Led by: United Utilities
Funding amount: £6,395,499
Partners: The Rivers Trust, Thames Water Utilities Ltd, South West Water Ltd, Southern Water Services Ltd, Dŵr Cymru Anglian Water Services Ltd, Severn Trent Water Ltd, Yorkshire Water Services Ltd, Northumbrian Water Ltd, Affinity Water, South East Water, Earthwatch Institute, The Freshwater Biological Association, The Zoological Society of London, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Cardiff University, University of Exeter, Natural Course EU Life Integrated Project, Hummingbird Technologies
See project updates on the CaSTCo website.
Catchment Systems Thinking Cooperative (CaSTCo) – a partnership led by United Utilities between the Rivers Trust, twelve water and sewerage companies as well as academia and environmental charities– has been awarded £7.1 million to revolutionise the way crucial data about England and Wales’ water environment is gathered and shared, in particular on the health of the nation’s rivers. Only 14% of rivers in England are in ‘good health’ – one of the worst records in Europe. This project will ensure there is robust evidence base for tackling environmental challenges with direct support for local evidence gathering and community engagement in eight demonstration catchments, and a national framework of standardised tools and training.
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30+ UK partners, sponsored by national water services regulation authority Ofwat, including water companies, local communities, technical experts, academics, NGOs, public and private sectors. Through collaboration initiatives we are:
Co-creating a standardised national framework of integrated environmental monitoring methods like citizen science, low-cost monitoring, real-time monitoring and modelling. Driving data that can be combined and visualised as insightful information, to drive improved decision-making and better actions and outcomes for water and people.
Aiming to provide immediate social and human impact: connecting people to nature through engaging local communities to monitor their water environment; transforming people’s understanding of the pressures on freshwater and water security issues; influencing behavioural changes; and improving health and wellbeing.
We have pursued extensive collaboration initiatives across 10+ demonstration areas in the UK since 2021, building catchment collaborative monitoring plans, method audit framework, data governance principles and much more information: recently we have published a website with publicly accessible materials and findings: https://castco.org/.
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For more information on Catchment Systems Thinking Cooperative, take a look at the following resources:
