The 'Catchment Based Approach'

The Catchment Based Approach (CaBA).. for a healthier water environment

The CaBA approach simply means working at a catchment level, engaging with communities and encouraging local participation in order to achieve a healthier water environment.

Over the past 10 years we have seen a succession of policies which have all encouraged sustainable flood risk and catchment management across the UK. On 3 June 2013 the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) launched a new Policy Framework, 'Catchment Based Approach', which sets out to:

  • Encourage the wider adoption of an integrated CaBA;
  • Improve the quality of our water environment;
  • Promote a better understanding of catchments at a local level;
  • Ensure local communities are involved.

To what extent can we rely on local communities to support the CaBA?

Taking the above policy into consideration, the Haltwhistle Burn project seeks to provide some useful research findings which will hopefully support Defra's most recent catchment management policy. Can a participatory approach (including citizen science techniques) support the catchment management process?