Improvement Programme for England’s Natura 2000 Sites (IPENS) – Planning for the Future IPENS008d Pollution Risk Assessment and Source Apportionment: Camel Catchment River Camel Special Area of Conservation (SAC) First published 30 October 2015 www.gov.uk/government/publications/improvement-programme-for- englands-natura-2000-sites-ipens This project is part of the IPENS programme (LIFE11NAT/UK/000384IPENS) which is financially supported by LIFE, a financial instrument of the European Community. Foreword The Improvement Programme for England’s Natura 2000 sites (IPENS), supported by European Union LIFE+ funding, is a new strategic approach to managing England’s Natura 2000 sites. It is enabling Natural England, the Environment Agency, and other key partners to plan what, how, where and when they will target their efforts on Natura 2000 sites and areas surrounding them. As part of the IPENS programme, we are identifying gaps in our knowledge and, where possible, addressing these through a range of evidence projects. The project findings are being used to help develop our Theme Plans and Site Improvement Plans. This report is one of the evidence project studies we commissioned. Water pollution has been identified as one of the top three issues in all Natura 2000 rivers. It also affects many terrestrial and some marine and coastal Natura 2000 sites. Diffuse water pollution is the release of potential pollutants from a range of activities that individually may have little or no discernable effect on the water environment, but at the scale of a catchment can have a significant cumulative impact. The sources of diffuse water pollution are varied and include sediment run-off from agricultural land. The River Camel and its main tributaries have been designated as both a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to their diverse assemblages of in-stream aquatic and marginal flora and fauna. The SAC/SSSI is currently classified as being in unfavourable recovering condition. The findings of this report have been used to develop a Diffuse Water Pollution Plan for the catchment that will help to improve the water quality and the condition of the site. Diffuse Water Pollution Plans are a joint Natural England and Environment Agency tool used to plan and agree strategic action in relation to diffuse pollution at the catchment-scale. They are the most frequently identified mechanism for improving water quality on Natura 2000 sites. This study is one of four produced by the IPENS project “Meeting local evidence needs to enable Natura 2000 Diffuse Water Pollution Plan Delivery”. Natural England Project officer: Russ Money, [email protected] This publication is published by Natural England under the Open Government Licence v3.0 for public sector information. You are encouraged to use, and reuse, information subject to certain conditions. For details of the licence visit Copyright. Please note: Natural England photographs are only available for non-commercial purposes. For information regarding the use of maps or data visit www.gov.uk/how-to-access-natural-englands-maps-and-data. ISBN 978-1-78354-205-5 © Natural England and other parties 2015 Pollution Risk Assessment and Source Apportionment: Camel Catchment 1 2 Westcountry Rivers Ltd is the commercial trading subsidiary of the Westcountry Rivers Trust (charity no. 1135007 company no 06545646). All profits generated through the consultancy are covenanted to the Trust to help secure the preservation, protection, development and improvement of the rivers, streams, watercourses and water impoundments in the Westcountry and to advance the education of the public in the management of water. Published by: Westcountry Rivers Ltd. Rain Charm House, Kyl Cober Parc, Stoke Climsland, Callington, Cornwall, PL17 8PH. Tel: 01579 372140; Email: [email protected]; Web: www.wrt.org.uk © Westcountry Rivers Ltd.: 2014. All rights reserved. This document may be reproduced with prior permission of the Westcountry Rivers Ltd. Cover photo: Hazel Kendall, 2013. 