The Agricultural Synthesis report summarises the key findings that emerged from the five Drought and Water Scarcity programme projects to help the UK agriculture and horticultural sector to better understand, forecast, manage and respond to the challenges posed by droughts and water scarcity. The report summarises how drought and water scarcity affects agriculture, and the consequent impact on rainfed and irrigated agriculture. The report also considers drought forecasting and whether drought and water scarcity impacts can be reduced.
We invite you to attend this free event to hear about the datasets and findings of the UK Droughts and Water Scarcity research programme that specifically focus on public water supply and the water industry. This event will be of interest to all those involved in managing water resources, from water companies, regulators, consultancies, researchers, and many others.
This workshop follows one held in October 2018, and has the objective of raising awareness of the national and regional datasets available now and forthcoming, report on progress with the research and feedback at the October event, and gain insights on the water industry’s specific needs so we can shape the final outputs. We are very keen that this is a participatory, two way exchange and hope to have your contribution and insights on what data and outputs are of use to your work. You do not need to have attended the October workshop to come to this event in July.
By attending this event, you can:
Hear about the programme of research examining the effects of drought and water scarcity in the UK
Learn about the datasets, information and findings arising from the research programme, with a specific focus on information of relevance or of interest to public water supply
View ‘drought libraries’ that integrate new historical and future hydroclimatic datasets, for stress-testing water supply systems
Find out about the hydrological modelling undertaken in the Drought and Water Scarcity programme, and datasets arising, free to use
Hear about the latest developments in national-scale risk-based water supply modelling
Interact with new prototype real-time drought monitoring and early warning systems
Share your work, information and decision-support needs in relation to drought and water scarcity
Meet others interested in this subject
Discuss the current and forthcoming findings and outputs to ensure its suitability and usefulness for practitioners and regulators in the public
18th – 20th September 2018
Location: Lancaster
Event organiser: India-UK Water Centre
Event type: Workshop
Applications: Apply online
The India-UK Water Centre is inviting applications from Indian and UK water scientists to participate in a workshop on Advancing Drought Monitoring, Prediction, and Management Capabilities to be held in Lancaster, UK 18th – 20th September 2018.
This workshop aims to bring together in one platform key actors engaged independently in the three domains of drought monitoring, prediction and management to leverage cutting-edge drought science to inform new approaches to meet society’s needs for drought planning and management. Specifically, this workshop aims to:
1. Assess the state-of-art of the science of drought monitoring, prediction and management globally and in India, with special focus on remote sensing-based approaches.
2. Identify gaps between research knowledge and operational requirements for drought policy and management;
3. Discuss options to develop a road map for advancing operational capabilities for drought policy, monitoring, prediction and management in India.
13 September 2018
Location: Easton Campus, Easton and Otley College, Norwich NR9 5DX
Event organiser: Agri-Tech East
Event type: Conference
Applications: Book online
Managing water continues to be a major challenge, ensuring the right amount in the right place at the right time. Access to water can dictate farming regimes and influence crop performance, and regulation around water management are driving investment in new solutions, both on and off-farm.
Here we’ll be considering innovative products, services and practices to help re-use, recycle and retain water in the farming ecosystem. With an emphasis on the practical aspects of water management, we’ll be looking at topics such as smart irrigation, monitoring of leaks, soil moisture retention and water storage options.
With speakers confirmed from Verdesian, Anglian Water, the Norfolk Rivers Trust and Cranfield University, book now for the chance to understand more about new solutions to manage one of our most precious and unpredictable resources.
Briefing note on farming and economic losses due to drought
This briefing note looks at the effects of water scarcity and drought on crops which require supplemental irrigation, and includes some ideas on steps which may help to mitigate losses to farmers. This is the first of a series of briefs to support improved decision making in relation to droughts and water scarcity.
