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In 2012, Defra introduced the catchment based approach (CaBA) - a community-led approach that engages people and groups from across society to help improve our water environments. Defra drives CaBA through a national network of catchment partnerships. These partnerships are expected to identify local priorities and tackle cross-cutting issues; ensure that the work of partners is coordinated; and deliver improvements across their catchments.

Established in 2014, the Hull and East Riding Catchment Partnership is hosted by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust with support from the East Yorkshire Rivers Trust as Joint Host. They are joined on the partnership by the Beverley and North Holderness Internal Drainage Board, East and North Yorkshire Waterways Partnership, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Environment Agency, Hull City Council, Natural England, Ouse and Humber Drainage Board, South Holderness Internal Drainage Board and Yorkshire Water.

Unlike most other catchments, the Hull and East Riding catchment area comprises a series of distinct and often discrete watercourses / water bodies, known locally as:

• Barmston Sea Cut • Gypsey Race • Hornsea Mere • Market Weighton Canal and River Foulness • River Hull • South Holderness Drains (Burstwick, Keyingham, Ottringham, Thorngumbald and Winestead)

Most of these water bodies are separate from the main inland waterway network. Together, though, they are crucial to the drainage of the Yorkshire Wolds and the East Riding and to the unique landscape character of the region.

In March 2017, the Hull and East Riding Catchment Partnership published its first catchment plan, which explains how partners are using the CaBA to make a difference in the water environment, in local communities and to the local economy – now and in the long term. The document also demonstrates the partnership's strong track record of collaborative working and includes case studies which illustrate the partnership's capacity for effective catchment management.