Project Background

E.U. LIFE Programme

LIFE, the E.U.'s financial instrument for the Environment, was introduced in 1992 and is one of the spearheads of the European Union's environmental policy. It co-finances projects in three areas: Nature, Environment and Third Countries.

The LIFE-Environment programme supports actions that aim to implement the Community policy and legislation on the environment in the European Union and candidate countries. This approach enables demonstration and development of new methods for the protection and the enhancement of the environment.

The SMURF project has a total budget of approximately €3 million or £1.9 million. The project is supported by an E.U. LIFE-Environment grant of €1.1 million or £700k.

Further information on the LIFE-Environment programme is available on the LIFE web site.

Problems of the Tame Catchment

Despite some improvements in recent years, water quality and quantity are major problems throughout the Tame catchment.

• The river is in a poor ecological state
• The river system is inaccessible over much of its length and is of poor amenity value to the local community
• Fly tipping of domestic and commercial waste into the river environment is common
• Beneath Birmingham, groundwater is rising, bringing with it contaminants that have previously remained in the ground
• Wildlife habitat in the river and at the bankside has been badly damaged
• During storms pollution flushes into the river, causing a loss of oxygen and killing fish
• There are also increasing development pressures on bank-side locations which will need to be managed in a sustainable way for both the community and river ecology

Project Aims

Overall aim: To demonstrate how the principles of urban river basin management planning can be applied to highly modified and degraded catchments.

By implementing sustainable land-use planning and water management techniques the SMURF project aims to:

• Improve the amenity, ecology and sustainability of the river catchment
• Involve local communities in the planning of the river basin
• Establish ecological objectives for the river system and a transferable Sustainable Indicators set
• Develop a detailed land-use planning model to help with future redevelopment in the floodplain and protect the community from future impacts of climate change
• Demonstrate how small scale changes can significantly improve a heavily modified river.

Project Partners

The Environment Agency is the lead partner in the SMURF project. The Agency is the environmental regulatory body and the leading public body responsible for protecting and improving the environment in England and Wales.

Birmingham City Council is the planning authority covering a large part of the urban River Tame. The City Council is responsible for services to almost 1 million people.

Severn Trent Water is the world's fourth largest privately owned water company serving over 8 million customers across the heart of the U.K.

H R Wallingford is an independent company specialising in consultancy and research in civil engineering, hydraulics and water environments.

Staatliches Umweltamt Herten (Environmental State Office Herten) is involved in the River Emscher Redevelopment Project. The River Emscher, a tributary of the Rhine, has suffered severe water quality and physical habitat problems for decades and the project aims to restore water and habitat quality in the river.

The University of Birmingham is one of the leading research based universities in the U.K. and is involved in SMURF because of their expertise in the area of public involvement and engagement.

King's College London was one of the founding colleges of The University of London. King's is providing expertise in ecological indicators, particularly related to urban rivers. This will build on research undertaken as part of the URGENT research programme.