Greening Wingrove project: “When Water Engineers Meet Gardeners”

Posted on 17 June, 2014 by Claire

Claire Walsh and Mark Powell are currently working with the Big Lottery funded, Greening Wingrove community partnership project. This was established to encourage the people of Wingrove Ward (Newcastle) to ‘green’ their local area and explore more sustainable ways of living.

While much of Claire and Mark’s work has centred on exploring ways to evaluate the project’s success, they have also helped organise workshops that showcase CEG research, especially around flooding. The most recent workshop took place on Wednesday evening of last week, when CEG PhD student Eleanor Starkey presented at a local community event entitled, ‘When Water Engineers Meet Gardeners.’

This workshop was designed to showcase civil engineering approaches to managing urban flood risk and using models, illustrate the potential impact of extreme flood events on both the local Wingrove area and Newcastle City more generally. Eleanor revealed that while Wingrove is not an area particularly badly affected by floods, water runoff from this part of the city significantly impacts on other areas. Eleanor presented a reconstruction of the 2012 ‘Toon Monsoon’ and introduced the concept of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and their possible multiple benefits. These measures not only slow down the speed of storm water runoff, which benefit the city as a whole, but also provide local householders with a water supply for use in the garden.

While encouraging individual households to keep a single water butt might appear to offer only minor benefits for larger flood management strategies, this might also encourage a more general interest in gardening and a cultural shift in how individuals choose to engage with their environment.

However, many Wingrove residents live in terraced properties with concrete yards, and therefore have limited access to land suitable for planting and growing. One challenge for the Greening Wingrove Project is to encourage residents living in these areas to also take up the greening philosophy. In an effort to identify new planting opportunities, Mark Ridsdill Smith has been running a series of project workshops on how to grow using containers and window boxes. According to Mark, who writes a column in The Guardian on ‘Vertical Veg,’ a major problem for container growers is securing a reliable water supply. Installing a water butt for gardening use not only reduces costs it also makes for a much speedier watering operation. During the workshop, Mark demonstrated how to build different forms of water reservoir and irrigation systems, all fed from a water butt connected to domestic guttering down-pipe

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/mar/14/container-gardens-mark-ridsdill-smith

Eleanor and Mark Ridsdill-Smiths’ presentations revealed how installing a water butt in Wingrove has the potential to provide a range of interdependent benefits. The water butt not only forms part of a Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), it also offers a ready-made solution to the problem of container growing. By encouraging local people to cultivate plants and enjoy the greening of previously concrete yards, the Wingrove Project seeks to generate new environmental perceptions and engagements that will have citywide benefits. To find out more about the Greening Wingrove project visit http://greeningwingrove.org.uk/

Summer #flooding happens so fast… and will be more frequent according to @nclceser @UniofNewcastle

Posted on 2 June, 2014 by Richard

Extreme summer rainfall may become more frequent in the UK due to climate change, according to new research led by Newcastle University and the Met Office.

The new study, from the joint Met Office and NERC funded CONVEX project which is led by CESER academic Professor Hayley Fowler, uses a state-of-the-art climate model providing the first evidence that hourly summer rainfall rates could increase.

While summers are expected to become drier overall by 2100, intense rainfall indicative of serious flash flooding could become several times more frequent.

The results from the study, published in Nature Climate Change, are the first step towards building a more complete picture of how UK rainfall may change as our climate warms.

Prof Hayley Fowler, from Newcastle University’s School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, said: “We need to understand about possible changes to summer and winter rainfall so we can make informed decisions about how to manage these very different flooding risks in the future.

“The changes we have found are consistent with increases we would expect in extreme rainfall with increasing temperatures and will mean more flash floods.

Dr Lizzie Kendon, lead author of the research at the Met Office, said: “Until now, climate models haven’t been able to simulate how extreme hourly rainfall might change in future. The very high resolution model used in this study allows us to examine these changes for the first time.

“It shows heavier summer downpours in the future, with almost five times more events exceeding 28mm in one hour in the future than in the current climate – changes we might expect theoretically as the world warms. However, we need to be careful as the result is only based on one model – so we need to wait for other centres to run similarly detailed simulations to see whether their results support these findings.”

As the atmosphere warms it can hold more moisture and this is expected to intensify rainfall. However, research is needed to understand what this might mean for extremes and how this might affect the UK.

In winter it is the daily or multi-day rainfall totals that are important, because we tend to get steady, long-lasting periods of rain from large scale weather systems – similar to those seen during the winter floods of 2013/14.

Climate models, which generally work at coarse resolutions, have been able to accurately simulate winter rainfall and have suggested generally wetter winters with the potential for higher daily rainfall rates in the future.

