News – Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme (iCASP)

Spring call for new projects

25th May 2018 by geosbal

iCASP is once again inviting expressions of interest for iCASP projects.

If you have an idea please complete the 6 page Expression of Interest (EOI) Document that you can download from the link below.

So what defines an iCASP project?

We will support:

Projects that translate existing environmental science so that it is used to further integrated catchment management

Projects that address:

Promoting the resilience of the region’s cities
Mitigating drought and flood risk in the context of climate change
Improving the delivery of flood forecasts
Developing approaches to improve ecological and chemical status of surface and groundwaters, and water quality entering treatment works
Enhancing carbon sequestration in soils and woodlands
Supporting sustainable agriculture

Projects need to involve both academic and non-academic partners.

iCASP academic partners are: National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York, and for peat projects can also include the Universities of Manchester and Durham.

See our partners web page for a list of non-academic partners.

Some of the ways a project can be delivered are through:

translating existing data, models, knowledge and/or expertise into tools, solutions and approaches,
embedding new knowledge to improve organisational processes or services through people exchange,
advancing academic outputs into commercially-viable products and services.

Managing land more beneficially

25th May 2018 by geosbal

Leaving the EU gives the UK an opportunity to rethink farm subsidies. The government is currently exploring how to incentivise farmers and land owners to improve water quality, soil health and flood protection while also sustaining food and fibre production and biodiversity. However, for such a policy change to be effective, there needs to be more confidence in what different management regimes can deliver in terms of the public goods listed above.

This is where iCASP can help. The Agri-Land Management for Public Goods Delivery Project is going to review and consolidate the evidence in academic and grey literature on land management interventions which generate a wide range of public goods. The Review will focus on a selection of land management activities currently undertaken in the River Ouse drainage basin area of Yorkshire, including those supported through Countryside Stewardship.

The project will provide insights into which interventions contribute to the provision of multiple public goods, including carbon storage to reduce climate change, enhanced biodiversity and improving access to wild places so that people’s health and welling is enhanced. It will also consider the relationship between such interventions and food and fibre production, and whether food and fibre production is compatible with public goods provision.

Looking into nitrate pollution

25th May 201824th May 2018 by geosbal

Water companies spend millions of pounds a year removing harmful nitrates from drinking water and the problem seems to be getting worse. Most of this pollution relates to agriculture, so various incentive schemes to stop nitrates getting in to water have been trialled with farmers. However, the effectiveness of such schemes and the resultant reduction in nitrate pollution needs to be better understood at catchment scale.

This is one of the challenges that the Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme (iCASP) is seeking to address, so iCASP has been submitting evidence to an Environmental Audit Committee inquiry into Nitrates.

This Summer, iCASP will be publishing a review of what we know about how agricultural land can be managed to deliver a range of public goods including a reduction in nitrate pollution as phase one of a new iCASP project. The review will be a useful source of information to inform the government’s approach to nitrate regulation and management.

Peatlands Vital for UK Water Security

16th May 201816th May 2018 by geosbal

River draining a peatland in Scotland Credit: Joseph Holden, University of Leeds

Research co-authored by iCASP Director, Professor Joe Holden shows how dependent the UK is on peatlands to supply drinking water.

The study published in Nature Sustainability this week is based on a new global index developed by a group of scientists from water@leeds which estimates that 72.5% of the storage capacity of UK water supply reservoirs is peat-fed water.

Professor Holden, also director of water@leeds says:

“The UK consumes approximately 1.56 cubic kilometres of drinking water per year that has come from peatlands; that is roughly the volume of 630,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. This resource supports the equivalent of 28.3 million people or more than 43% of UK population.”

Any threat to peatlands from rising temperatures, draining or burning is a significant threat to the UK’s water security. It is therefore timely that Defra has announced funding this week for the Yorkshire Peat Partnership and Moors for the Future, both partners in iCASP’s Optimal Peatland Restoration Project.

