Innovative river basin management

Over two decades, our Group has developed a distinctive catchment systems approach. We:

• provide the science and engineering base for the management of flooding, pollution, and water resources
• pioneer the use of Nature-Based Solutions to water management

Real world impacts

We draw on our own field studies across Northern England as well as data from around the world to develop multi-scale monitoring strategies and modelling tools. We use these to research the impacts of interventions in the landscape. Our work in this area includes: 

• a comprehensive assessment of land use management impact on catchment scale flood generation
• development of multi-functional controls on water and nutrient runoff for agricultural land management
• Natural Flood Management (NFM) soft engineering interventions with measurable impacts on flood peak

Our catchment systems studies have shown when the effects of pollution mitigation are detectable. We are also improving the management of the water, energy, and food nexus alongside our colleagues from Agriculture and Energy.

Working with landowners and regulators

We have developed our multi-scale scientific approach through collaboration with landowners and regulators. Done across a range of spatial scales, we have shown that this provides the solid evidence needed to underpin national policy.

Projects