APPENDIX ONE
THE NATIONAL TRUST WATER POLICY
The following policy sets out the National Trust's
aspirations for the management and use of water resources by itself
and by others. The Trust seeks to implement this policy alongside
its other commitments and is keen to share its experience with
others.
THE TRUST'S
APPROACH
— The Trust will take a comprehensive,
long-term and strategic approach to the protection of water resources
and all water-dependent aspects of the natural and cultural environment.
— The Trust will manage its own affairs
to minimise the demand for water and production of waste water
and to minimise the negative impacts of its activities on the
water environment.
— The Trust will develop a decision-making
process for site and business management based on the principles
and practices of Catchment Management and River Basin Planning,
to integrate water resource conservation into all its activities
and to maximise the benefits of working in partnership.
— The Trust will promote the protection
and enhancement of water resources based on its own experience
of water management and conservation of water-dependent features.
OUR MANAGEMENT
PRINCIPLES
1. Working with natural processes
The Trust will work to enable the natural functioning
of water-dependent geomorphological and biological features and
encourage landscapes and ecosystems to be dynamic and responsive
to natural processes and sustain the hydrological cycle. This
includes water underground, at the surface and in the atmosphere.
2. Sustainable use of water
The Trust will safeguard the quality and quantity
of water resources in its use for any purpose.
3. Catchment management
The Trust will operate at a landscape scale
and beyond its ownership boundaries to influence what happens
in the catchment of its properties and address the impacts of
its own activities on the catchment.
4. Healthy water for healthy people and sustainable
economy
The Trust will improve provision of high quality
potable water, the treatment to the best practicable standard
of its used waters, and the protection of its coastal and inland
waters for recreation and health.
5. Heritage water
Valued cultural features and water dependent
habitats threatened by change will be conserved and enhanced as
far as practicable within the scope of the hydrological cycle
and enabled to adapt to climate change. Where assets cannot be
protected indefinitely, the Trust will ensure such features are
properly recorded before they are lost and/or will consider relocation
or re-creation elsewhere.
6. Access to water
The Trust will actively promote public access
to water, subject to conservation and safety considerations, in
order to provide public enjoyment and recreational opportunities
and to develop understanding of the role of water in our environment
and livelihoods.
7. Promoting respect for water
The Trust will promote appreciation of the value
of water in its community, learning, influencing and campaigning
work.
8. Water-proofed land use planning decisions
The Trust will only support development (its
own and by others) which has taken proper account of water resources
and their environmental, cultural and landscape connections.
9. Working with others
The Trust will work in partnership and/or consultation
with other managers, organisations and communities to share experience,
resources and knowledge and to negotiate the future use and management
of water resources in order to deliver benefits which we would
not be able to achieve or sustain on our own.
10. Water conservation through acquisition
The Trust will consider the implications of
this policy when acquiring land and buildings or other legal rights,
including the potential of acquisition for the primary purpose
of improving management and protection of water resources.
July 2006
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