In summer, however, it is the hourly rates that are more important as rain tends to fall in short but intense bursts – as seen during the Boscastle flooding of 2004 and ‘Toon Flood’, otherwise known as Thunder Thursday, in Newcastle in 2012. Climate models have so far lacked the resolution to accurately simulate the smaller-scale convective storms which cause this type of rain.

To deal with this issue, this study uses a climate model with a higher resolution than ever used before to examine future rainfall change – using 1.5km grid boxes instead of the usual 12km or larger – the same as the Met Office weather forecast model. This model gives a realistic representation of hourly rainfall, allowing us to make future projections with some confidence.

It was so computer intensive that only the southern half of the UK could be studied and even then it took the Met Office supercomputer – one of the most powerful in the world – about nine months to run the simulations.

These simulations looked at two 13-year periods, one based on current climate and one based on expected climate around 2100.

Professor Fowler adds: “The next steps are to see if these changes are consistent with observed trends in summer rainfall extremes and changes projected by climate models in other parts of the world. We will be looking at this over the next five years, jointly with the Met Office and other leading international scientists in the European Research Council funded INTENSE project.”

3 funded #PhDs available in water and climate impacts engineering @nclceser @TyndallCentre #ibuild

Posted on 28 May, 2014 by Richard

Three fully funded PhD studentships, led by academics from CESER, are available in topics that address water and climate engineering:

1. Vulnerability of shallow groundwater and surface water resources used for irrigation in rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa to climate variability and change.

2. Will catchment scale afforestation for mitigating flooding significantly reduce water resource availability and productive farmland?

3. Attribution of climate risks in urban areas for the design of adaptation pathways.

Each Doctoral Training Award is for £20,000 per annum. This award is sufficient to cover home(UK)/EU fees and a contribution to an annual stipend (living expenses). Applications from outside the EU are welcome but must note the stipend will be reduced according to the difference in tuition fees. Applications will be considered as they are received, until 18th August 2014 or sooner if the awards are made before this date. Applicants must be able to start the PhD in September.

More information can be found via the links above, or at the CESER PhD webpage.

@nclceser @EuroGeosciences Paul Quinn debates the implications of geoengineering at the EGU

Posted on 9 May, 2014 by Richard

Over 600 people attended the Great Geoengineering Debate that took place at the 2014 European Geophysical Union meeting in Vienna on 29th April. A panel of experts, Prof. Ken Caldeira, Dr Krishna Kumar Kanikicharla, Prof. Mark Lawrence, Prof. Andreas Oschlies and CESER academic Dr Paul Quinn, debated the implications of climate engineering and whether there is an appetite to start Geoengineering experiments now as part of the Geoscience community agenda. A number of concerns were raised by the panel but more importantly the sentiment of the audience was very much against the idea of starting Geoengineering experiments now.

http://client.cntv.at/EGU2014/?play=48

#ceser #ibuild Matt Holmes wins best presentation at the IWA’s UK conference for Young Water Professionals

Posted on 29 April, 2014 by Claire

STREAM PhD Student Matthew Holmes won the best presentation prize at the IWA’s UK conference for Young Water Professionals which was held at the University of Manchester, 23-25 April. The theme of the conference was, ‘What is smart?’, Matt’s presentation, ‘Resilient Infrastructure: Do loosely-coupled dependencies mediate the risk of cascading failure?’ covered his PhD work in collaboration with United Utilities, Severn Trent Water and Yorkshire Water. Congratulations Matt!

Matt is currently in the final year of the PhD STREAM Programme and is sponsored by United Utilities. STREAM is the Industrial Doctoral Centre for the Water Sector funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and companies who sponsor research projects. For more information about STREAM visit: http://www.stream-idc.net/index.php

Up to 25 #PhD scholarships @nclceser #infrastructure #flooding #urban #sustainability

Posted on 7 March, 2014 by Richard

Newcastle University has 25 PhD scholarships available to excellent students. The funding is available across all research areas of science and engineering – but Earth Systems Engineering has been identified as a priority theme.

CESER encourage applications across any relevant area, but please feel free to consider indicative topics listed here: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ceser/phds/

For further information you can contact CESER members directly http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ceser/people/ and email the director at richard.dawson@newcastle.ac.uk

The deadline is tight – 28th March so please get in touch soon.

#ibuild Deputy Director Andy Pike gives oral evidence to @CommonsCLG Communities and Local Government Select Committee

Posted on 5 February, 2014 by Richard

On Monday 3 February 2014, Professor Andy Pike, Director of CURDS, gave oral evidence to the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee Inquiry into Fiscal Devolution to Cities and City Regions. The second oral evidence session examined the process of devolving powers, governance, business rates and borrowing; equalisation and redistribution; and non property taxes. CURDS submitted written evidence to the Select Committee Inquiry.

@timeshighered rate Newcastle University – home of CESER – as a top place to work

Posted on 5 February, 2014 by Richard

The Times Higher Education magazine has published an independent survey sharing the views of university staff working at 150 higher education institutions, across the country. They analysed the views of thousands of people to find out what we really think about where we work.