The iCASP partnership is committed to supporting the restoration work going forward in Yorkshire not least because the largest costs in raw water treatment for water companies comes from removing peat sediment and dissolved organic carbon in water draining from degraded peatlands. Over the past few decades concentrations of dissolved organic carbon in water from UK upland peatlands have increased rapidly due to changes in atmospheric chemistry and peat degradation.

Professor Holden concludes that,

“It’s imperative that we support the great work of peatland restoration agencies and partnerships which are working with water companies to enhance the condition of our degraded peatlands.”

Enhanced Surface Water Flood Forecasting Project

4th May 2018 by geosbal

Yorkshire is prone to all sources of inland flooding: from rivers, rising groundwater, flash floods and prolonged heavy rainfall which can cause surface water flooding. Arguably flooding from rivers is more straightforward to forecast because rises in water level can be measured and seen in advance. However, in the case of rainfall, it is harder to forecast precisely where heavy prolonged rain is going to fall and therefore if that rainfall will cause surface water flooding by landing somewhere with inadequate drainage.

Up until now surface water flood forecasts have been limited to relatively coarse–scale county-level red/amber/green warnings issued by the Flood Forecasting Centre and static risk maps, which are more useful for longer term planning. The iCASP Enhanced Surface Water Flood Forecasting Project will therefore convert the latest advances in probabilistic rainfall forecasting and high-resolution surface water modelling into useful real-time forecasts to help authorities which have to react to potential flood events.

iCASP the Movie

4th May 2018 by geosbal

If you have read our flyers, been to our events, spoken to the team and are still not quite sure what the Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme is about, try this four and a half minute movie!

It focuses on two themes: natural flood management and peatland restoration which underpin projects that iCASP is supporting. It also shows how academic research is a valuable resource for our partners and the work they are doing to benefit Yorkshire and its communities.

Happily, MPs in Yorkshire can see this too and have pledged to spread the word more widely.

A Yorkshire voice in policy development

16th May 201828th March 2018 by geosbal

Two Yorkshire MPs are keen to hear more from iCASP Partners who are achieving collaborative land management to combat climate change and flooding.

MPs and event organisers at Howe Syke Farm, Bishopdale. Photo Credit: Malcolm Warne

Getting to grips with natural flood management

3rd May 201820th February 2018 by geosbal

Natural flood management pilot schemes in Yorkshire are the focus of an iCASP project to develop best practice for modelling and monitoring. Defra’s 25 year Environment Plan highlights the important role that natural flood management techniques can play in flood risk management. The Yorkshire work will therefore contribute valuable learning for the rest of the UK. The iCASP project will help to develop best practice and show how natural flood management can deliver a range of benefits in addition to flood protection.

Solving silt troubles

8th February 2018 by geosbal

Too much silt in our rivers can cause a range of costly problems so it’s important to understand where it’s coming from. This is where environmental science begins to resemble detective work and may be why one of iCASP’s core team is taking a break from the programme to work with Yorkshire Water.

Janet Richardson is taking a six month sabbatical to work out where an accumulation of sediment in the Yorkshire River Derwent is coming from and what can be done to stop it.

Increased sedimentation in watercourses is unwelcome for a number of reasons including: increases in water treatment costs, the need to dredge waterways or reservoirs to allay flooding, the loss of recreational areas, and the detrimental impact it can have on fish such as salmon and trout. In her own words, this is what she’s up to:

Read moreSolving silt troubles

Maximising pay-back from peat restoration

6th March 20187th February 2018 by geosbal

Efforts to restore Yorkshire’s vast peat bogs will soon be getting a welcome boost, thanks to a new project being developed by the Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme (iCASP).

The Yorkshire Peat Partnership and Moors for the Future will be working with the Universities of Leeds, Manchester and Durham to develop tools that people can use when they consider how to get the most value from restoring a bog even as the climate changes.

The project team will develop a user-friendly and updated version of a modelling tool called Digibog. They will also create a ‘menu of methods’ for valuing the benefits of peatland restoration. This will help restoration practitioners plan their programmes to generate maximum social benefit.