on the issues. Your views are extremely important. Only by letting us know your opinions will we be able to make a real difference to your local environment. I look forward to hearing from you. Philip Burns En v ir o n m e n t A g e n c y Area Manager Upper Trent Area Midlands Region NATIONAL LIBRARY & Environment Agency INFORMATION SERVICE MIDLANDS REGION 10 Warwick Road Ohon, Solihull B92 7HX Dove LEAP^ " % Page i Consultation Draft 1 INTRODUCTION This document provides an overview of the environment of the Dove catchment. It brings together and examines information on the various pressures on the local environment and its consequent state. The Environmental Overview supports the Draft Dove Local Environment Agency Plan (LEAP) which was launched for public consultation on 4 May 1999. The LEAP identifies issues that arise as a result of the pressures and proposes actions to help resolve these. Measuring the state of the environment is a fundamental aspect of the Environment Agency’s work. In order to provide a structural way of monitoring and assessing the state of the environment the Agency has developed a framework of six basic Viewpoints which reflect the different possible ways of looking at the environment. These are described in Section 2 as: • Land use and environmental resources • Biological populations, communities and biodiversity • , Compliance with standards, targets and classification schemes • The health of environmental resources' • Environmental change at long term reference sites • The aesthetic quality of the environment The Viewpoints framework provides the means of identifying the basic questions that need to be answered and can be used as a tool to help assess the rate of progress towards achieving the objective of sustainable development. It aims to improve the overall integration of the activities of organisations with environmental monitoring responsibilities. The framework provides the basis for assessing priorities for action and charting progress of environmental management plans and targets, and producing information on the environment for all of those who have an interest in it. The pressures on the environment can be fhought of as different sets of stresses, and the manner in which they affect the state oi the environment as causing different strains upon it. The pressures themselves arise from both natural forces and from human influences. The aims of the Stresses and Strains framework is to ailow the Agency to assess and analyse the extent and magnitude of the pressuies and their impacts. This will help the Agency to prioritise and manage the stress more effectively. In this overview, pressures on the environment are described in Section 3 as:- • Natural forces • Societal influences • Abstractions and removals • Usage, releases and discharges • Waste arisings and disposal • Illegal practices ENVIRONMENT AGENCY Dove Environmental Overview Page i July 1999 048964 1 CONTENTS CONTENTS Page No. 1.0 INTRODUCTION i 2.0 DOVE VIEWPOINTS 1 2.1 LAND USE AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES 2 2.1.1 Administrative areas and land use planning 2 2.1.2 Geology and topography 5 2.1.3 Climate and air quality 6 2.1.4 Agriculture 7 2.1.5 Industry 11 2.1.6 Minerals 11 2.1.7 Contaminated land 12 2.1.8 Catchments and flood defence 13 2.1.9 Water resources 16 2.1.10 Conservation, landscape and heritage resources 19 2.2 THE STATUS OF KEY BIOLOGICAL POPULATIONS, COMMUNITIES AND DIVERSITY 26 2.2.1 Biodiversity Action Plans 26 2.2.2 Habitats 27 2.2.3 Species 28 2.2.4 Fisheries 31 2.2.5 Invasive species 32 2.2.6 Indicator species 33 2.2.7 River Habitat surveys 34 2.3 COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STANDARDS, TARGETS AND POLICIES/STRATEGIES 35 2.3.1 Air quality standards 35 2.3.2 Process Industries Regulation (PIR) 38 2.3.3 Radioactive substances regulation 40 2.3.4 Waste management and regulation 40 2.3.5 European water quality Directives 42 2.3.6 UK water quality objectives 45 2.3.7 Water resources objectives and standards 51 2.3.8 Flood defence standards of service 55 