Prioritising Natural Flood Management interventions in Calderdale

Photo Courtesy: Slow the Flow

A rainfall-runoff model developed at the University of Leeds is the latest weapon in Calderdale’s efforts to prevent future flooding in the valley. SD-TOPMODEL is currently the only tool able to model the flow of water from hillslopes to the river at a sufficient spatial scale to allow Natural Flood Management (NFM) interventions and land management to be represented accurately for the characteristics of the Calderdale catchment.

An iCASP project using SD-TOPMODEL and starting in November 2018 will contribute to the Calderdale Flood Action Plan by helping to prioritise the siting of future NFM schemes.

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UKCP18 Regional Forum

The UKCP18 Regional User Forum will use the release of the updated UK Climate Projections 18 as an opportunity to bring together different sectors of the regional economy to ensure that the latest knowledge is embedded in catchment management decisions. The afternoon event in Leeds on March 8th 2019 will be designed for organisations who need to use UK climate projections for resilience planning and long-term business strategies.

IF INTERESTED, Quick email to:  icasp@leeds.ac.uk

 

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Better land management for a multifunctional landscape

Credit: DCRT

The latest iCASP Project will help advise the Don Catchment Rivers Trust on their Hidden Heritage Secret Streams project. This is based on the Upper Rother Catchment, a tributary of the River Don. One of the aims of the project is to improve the way land is managed so that it provides both social and heritage benefits.

Volunteers will be recruited to put in place small and simple changes to reduce river pollution from different sources, slow the rate at which water flows down the river, and make it easier for different species to flourish by ensuring suitable habitats are connected up in the landscape.

At the moment, it’s difficult to prioritise what should be done because there isn’t enough available information on the different options and whether they can be carried out by volunteers. This is where iCASP can add most value.

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Bricks and Water

A new report, Bricks and Water, which iCASP helped to inform, has been published by the Westminster Sustainable Business Forum, an off shoot of Policy Connect.

It sets out an action plan for better management of water to deliver water-efficient homes at volume, that are resilient to flooding and calls for a ‘Bricks and Water’ sustainability code with a change in building regulations to provide a stable long-term planning framework.

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iCASP Confluence 2018

A clutch of project ideas and some very useful feedback have come out of the iCASP Confluence 2018.  About eighty delegates from partner organisations and partner universities attended to catch up on project progress, network and share experiences so far.

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Understanding the methods to Value Ecosystem Services

Photo credit: Jenny Sharman

This workshop, part of the iCASP Confluence 2018, introduced some basic principles and methods for valuing ecosystem services. It used the example of one of the on-going iCASP projects, which focuses on how to estimate the benefits of peatland restoration.

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FAS Workshop

Flood Alleviation Schemes This workshop led by Steve Wragg, Flood Risk Manager at City of York Council, was an opportunity for anyone involved in, or affected by, a flood alleviation scheme in Yorkshire to share ideas, problems and advice. It was also a way to get an overview of what’s going on and where. The … Read more

Soil Health Metric Workshop

 

This workshop was a first step towards considering what a soil health index could and should include. A potential follow-on activity could be compiling an advisory briefing for Defra which is looking for ways to assess soil health. Please get in touch with icasp@leeds.ac.uk if you would like to be involved.

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New UK Climate Scenarios

Credit: Malcolm Campbell

This workshop provided an open forum for suggestions about how iCASP could continue to support the region to make informed climate adaptation decisions building on the success of the iCASP UKCP18 project which anticipated the release later this year of The UK Climate Projections 2018.

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NFM Knowledge Exchange

This workshop was an opportunity for people from different catchments across Yorkshire to meet and share learning, experience and approaches to dealing with the inevitable challenges that are generated by pioneering natural flood management (NFM) schemes.

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