South West Water renews its commitment to protect and enhance the natural environment

South West Water has renewed its commitment to improving the management of natural assets and resources by resigning the Catchment Management Declaration.

Launched in 2018, the declaration promotes collaborative, cross-sector working in order to better manage water resources.  

It aims to bring together businesses from across sectors with stakeholders from UK governments and non-government organisations to tackle the collective challenge of water stresses through catchment management. 

South West Water signed the new declaration at the IWA World Water Congress in Toronto last month, along with seven other water companies who have together formed The UK Pavilion – a collaboration to help represent the UK’s water industry at the conference and beyond

Carolyn Cadman, Director of Natural Resources at South West Water, said: “We’re delighted to renew our commitment to catchment management through the signing of the Catchment Management Declaration. At South West Water, we’re passionate about working in partnership to safeguard natural water resources across our region and working in partnership with like-minded organisations to achieve real benefits for water quality and the environment.”

South West Water recognises the benefits of working in partnership to protect and enhance the region’s natural resources. Its multi-award-winning catchment management programme , Upstream Thinking, applies natural solutions to reduce the agricultural impact on biodiversity and water quality. The programme works to  support farmers and the rural economy by providing long-term resilience to climate change.

Through Upstream Thinking, over 111,000 hectares of land has been improved through catchment management, working alongside  more than  1,100 farms since 2020.