We are currently experiencing a heatwave in the UK and other parts of Europe – with a hosepipe ban in place in Ireland. Climatic change causes greater unreliability of rainfall in wetter countries like the UK, as well as increased frequency of droughts, leading to higher demand for irrigation to supplement rainfall. The yield and quality of crops of fruit and vegetables can be lowered by short-term drought in the UK summer – this can be avoided by using irrigation to supplement rainfall, enabling farmers to continue to provide supermarket-quality produce.
The workshop will be hosted by the NERC DRY (Drought Risk and You) project, the National Allotment and Leisure Gardeners Association (NSALG) and About Drought (knowledge exchange about drought).
Background: In the DRY project, we are keen to work with different groups who may be able to give early warning of dry conditions in their communities and who are already aware of when there is a lack of rain and when the soils are dry. Allotment holders are one such group. We are also interested in different ways of using water in growing food (e.g. across cultures) and the seasonal demands that different crops have for water.
Aims and outcomes:
At this workshop, we will:
share story and videos developed with allotment holders and Allan Cavell, NSALG in the DRY (Drought Risk and You) project.
ask ‘What if’ for different drought risk futures under different climate projections in the Bristol Frome catchment. We will share some of the new science on forecasting and prediction in easily accessible ways so we can think about what the implications might be for growing on allotments.
explore together what we might do on an allotment with less water. What options are available?
seek your advice about what sorts of resources would be useful as outcomes from the UK Drought and Water Scarcity research. What would be useful to allotment holders? (e.g. seasonal water advice; drought resistant planting).
The day will be interactive and we will have a cartoonist working with us to capture our discussions.
Who will this workshop interest? Allotment groups who have worked with the DRY project, other ‘growing’/ ‘food’ groups, those interested in community adaptation to water risk and climate change, those involved in plant growing/horticulture in different ways, those involved in teaching, and others…
FAQs
There is no cost for the workshop but we ask you to register by clicking this link by 18th May 2018. A buffet lunch will be provided so, if you have specific dietary requirements, please email dry@uwe.ac.uk.
The Centre for Water, Communities and Resilience and the Science Communication Unit at UWE together with Climate Outreach are pleased to announce a one day workshop exploring the interface between science communication, the arts and community resilience in the context of climate change and extreme weather.
Alison Tickell, CEO of Julie’s Bicycle will open the workshop with a Key Note relating her experiences working with creative industries on sustainability, and the opportunities for utilising their influential voices to reach new audiences on climate change.
She will be joined by speakers from academia and practice, including Sam Illingworth (Manchester Metropolitan University), Stuart Capstick (Cardiff University), Luci Gorell Barnes (Artist) Lyndsey Bakewell (Loughborough University), Corra Boushel (UWE) and Adam Corner (Climate Outreach).
The day will include a mix of provocative presentations followed by facilitated discussion exploring questions including:
1. What are the challenges and constraints of communicating about climate change and extreme weather (e.g. challenges of communicating complexity)
2. How might creative arts approaches be employed to open discussions about climate change and extreme weather? (use of case study examples to open discussion) (also how can these approaches help to overcome the challenges of communicating complex risks, like extreme weather)
3. How could arts, science and community work together to build resilience?
Spaces are limited and early booking is advised. Please sign up by Tuesday 8th May 2018.
Mon 30 April 2018, 10:00 – 12:30
Location: UWE Frenchay, BS16 1QY
Event organiser: UWE
Event type: Public open day
Booking: Register online
Join University of the West of England for a field trip with the researchers to discover the real-life effects of drought on our local grasslands, as part of Bristol Festival of Nature’s City Nature Challenge.
DRY project field site at UWE, copyright UWE
The Drought Risk and You project integrates physical science with social science and narrative to produce a decision making tool to help individuals and policy makers plan their response to drought.
Drought is a natural part of the UK climate but is predicted to become more frequent and severe in the future. Grasslands are by area the most important agricultural crop in the UK, and an essential feature of most parks and gardens.