2.3.9 Flood warning standards of service 56 2.3.10 Nature conservation standards 57 2.4 HEALTH OF THE ENVIRONMENT 58 2.4.1 Introduction 58 2.4.2 Air ozone 59 2.4.3 Natural radiation 60 2.4.4 Acidification 60 2.4.5 Water 61 2.4.6 Alder disease 62 2.5 LONG TERM REFERENCE SITES 64 2.5.1 Air quality monitoring 64 Dove Environmental Overview Page ii July 1999 1 CONTENTS 2.5.2 Environmental change network 64 2.5.3 Harmonised monitoring sites 65 2.6 AESTHETIC QUALITY 66 2.6.1 Introduction 66 2.6.2 Tranquil areas 66 2.6.3 Landscape assessments 67 2.6.4 Litter 68 3.0 DOVE STRESSES AND STRAINS 69 3.1 NATURAL FORCES 70 3.1.1 Climate change 70 3.1.2 Flooding 71 3.2 SOCIETAL INFLUENCES 72 3.2.1 Population 72 3.2.2 Households 72 3.2.3 Development pressures 75 3.2.4 Surface water management 76 3.2.5 Water demand management 77 3.2.6 Transport 77 3.2.7 Energy 80 3.2.8 Heavy industrial processes 82 3.2.9 Recreation 82 3.3 ABSTRACTIONS AND REMOVALS 83 3.3.1 Minerals 83 3.3.2 Water abstraction 83 3.4 USAGE, RELEASES AND DISCHARGES 85 3.4.1 Industrial emissions 85 3.4.2 AMP3 and the National Environment Programme 86 3.4.3 Intermittent and diffuse pollution 87 3.4.4 Integrated pollution control 88 3.4.5 Consented discharges to water 89 3.4.6 Pesticides 90 3.5 WASTE ARISINGS AND DISPOSAL 93 3.5.1 Management of wastes 93 3.5.2 Waste arisings 93 3.5.3 Waste management facilities 95 3.5.4 Recovery 97 3.6 . ILLEGAL PRACTICES 97 3.6.1 Pollution incidents 97 3.6.2 Fly tipping 102 3.6.3 Fish kills 102 3.6.4 Unlicensed waste sites 102 Dove Environmental Overview Page iii v July 1999 1 CONTENTS 4.0 CONCLUSIONS Table 1 Administrative details 2 Table 2 Agricultural land classification 9 Table 3 Holdings by EC farm type 9 Table 4 Agricultural land use 10 Table 5 Minerals 11 Table 6 Abstraction licences by subcatchment 16 Table 7 Indicator species in the Dove catchment 33 Table 8 Limits and Objectives: National Air quality Strategy 37 Table 9 IPC Authorised sites 39 Table 10 Rivers ecosystem classification 45 Table 11 GQA scheme classification 46 Table 12 Length of river in GQA grade 46 Table 13 River stretch quality 47 Table 14 Water resource obligations 54 Table 15 Flood defence standards of service 56 Table 16 Flood warning classification 57 Table 17 Area of tranquility (Sq Km) 67 Table 18 % of area which, is tranquil 67 Table 19 Average size of tranquil area (Sq km) 67 Table 20 Population statistics 72 Table 21 Housing figures 73 Table 22 Development plans 76 Table 23 Contribution from,road.transport to UK emissions 78 Table 24 Delivered energy, 1995 80 Table 25 Energy use by sector, 1995 80 Table 26 IPC Authorisations by industry sector 89 Table 27 Pesticide use 91 Table 28 Waste arisings 93 Table 29 Waste management facilities 96 Table 30 Landfill sites 96 Table 31 Water pollution incidents by source (1997) 98 Table 32 Water pollution incidents by type (1997) 100 Map la Local Administration Map lb LEAP Location . * . Map 2 Geology Map 3 Topography Map 4 Rainfall Maps 5a-i Air Quality Pollutants Map 6 Agricultural land classification Map 7 Holdings by EC farm type Map 8a-b Landcover Map 9 Flood risk areas Map 10 Groundwater management areas Map 11 Countryside character areas Map 12 Protected areas Map 13 National Trust Property Map 14 Air quality — CO Dove Environmental Overview Page iv July 1999 1 CONTENTS Map 15 Air quality - SO2 Map 16 Air quality - NOx Map 17 Air quality - VOC’s Map 18 Air quality - PM 10’s Map 19 Chemical river quality Map 20 Biological river quality Map 21 Groundwater vulnerability Map 22 Radon Map 23 Tranquil areas - East Midlands Map 24 Tranquil areas - West Midlands Figure 1 Agricultural land classification Figure 2 Holdings by EC farm type Figure 3 Alder distribution 63 Figure 4 Harmonised monitoring site - N Oxidised (mg/I) 65 Figure 5 Harmonised monitoring site - Organophosphate (mg/1) 65 Photograph 1 Alder disease 62 Dove Environmental Overview Fagc v July 1999 2 VIEWPOINTS 2.0 Introduction The framework for measuring the state of the environment has been derived from the Agency publication “Viewpoints on the Environment”.