The survey’s results are published in four key tables and Newcastle University is in the top five in all four categories:

“I would recommend working at my university”
“The leadership of my university is performing well”
“My university offers a fair deal to its employees in terms of working conditions and benefits”
“My work responsibilities allow for a healthy work-life balance”

To read the full article, follow this link .

To find out about jobs here and funded PhDs in areas infrastructure, sustainability and other areas

Outstanding #sustainability #PhD scholarships available

Posted on 3 February, 2014 by Richard

Applications are open for three generous PhD scholarships through the Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability. The PhD topic can be anything that fits within the institute’s broad research programme.

Applicant’s should visit here to download the relevant application forms:

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/sustainability/research/studentships.htm

and speak to an appropriate Newcastle University academic to devise a project. A number of indicative PhD topics have been placed on the web by CESER academics.

‘Natural’ engineering offers solution against future #flooding

Posted on 3 February, 2014 by Richard

Back-to-nature flood schemes which use the land’s natural defences to slow river flow and reduce flooding could be a cost-effective way of tackling one of the biggest problems facing the UK today.

The schemes – which include capturing flow upstream to prevent floods downstream where they are likely to have a greater impact on infrastructure and homes – have been trialled as part of a five-year research project by experts from Newcastle University in partnership with the Environment Agency.

Using Belford Burn in Northumberland as a demonstration, the team have shown that by changing and hindering the natural flow pathways within a small catchment system, it is possible to manage the amount of run-off from the land. This reduces the risk of flooding in low-lying areas and also cuts down on pollution by preventing phosphorous and nitrates from being washed off the land.

Published this month in the academic journal Science of the Total Environment, the findings were presented last week at the House of Commons Office of Science and Technology to inform the Government’s Environment White Paper.

Research lead, Dr Mark Wilkinson, who carried out the work while at Newcastle University and is now based at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, said: “Climate projections for the UK suggest that total rainfall during winter months will continue to rise and with it the risk of flooding.

“What we have shown at Belford is that by employing so-called ‘soft engineering solutions’ to restrict the progress of water through a catchment – disconnecting fast-flow pathways and adding storage – we have been able to reduce the risk of flooding in the lower areas and, most importantly, in the town.

“Belford is not unique and there are many other areas around the UK where these solutions could make a significant impact and potentially protect peoples’ homes from some of the more severe flooding we are seeing at the moment.”

Strategies for Natural Flood Management (NFM)

Natural Flood Management aims to reduce the downstream maximum water height of a flood – the peak – or delay the arrival of the flood peak downstream, increasing the time available to prepare.

This is done by restricting the progress of water through a catchment and relies on one, or a combination of four key mechanisms which work with the environment to provide a sustainable solution to the problem:

• Storing water such as ponds, ditches and field attenuation bunds

• Increasing soil infiltration through the creation of ‘infiltration zones’ to help water get into the soil at certain locations, for example tree belts.

• Slowing water by increasing resistance to its flow, for example planting in the floodplain or riverside woodland

• Redirecting the water by channelling it away from the main flow into temporary water storage areas or buffer zones to hold the water back until the flood peak drops or restoring river meanders. This increases the length of the river and decreases its slope, slowing down the flow

Costing around £200,000, the Belford scheme was installed after a study of the area suggested the cost of a full conventional flood defence scheme for the town would cost in the region of £2.5 m.

“The situation in Belford is typical of many rural towns around the UK that are at risk of flooding,” explains Dr Paul Quinn, based in the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Newcastle University.

“It is a town with a long history of flooding but the floods tend to be short-lived – albeit severe – and only tend to affect a small number of properties. A feasibility study concluded that traditional flood defences were not suitable because of the high-cost, lack of space for flood walls and banks and the relatively small number of properties involved.”

Just five months after the feasibility report was published, the July 2007 storm hit the North of England and ten homes and businesses in Belford were flooded. It was after this event the Newcastle University demonstrator project was launched.

“One of the main reasons why the Belford scheme has been such a success is because we’ve had the support of the community and local landowners behind us,” explains Dr Quinn, who has since carried out a second Catchment Management Scheme at Netherton Burn, Northumberland.

“There is no single solution to flooding – no ‘silver bullet’ – but what the Belford scheme has shown us is what can be achieved with local support and a thorough understanding of the land and the local environment.”

Source information:“A framework for managing runoff and pollution in the rural landscape using a catchment systems engineering approach.” M Wilkinson, P Quinn, N Barber, J Jonczyk. Science of the Total Environment January 2014. Volumes 468–469, 15 January 2014, Pages 1245–1254

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.07.055

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969713008231

http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/pioneering-northumberland-flood-defence-scheme-6641514

CESER: Centre for Earth Systems Engineering Research

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