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Throughout the REF period our research - driven by risk assessment theory - has provided a continuously updated set of unique models, data and techniques for assessing the benefits of UK flood alleviation investment. These have been used to justify all flood alleviation investment for the whole of the UK for the whole of the REF period (c. £3bn), as well as for the previous 30 years. Our work has been central to all assessments by Defra and the Environment Agency (EA) of national flood risk (Foresight; NaFRA (England, Wales, and Scotland); LTIS) and all the Catchment Flood Management Plans for England and Wales. The research is also used in Scotland (by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, SEPA), by international and national insurers (e.g. through Risk Management Solutions Ltd), and in many other countries.
Thorne's research for the Flood Foresight project changed UK policy towards sustainable Integrated Flood Risk Management (IFRM), as implemented by the Floods and Water Management Act (2010). This legislation introduced new systems of governance to clarify responsibilities, support co-ordinated actions, strengthen the roles of local stakeholders, foster the co-production of knowledge, and work with natural processes. Flood Foresight has attracted international attention and stimulated projects and policy changes elsewhere, including in the Taihu Basin in China and around the city of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Our research and resulting impacts extend across a wide range of flooding problems, from localised urban floods to river bas in flooding. The under pinning research ranges from extending the evidence base, to improved rainfall estimates, and to advances in hydrological and hydraulic models. The impact of our research has been through the creation and application of new methodologies (e.g. AOFD) and software tools (e.g., TSRSim) for the design and analysis of flood management systems in the UK and internationally, via joint projects with consulting engineering companies, and through the influence of our research on national and regional policies towards improved land use management practices (e.g., Glastir, Wales).
This research has demonstrated the effectiveness of an experimental method of public engagement - Competency Groups (CGs) - in situations in which the expertise involved in managing flood risk is called into question by the communities living with such risk. Working in two test areas (Ryedale, Yorkshire and the Uck catchment, Sussex) it has enabled novel research collaborations between scientists and concerned citizens that have generated bespoke flood models and new flood management options. The work of the Ryedale CG and the `upstream storage' proposals that it generated were incorporated into a successful multi-agency bid to a national competition launched by Defra for a project to test new flood management solutions for Pickering, and are now under construction in the catchment. Having become a national exemplar, the reach of the Competency Group approach in tackling public controversies about environmental expertise continues to extend beyond these two areas, within the UK and also abroad.
Contingency planning to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies, including natural disasters such as flooding, is a priority for all governments. However, such planning has traditionally focussed on risk assessment and emergency response, with recovery conceived of solely in terms of repairs to infrastructure and short-term health protection. Consequently, residents' needs for support during the longer-term recovery process hardly featured at all in policy prior to our research, which has provided new insights into the nature of disaster recovery. Starting from a focussed case study of the 2007 floods in Hull, we have delivered leading research that has advanced understanding of the social, economic and practical challenges faced by people impacted by disasters. Our research has transformed the ways in which policy makers understand and manage the human impacts of the recovery from natural disasters. It has had a key role in shaping guidance, strategy and practice not only in UK responses, but globally, for example informing Australian authorities to improve their responses to both floods and bush-fires. Our impact was recognized by the ESRC in 2013, winning second place for Outstanding Impact in Public Policy, in their first ever `Celebrating Impact' awards.
This case study concerns the impact of interdisciplinary research on policies and practices to support river restoration and the aims of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD), which requires member states to bring riverine hydromorphology and ecology to 'good' status by 2015, measured against a reference condition. The research achieved impact through an evolving process of co-production, in that academics engaged with user communities from the outset. Richards, Hughes and Horn (Department of Geography, University of Cambridge) worked closely with users to design a knowledge transfer guidebook to communicate restoration science to users.
This was distributed amongst Environment Agency (EA) staff to aid the planning and implementation of restoration projects. Further impacts included promoting floodplain restoration for flood risk management (Richards, as a member of an EA Regional Flood and Coastal Commitee); a rapid assessment method for river quality (Richards and Horn) that forms the basis of cross-boundary WFD compliance practices across the whole of Ireland; and knowledge transfer of EU WFD ecological assessment practices to China (Richards).
For over 40 years, the Urban Pollution Research Centre has undertaken pioneering work in understanding the sources, behaviour and fate of urban diffuse pollution and its mitigation using sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS). Relevant impacts claimed here include the adoption of SUDS into UK practice and legislation, the role of SUDS as key components in achieving EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requirements and the embedding of our research within national best practice guidelines. In response to recent policy drivers, we are collaborating with Arup to commercialise SUDSloc and are informing policy developments in the fields of diffuse pollution mitigation and urban ecosystem services.
This case study is based on impact on the Flood Warning Service of the Environment Agency. A new coastal flooding forecasting system combines forecasts of weather and sea conditions with modelling of wave transformation close to the coast, and from this information, using the outcomes of research at University of Liverpool between 1998 and 2005, predicts the wave overtopping of seawalls. The new system allows wind and wave conditions to be incorporated into coastal flooding predictions, improving on the previous methodology that was largely based on sea level. The Liverpool contribution to the system specifically improves on the conservatism of the previous overtopping prediction, leading to a model which issues less false alerts. Versions of the system are now in operation on the North East coast of England, and around the Firths or Forth and Tay, and over 200 alerts have been issued from the North East system since 2008.
In 2008-2009 the UK was subject to legal infraction proceedings at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for allegedly failing to implement the European Union's Urban Waste-water Treatment Directive (UWWTD). Research by the Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, Hull (IECS) for the Environment Agency (EA)/Defra provided evidence to the UK Government for its defence against these allegations. The research consisted of:
- literature/data reviews and collection and analysis of critical evidence from the Humber.
- co-ordinating workshops and convening an expert panel of sufficient authoritative academic opinion to counteract the European Court of Justice allegations.
In December 2009 the European Court of Justice ruled in favour of the UK. Our research therefore helped to save very significant, unnecessary capital investment in nutrient removal technology for sewage treatment nationally and in the Yorkshire and Humber region especially. The UK government thus avoided the possibility of major European Commission fines of up to €703,000 per day, or €256m per annum, for infraction of the Urban Water-water Treatment Directive [1].
Research and knowledge exchange led by Prof. Jefferies in sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) has driven the design and integration of SUDS into urban environments, into urban planning and everyday practice in the UK, Europe and worldwide. This research has contributed to the development of policies and established guidelines that have informed the set-up of operational and monitoring systems and the reduction of a training manual which is impacting widely on the sector (downloaded >40.000 times). Evidence gathered through this research has supported drainage policy nationally and now underpins important parts of urban infrastructure, improving environments and their resilience to flooding.