A map of the catchment can be seen here
A catchment partnership is a group of partners and community members (led by a host organisation) who collaborate to improve the water environment in a catchment area. Partnerships are funded by the Environment Agency (EA). The Water Care Partnership is concerned with the Old Bedford including Middle Level catchment (as defined by the EA, see map).
Catchment Partnerships are found across England, some are hosted by a Rivers Trust, but the Water Care Partnership has been hosted by Cambridgeshire ACRE since its beginning in 2014. The Water Care Partnership is not a legal entity in its own right and cannot hold funds, but Cambridgeshire ACRE can do so on behalf of the partners.
About the Old Bedford and Middle Level Catchment
The Old Bedford including Middle Level Catchment falls within Cambridgeshire and West Norfolk and includes the market towns of Whittlesey, March, Ramsey and Chatteris.
The catchment area is home to over 113,000 people (Nomis, 2011 census) and covers an area of approximately 921km2. It is a predominantly rural catchment with a long history of land drainage and forms part of the fenland region of East Anglia.
Virtually all of the fenland in the catchment is below sea level and forms part of an inland basin. A complex water level management system is in place to maintain the drainage of the land and pump water out to sea to prevent flooding and drain the land for agriculture. This system is the responsibility of individual Internal Drainage Boards and the Middle Level Commissioners (district and major drains) working with the Environment Agency (main rivers). There are also many much smaller ditches and watercourses maintained on private land by landowners and some which are maintained by local authorities. All of the Middle Level is dependent on artificially pumped drainage to remove water from the land. The conveyance of water in these ditches and drains is crucial to prevent mass flooding in the catchment.
Home to an array of habitats, the Old Bedford including Middle Level catchment supports diverse wildlife including fish, otters and water voles, as well as a wide variety of birdlife and other important wetland features. There are several nationally designated water-dependent sites in the catchment including the Ouse Washes Ramsar, SAC, SPA and SSSI, WoodwaltonFen SSSI which is part of the Fenland SAC, Holme Fen SSSI and Upwood Meadows SSSI
The Water Care partnership has drawn together a number of key stakeholders in the catchment. The Water Care Partnership currently consists of:
- Anglian Water
- Angling Trust
- Cambridgeshire ACRE
- Cambridgeshire County Council
- Environment Agency
- Inland Waterways Association
- Lower Ouse and Fenland Fisheries Consultative Association (LOFFCA)
- Middle Level Commissioners
- National Farmers Union
- Natural England
- RSPB
- The Rivers Trust
- Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust – Welney
- Fenland Wildfowlers Association
If you would like to find out more about the Water Care Partnership and how you can get involved, please contact Rachael Brown on 01353 865037 or email rachael.brown@cambsacre.org.uk
Water Care Partnership 