Summary
Understanding the impact of urban and rural planning, historic infrastructure, and governance structures on water systems by mapping road and drainage networks, clarifying responsibilities, and identifying legacy issues that contribute to pollution and run‑off.
The Challenge
Across many parts of the catchment, particularly rural areas, responsibilities for drainage, road maintenance and run‑off management are fragmented, unclear, or rooted in outdated governance structures. Historical gaps in maintenance and funding continue to cause pollution, especially where road run‑off enters rivers and groundwater.
This challenge aims to:
- Map the road and drainage network and understand how it links to water‑quality issues
- Identify responsibility for maintenance and upgrades
- Clarify which agencies, councils, landowners or highways authorities are responsible for each part of the network
- Understand how funding, governance and maintenance gaps contribute to pollution
- Highlight areas where maintenance is insufficient or inconsistent
- Address current systemic failures that limit long‑term fixes
- Incorporate differences between urban and rural contexts
- Account for historic/legacy governance and funding issues
- Recognise the significant role of road run‑off and unclear responsibilities
- Consider targeted interventions along major trunk roads in the central South (e.g., A34 corridor
Potential Impact
- Clear understanding of who is responsible for each part of the drainage and road network
- Improved ability to address historical failures in governance and maintenance
- Reduced pollution from road run‑off through targeted interventions
- Better alignment across councils, highways bodies and landowners
- Stronger long‑term planning for catchment‑wide maintenance and upgrades
- Increased capacity to identify the highest‑priority areas for remediation
Barriers to Progress
- Multiple, overlapping governance structures
- Differences between urban and rural responsibilities
- Historical and legacy infrastructure issues
- Difficulty accessing consistent drainage and road network data
- Need for significant coordination between councils, highways authorities, EA and landowners
- Lack of long‑term funding or maintenance commitment
- Capacity constraints and limited specialist expertise
Timeframe
18 months
Call to Action
Members are encouraged to:
- Submit ideas on mapping methods, governance frameworks or maintenance review approaches
- Endorse promising ideas from other members
- Comment with insights on historical drainage issues, road run‑off hotspots or governance problems
- Join a project team in the next stage to co‑develop a clear, catchment‑wide mapping and governance review