Climate change: the future for groundwater management

Ondaatje Theatre, The Royal Geographical Society, London 23 May 2007

Climate predictions indicate that as the concentrations of greenhouse gases increase in the atmosphere, in general, winters in the UK will get wetter and summers will get hotter and extreme events are likely to become more common. This will have a direct impact on the recharge to our groundwater resources as well as indirect impacts on the resource due to factors such as changing demand and land use. What does this mean for the water supplies that our groundwater resources provide and the ecosystems that they support, and how prepared are we if there is a greater frequency or intensity of droughts and floods? This meeting presented the results of latest research into the impacts of climate change on our groundwater resources, the lessons learnt from recent extreme events, the Government's policies for adaptation and risk management and the long-term water resource plans of the environment regulators and the water industry.

Seminar Programme

Morning Session: impacts of climate change

Introduction
Brian Connorton, Thames Water/UK Groundwater Forum Steering Committee

Impacts of climate change on our water resources (PDF - 0.5Mb)
Nigel Arnell, Tyndall Centre, University of Southampton

Groundwater resources in a changing climate (PDF - 2.5Mb)
Ian Holman, Senior Lecturer in Groundwater Hydrology, Cranfield University

Effects of climate change on groundwater resources: previous and future research (PDF - 0.7Mb)
Chris Jackson, Groundwater and Climate Change Project Leader, British Geological Survey

The potential effect of climate change on groundwater recharge (PDF - 4.7Mb)
Tim Lewis, Entec UK

Impact of climate change on groundwater-dependent ecosystems (PDF - 1.3Mb)
Kevin Hiscock, University of East Anglian

Afternoon Session: coping with climate change

Drought 2006: a sign of things to come? (PPS - 1.6Mb)
Nigel Hoad, Senior Technical Specialist - Hydrogeology, Environment Agency

Adapting to climate change: the UK approach (PDF - 0.6Mb)
Mike Walker, Head of Water Policy Team, Defra

Managing groundwater flood risk (PDF - 2.3Mb)
Andy Parkes, Jacobs

Planning for an uncertain future (PDF - 1.0Mb)
Meyrick Gough, Water Planning and Strategy Manager, Southern Water

Long term water resource planning: the regulator's perspective (PDF - 1.1Mb)
Trevor Bishop, Head of Water Resource Management, Environment Agency

Discussion and Summing-up
Jacob Tompkins, Waterwise

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