You will learn about the experiments being done by UWE’s researchers as they look at the effects of drought on plants and pollinators, learn about the types of measurement they make and why, and see some of the preliminary results. You can also help the team by making your own survey transect across the field and submit your findings to Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre.
Booking essential, details of where to meet and parking available on application.For more information please contact: dry@uwe.ac.uk
Please note: we will be meeting on UWE’s Frenchay campus and walking down to the research site through a rough woodland track. The track and fieldsite are not accessible for wheelchairs or pushchairs. Please dress appropriately for working outdoors.This event is suitable for adults and older children (10+).
Print media reacted to the Environment Agency’s briefing in early January on low groundwater levels and the prospect of a summer drought with headlines ranging from ‘Floody drought’ (The Sun) to ‘Drenched by the wrong kind of rain’ (The i). As Southern Water applied for an abstraction permit journalists were given a background briefing putting the application into context.
UK Drought Jan 2018 print media montage by Sally Stevens, Institute for Environmental Analytics
‘Floody Drought’, ‘Drenched by the wrong type of rain’: headlines that pick up the contradictory nature of Britain’s relationship with water and an underpinning perception that Britain is a land of plenty – at least when it comes to water. But hiding behind these headlines, published in January 2018, is the real challenge: for the British Isles rely on fairly regular rainfall and rather wet winters to ensure a plentiful water supply.
As the headlines suggest, the South East experienced a dry autumn and, if followed by a dry winter, the area would have been at risk of drought in summer 2018. This would not have meant standpipes in the streets and we were not approaching day zero (when the city runs out of water), as Cape Town had. But the result of the Environment Agency’s briefing should have provided pause for thought and an opportunity for communities to consider their drought resilience (and the measures they could take now to mitigate against the risk of hosepipe bans in the summer). But it didn’t.
Trying to engage the public and communities with the risks of water shortage is hard at the best of times. Britain is perceived to be a rather wet island surrounded by plenty of water. This challenge to communication, though, is particularly hard in the winter because there is a perceptual link between drought and hot weather. If it’s not hot, it can’t be a drought. This perception makes winter droughts amongst the most challenging to communicate. How do you explain to someone who perceives that it’s dull and overcast (and therefore wet) that we’re heading for a drought?
And so we return to the wrong type of headlines. ‘Floody drought’ may be an attempt to link text to the water cycle, but how does it help people to understand that indeed drought may be followed by floods? Better a headline linking flood to the wrong type of rain. Headline writers love a contradiction: ‘Drenched UK might still see a hosepipe ban’ fits the bill but doesn’t help to address the problem of water resources and growing demand.
Newspapers may seek to grab our attention through these contradictory headlines, but unless readers go beyond the headline and start to understand Britain’s complex relationship with water, they will only reinforce stereotypes. In the face of climate change, it’s time to change those stereotypes.
The About Drought programme collaborated with the British Hydrological Society, University of Reading and University of Loughborough to present a national workshop on seasonal forecasting.
Rebecca Emberton (University of Reading) presenting to BHS meeting in January 2018, copyright Nevil Quinn UWE
The aim of the workshop, held in Loughborough in January 2018, was to focus on the seasonal forecast needs of users and practitioners, and to identify ways of improving the dissemination, uptake and operationalisation of seasonal forecasts by the water and agricultural sectors.
Reliable seasonal forecasts can support planning of water resources for a variety of purposes, including allocation for urban and rural water supply, irrigation scheduling, reservoir operation, routine maintenance of infrastructure, and preparedness for hydro-meteorological extremes. In recent years, improvements have been made in seasonal forecasting skill. However, without translation of these state-of-the-art forecast products into direct, actionable information, little ‘real’ progress can be made.
Rebecca Emberton (University of Reading) is pictured discussing global scale seasonal hydrometeorological forecasting with the Global Flood Awareness System at a national workshop on seasonal forecasting.
