Prioritising Natural Flood Management interventions in Calderdale

19th October 2018 by geosbal

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.

UKCP18 Regional Forum

19th October 201819th October 2018 by geosbal

Building on the success of the iCASP UKCP18 Demonstrator Project, this forum will bring together people from different sectors of the regional economy. The one day event to be held in 2019 will be designed for organisations who need to use UK climate projections for resilience planning and long-term business strategies.

The forum will use the release of UK Climate Projections 18 (UKCP18) data products and accompanying guidance documentation in November 2018 and May 2019 as an opportunity to ensure that the latest knowledge is embedded in catchment management decisions.

Better land management for a multifunctional landscape

13th September 201813th September 2018 by geosbal

The latest iCASP Project will help advise the Don Catchment Rivers Trust on their Hidden Heritage Secret Stream 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.

Bricks and Water

16th August 201820th July 2018 by geosbal

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.

iCASP Confluence 2018

15th August 20188th June 2018 by geosbal

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.

Understanding the methods to Value Ecosystem Services

15th August 20188th June 2018 by geosbal

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.

FAS Workshop

15th August 20187th June 2018 by geosbal

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 discussions were lively and we now want to explore the best way to keep such a network going.

Soil Health Metric Workshop

15th August 20187th June 2018 by geosbal

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.

New UK Climate Scenarios

15th August 20187th June 2018 by geosbal

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.

NFM Knowledge Exchange

15th August 20187th June 2018 by geosbal

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.