Navigation Waterways Benefits Assessment

This Section sets out the Authority's requirements:

Support the National Navigation Team in further developing the benefits assessment evidence to inform the strategic business case for the navigable inland waterways operated by the Environment Agency.

A. Requirement Support the National Navigation Team to prepare "whole" waterway assessments for a select set of benefits: (i) recreation, health and wellbeing; (ii) flood protection; (iii) water resources; (iv) sustainability (namely biodiversity and net zero carbon); and (v) local economic impacts.

The assessments for flood protection and water resources should apply the existing methodologies used by the Environment Agency. The approach to recreation, health and wellbeing shall develop the approach tested in a previous commission completed in 2021 for the EA. The approach to sustainability and local economic impact assessments will need to be developed.

The aim will be to provide an improved 'place-based' assessment accounting for the circumstances of the local population, including socio-economic profile and availability of green/blue space.

The selected waterways for a complete assessment are:

- Wye & Lugg - Lydney Harbour - Thames - Rye Harbour - Great Ouse - Nene

The benefits assessment shall use the approach developed in the 2021 commission (attached).

The benefit assessment for sustainability and local economic impacts shall also be completed for:

- Stour - Medway, - Ancholme, - Welland and Glen - South Forty Foot Drain

Deliverables: Present the results for each waterway requiring a complete assessment as a summary report and presentation. Present the results for the waterways requiring assessments for sustainability and local economic impacts as an addendum to the reports completed in 2021 for those waterways.

B. Tasks

Please account for the following tasks:

1. Project start-up meeting(s) and data and method share. 2. Benefits assessment per waterway. 3. Reporting. 4. Resource estimate per waterway and per benefit category.

We will agree the format for reporting the assessment for each waterway as part of the project start-up template. We expect that this will include summary reports for each waterway, plus a set of guidance notes detailing the assessment method for each benefit type, the data sources and analytical steps. The headline results, findings and recommendations for next steps shall be presented to EA teams. Regular progress reporting meetings shall be included.