The Government introduced the Catchment-Based Approach (CaBA) for the management of the water environment across all areas of England for more integrated water management. Government policy has established catchment partnerships throughout England, which work together with local stakeholders. The main aims of these partnerships is to jointly deliver improved water quality through River Basin Management Plans and to reduce flood risk.

The Mersey Rivers Trust is leading on three of the catchment partnerships. These three Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) catchments fall within the Mersey Rivers Trust area of operation. We are members of two other catchment partnerships that are hosted by our Groundwork partners.

The CaBA catchments in the Mersey river basin are:

• Alt/Crossens hosted by the Mersey Rivers Trust

• Lower Mersey hosted by the Mersey Rivers Trust
• Upper Mersey hosted by the Mersey Rivers Trust

• Weaver Gowy hosted by Groundwork CLM

• Irwell hosted by Groundwork MSSTT

The Alt/Crossens covers the two small water catchments of the Rivers Alt and Crossens that flow out to sea just north of the Mersey.

 The Alt/Crossens catchment is an area of low-lying land between the Mersey and Ribble Estuaries. Approximately 30% of the catchment is made up of urban areas, which includes North Liverpool, Formby and Southport along the coast and Kirby, Maghull and Ormskirk inland. A large area of the catchment is made up of high grade farmland which is crossed by a series of highly modified watercourses and drains. The water levels are controlled by 13 pumping stations and the catchments drain out into Liverpool Bay and the Ribble Estuary.

The watercourses in the Alt/Crossens catchment have classifications that fall between good and bad, however the good make up only 3%, the remaining 97% are failing.

Catchment Plan

Use the + and - to zoom in and out of the map and >> to open the legend. Click on the waterbodies to find out their WFD status.

The Lower Mersey catchment covers the lower section of the River Mersey as it flows from the Upper Mersey to the Mersey Estuary and to sea at Liverpool. This catchment includes the Manchester Ship Canal.

The Mersey Estuary catchment covers the Wirral peninsular to the south of the River Mersey and from Hightown to Warrington to the North of the River. The catchment is split into four operational sub-catchments, which are Ditton, Sankey, Glaze and Wirral. This catchment is unlike many of the neighbouring catchments as its landscape is approximately 50% urban. These urban areas present a very different set of challenges to rural areas, such as urban diffuse pollution from wrong connections, road run-off and leachate from industrial/contaminated land. The other half of the catchment’s landscape is a combination of agriculture and public green-spaces. Many of the catchment’s streams and rivers flow through farmland, towns and industrial areas, which has resulted in the combination of agricultural and urban pollutionaffecting the water quality across the catchment.

According to recent Environment Agency data all of the 32 water-bodies in the Lower Mersey Catchment are failing to reach good classification or ‘healthy water rating’.

Catchment Plan                                

Use the + and - to zoom in and out of the map and >> to open the legend. Click on the waterbodies to find out their WFD status.

The Upper Mersey Catchment covers the upper part of the the River Mersey and its source tributaries that flow from the peak district. The Mersey takes its name at the confluence of the tributary Rivers Tame and Goyt in Stockport, is joined along the way by another tributary, the River Bollin, and flows west towards the lower Mersey.

The Upper Mersey covers a varied area of rural, intensely urban and semi-urban land. In the upland areas, the Rivers Etherow, Goyt and Tame rise in the peak district. The River Mersey begins at the confluence of the Rivers Tame and Goyt in Stockport then flows through the south of Manchester on its way to the sea. The Rivers Bollin and Dean begin in the south-eastern part of the catchment and the River Bollin joins the Mersey via the Manchester Ship Canal.

The watercourses in the Upper Mersey have classifications that fall between good and poor. The majority of water-bodies in the catchment, approximately 70%, are classified as moderate. The good and poor classified waters make up approximately 15% each. The good classifications are found in the upland areas to the east of the catchment, with the poor classified waters being found in the low lying, more urbanised areas near Manchester and Stockport.

Catchment Plan

Use the + and - to zoom in and out of the map and >> to open the legend. Click on the waterbodies to find out their WFD status.

The Catchment Partnerships have developed a GIS storymap that allows partners to spatially map locations of issues across the catchment.

For more information on Catchment Partnerships, including interactive maps and data, visit www.catchmentbasedapproach.org.