Over the last 500 years, the natural hydrology of catchments has been altered in England through extensive drainage of land, water bodies and wetlands, reducing the resilience of river flows. There has also been extensive development of built infrastructure in floodplains, increasing flood risk. Climate projections for the UK suggest that total rainfall will increase in winter and decrease in summer, while individual rainfall events may increase in intensity, especially in winter. Rainfall in winter rather than summer is most important for recharging groundwater, the water that accumulates in the spaces in soil, sediment, and rocks, which maintains river flows during drier summer months. However, more intense rainfall in winter results in higher surface flows and lower rates of infiltration. These phenomena point to a possible simultaneous increase in flooding and drought. In coming decades, projected population growth in the UK is also likely to increase water demand, whilst environmental targets to improve the ecology of freshwater bodies under the EU Water Framework Directive (POSTnote 320) will require reductions in the quantity of water withdrawn for water supplies from surface waters and groundwater (POSTnote 419).
Water is a key natural resource society relies on, but is critical to food, energy and material production (the ‘food-water- energy nexus’, (POSTnote 385) as well as the functioning of ecosystems. Recognising these interdependencies requires an integrated approach, often referred to as the ‘Ecosystem Approach’ (POSTnote 377), to increase the resilience of water systems. For example, restoration and recreation of landscape features (‘Natural Water Retention Measures’), could increase infiltration into groundwater and slow surface water flows to reduce maximum flood heights or delay the arrival of flood peaks (POSTnote 396) and increase the resilience of river flows during low rainfall periods. Natural Water Retention Measures would include recreating or restoring and the capacity of, ponds, ditches, channels or wetlands; slowing surface water by increasing resistance to its flow by planting floodplain or riverside woods; and reducing water flow connectivity by interrupting surface flows of water by planting buffer strips of grass or trees. Adapting urban areas would require minimising impact of built infrastructure on natural hydrological and ecological processes, through ‘water sensitive urban design’. This approach, widely adopted in Australia, incorporates a range of technologies that promote water efficiency, manage the effects of surface water flows on watercourses and maintain groundwater levels and flows in watercourses. It is only at the local level that such complex interdependencies can be managed and appropriate levels of stakeholder participation can occur, as exemplified by Defra’s catchment based approach to water management pilots. This seminar will inform MPs and Peers of how changing flood and drought risks will impact on their constituencies and the policy options and challenges arising from adapting our infrastructure and landscapes to the more extreme weather patterns likely to be experienced in the future.
Programme
5.00pm Chair’s Welcome, Anne McIntosh MP, Chair of the EFRA Committee (TBC)
5.05pm Speech by Richard Benyon MP, Defra Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Natural Environment and Fisheries (TBC)
5.15pm Presentations
Professor Ed Maltby, Emeritus Professor of Wetland Science, Water and Ecosystem Management, University of Liverpool and Visiting Chair of Research Innovation at Louisiana State University - Taking a systems approach in land and water management
Professor Jim Hall - Director of the Environmental Change Institute, Director of the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford and Member of the Adaptation Sub-Committee of the UK independent Committee on Climate Change - Management of drought and flood-related risks in infrastructure systems
Professor Alan Jenkins – Deputy Director of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and Science and Director for the Water Research Programme - Developing the science for future water management needs
Ian Barker - Head of Land and Water at the Environment Agency
6.15pm Discussion
6.45pm Chair’s closing remarks