3 Contents Executive summary 5 1. Introduction 6 2. Methodology 7 2.2. Pollutant source apportionment 7 2.3. Intervention strategy development 7 2.4. Assessment of potential outcomes 8 3. Catchment overview 9 3.1. Morphology & hydrology 9 3.2. Social & economic 10 3.3. Farming & land-use 11 4. Catchment classifications and challenges 14 4.1. River Camel SAC/SSSI status 14 4.2. WFD classifications 16 5. Pollutant source identification & risk assessment 19 5.1. Suspended solids 19 5.2. Nutrients 29 6. Intervention strategy development 47 6.1 Prior interventions 47 6.2. Diffuse pollution management 50 6.3. Deliverables and costs for proposed plan 55 7. Assessment of outcomes 56 7.1 Predicting outcomes: Farmscoper 56 References 66 Further information & contacts 68 4 Executive summary The River Camel and its main tributaries have been designated as both a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to their diverse assemblages of in-stream aquatic and marginal flora and fauna. As such, the River Camel SAC/SSSI must meet certain biological, physical and chemical standards, to maintain and where necessary improve its ecological integrity and prevent any deterioration. The River Camel SAC/SSSI is currently classified as ‘unfavourable recovering’ (Natural England, 2012). Consequently, a ‘diffuse water pollution plan’ (DWPP) must be carried out to assess pressures and management options for the River Camel SAC/SSSI. The outputs from this report will feed into the DWPP from the River Camel. As the River Camel SAC/SSSI receives water drained from the wider catchment, we have carried-out a full catchment scale investigation. Our investigation incorporates detailed water quality analysis and presents a suite of model outputs, including SCIMAP, SAGIS, SIMCAT and FARMSCOPER. This report and previous investigations have identified specific pressures from suspended sediments (SS) and phosphorus (P) within the Camel catchment. 5 1. Introduction Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs), collectively known as Natura 2000 sites, are protected under European legislation for their wildlife and habitats. Under the Water Framework Directive, SACs and SPAs are required to be in favourable or improving condition by 2015. However, due to the high percentages of SACs and SPAs affected by diffuse pollution, the Improvement Programme for England’s Natura 2000 Sites (IPENS) has identified and prioritised the need for Diffuse Water Pollution Plans (DWPPs) to be devised on a site-by-site basis, where Natura 2000 sites are failing to meet conservation objectives and where pollution represents a threat to their long term integrity. In August 2013, 43 Natura 2000 sites were identified as requiring DWPPs. DWPPs are to provide starting points for a sequential approach to integrated diffuse water pollution management in identified sites. Natural England has engaged the Westcountry Rivers Limited to develop a catchment wide pollution risk and source apportionment assessments, in support of the Camel catchment DWPP. The objective of these assessments is to undertake a detail review of the available evidence and using visualisation techniques present this information so it is more accessible and thus better able to inform the DWPP and any potential future catchment management initiatives. Specific objectives of these assessments are to provide: (1) a targeted and fully costed catchment intervention strategy designed to achieve the most significant improvements in water quality using the most cost-effective and resource-efficient approach; (2) an assessment of potential implications of future housing and employment growth in the catchment, in terms of deterioration and the ability to meet conservation objectives; and (3) clear spatial visualisations and representation of all data and evidence collected. The River Camel and its major tributaries have been designated as both an SAC and SSSI due to their diverse assemblages of in-stream aquatic and marginal flora and fauna. In particular, the site hosts Annex II species (Salmon, Bullhead and Otter) and Annex I habitats (European dry heaths, old sessile oak woods and alluvial forests which are protected under the EC Directive on the Conservation of Habitats and Wild Flora and Fauna; and ranunculus, which is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP) species. The River Camel SAC/SSSI includes the upper and lower River Camel and a number of larger tributaries, including the De Lank River, the Upper River Ruthern and the Demelza Stream (Ruthern). The Camel River SAC/SSSI flows through upland moor and predominately lowland agricultural land-use, draining a large portion of North Cornwall. 6 2. Methodology Our approach has been tailored to the Camel catchment taking into consideration its size, the available data and diffuse pollution challenges upstream of SAC and SSSI. Presentation of existing information regarding current natural habitats, SAC/SSSI and Water Framework Directive (WFD) classifications provides an initial starting point of this assessment. These catchment classifications provide background information to our detailed analysis of empirical data and evidence. Existing standards and requirements for SACs, SSSIs and WFD objectives have been detailed, along with an examination of the methods used to derive existing classifications. 2.1. Pollutant source apportionment In order to develop tailored and targeted catchment