Somerset County Council

Keywords Catchment management, partnerships, biodiversity, land management.
Service area Partnership working
Building capacity or taking action Taking action
Summary Somerset County Council has been working with local partners to address water management issues and climate change adaptation in Somerset. A partnership bid was successfully made for European funding to support this work. The Water Adaptation is Valuable for Everybody (WAVE) project brings in approximately £875,000 of European Regional Development Fund money into the county from 2008–2012 to better understand the likely impacts of climate change and to help develop more climate-resilient water systems in Somerset.

Description

Drivers

  • Over the last few years, there has been a growing recognition by Somerset County Council that climate change should be a priority issue, and that it should be working with strategic partners and local communities to deal with this challenge. The Council’s 2008 Climate Change Strategy highlighted the risks that climate change poses to Somerset, with sea level rise, changing weather patterns and increased storminess likely to lead to both increased and prolonged flooding and summer drought.
  • The Somerset Local Area Agreement (LAA) recognises that innovative new approaches are needed to deal with important local issues and priorities, of which mitigating and adapting to the impact of climate change is listed as a key priority. National Indicator 188 (Planning to Adapt to Climate Change), part of the Somerset LAA, calls for evidence of working in partnership and pooling of resources and expertise, to identify and manage climate related risk, including impacts on local ecosystems and biodiversity.

Methods

  • In 2007 Somerset County Council coordinated a group of local partners and combined with European partners to bid for European funding (via the INTERREG IVB North West Europe programme) to help address water and catchment management issues and the need for climate change adaptation measures. Development of more climate resilient water systems is achieved in a number of ways – identifying the local effects, managing the risks, and raising awareness amongst land managers and local communities.
  • A number of sub-projects illustrate the extent of partnership working:
  • The Environment Agency will use modelling to predict the local effects of climate change in Somerset, and produce a range of visual outputs for use as a communications tool.
  • The Brue Valley Living Landscape Project with Somerset Wildlife Trust, combines habitat survey, socio-economic studies and community engagement to develop robust, climate adaptive strategies for the Brue.
  • New approach to sustainable land and water management, an RSPB and Somerset Drainage Boards project that aims to increase the resilience and adaptability of wetland habitats on the Somerset Levels and Moors in response to predicted climate change, based on an evolving understanding of the inter-relationships between water management, land management and the environment, in floodplain areas vulnerable to climate change.
  • Catchment and Community Woodland planting (Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group and SCC) to reduce water runoff, create a carbon sink and  create multipurpose open spaces for community use and a tool for explaining the link between woodland and climate change.
  • Farm Water Management plans (FWAG), to mitigate against the effects of wetter winters and drier summers through better planning of water resources.

Outcomes

  • It is early days for the project but some physical results are already starting to be seen. There has been woodland planting on farmland, for instance, as well as  two new Community Woodlands, and new water level management infrastructure has been installed that will reduce flood risk downstream.

Key players/partners

  • Somerset Council
  • Environment Agency (EA)
  • Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium
  • RSPB
  • Somerset Wildlife Trust
  • Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG)
  • At a European level, it also brings in partners from The Netherlands, France, Belgium and Germany.

Analysis

Strengths

  • Partnership working towards a common cause has helped to improve and enhance relationships between agencies in the area. Partner organisations have a clear role in projects, playing to their individual strengths.

Constraints

  • Enforced budget reduction after initial bid – meant that difficult decisions had to be made about which projects had to be downscaled.

Key messages & learning points

  • Acceptance that there is a common challenge to be addressed provides a foundation for successful partnership working. European funding bids are best tackled with external expertise to support the process. Good financial management is imperative with these complex funding regimes.

Further information

Contact details

  • Stephen Dury, Project Manager, Environmental Resources, 01823 355170.

References & links

Field of newly planted trees