China in the Mekong: building dams for whose benefit?

A new policy brief from the Oxford University Global Economic Governance Programme discusses the controversies of Chinese investment in hydropower in the Mekong. It calls for action by governments and Chinese hydropower companies to ensure responsible water governance and safeguard livelihoods and biodiversity in the basin.

Lake Turkana under threat from hydropower dam and irrigation development

Lake Turkana in the Kenyan Rift valley is the world’s largest desert lake but could dramatically reduce in size due to a hydropower dam being built upstream and plans for large-scale irrigation. This could be another Aral Sea disaster, says a new Oxford University study.

Scientists find vast new freshwater sources under the sea

Untapped reserves of fresh groundwater – up to 0.5 million km3 – are buried beneath continental shelves around the world, according to new findings published in the international scientific journal Nature and co-authored by Oxford’s Mike Edmunds.

“Are weather forecasts still for wimps?” asks Steve Rayner

Professor Steve Rayner questioned the usefulness of long-range weather forecasting as a tool to improve water resource management in a lecture at Flinders University, Australia on 26 November.

Nick Hankins appointed editor-in-chief of new Elsevier water journal

Dr Nick Hankins of the Department of Engineering Science has been appointed as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Water Process Engineering.

Oxford awarded Doctoral Training Partnership in Environmental Research

Oxford University has been awarded funding for a Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) – a 4-year D.Phil. programme which offers a world-class, multidisciplinary training environment for the next generation of leaders working at the frontiers of environmental research.

Grant won to investigate the resilience of water infrastructures

A team of Oxford researchers have been awarded funding to study how resilient water infrastructures are to natural and man-made threats. The project is a collaboration with the University of Massachusetts and Sandia National Laboratory in the United States.

Developing international guidance for strategic drought risk management

Paul Sayers, Senior Visiting Fellow at the School of Geography and the Environment, is leading a project to identify best practice in drought risk management, in collaboration with WWF and the Chinese Government.