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Oxford Hydrology Group (OHS) Seminar Series and Social Events – Michaelmas Term

The Oxford hydrology group (OHS) and SoGE landscapes cluster have joined forces for our seminar series this term. Talks are held Fridays 11 am in the Desert room (odd weeks), and we have tea together Thursdays 11 am in the East Lab (even weeks). Our seminars this term are:

  • 28 October 2022: Taylor Schildgen (GFZ-Potsdam)
    Title/Abstract: Alluvial channels: Signal shredders, or the key to unlocking the stratigraphic record?
  • 11 November 2022: Elizabeth Lewis (Newcastle)
    Title/Abstract: TBD
  • 14 November 2022: Gregoire Mariethoz (Lausanne) – 11.30 am, Diversity room
    Title/Abstract: TBD
  • 25 November 2022: Stephen Tooth (Aberystwyth)
    Title/Abstract: TBD
  • 2 December 2022: Prof. Xihui Gu (China University of Geosciences)
    Title/Abstract: Impacts of urbanization on heavy precipitation: Asymmetrical Shift, spatial extent, and the role of heatwaves

For updates and more information, subscribe to the oxford-hydrology-group (oxford-hydrology-group@maillist.ox.ac.uk)or ouce-landscape mailing lists (ouce-landscape@maillist.ox.ac.uk).

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Surface Water Quality, Modelling and Management

An exclusive river water quality modelling masterclass based on 14 lectures with free software, practical session, support notes and papers by OWN Member Prof. Paul Whitehead with Guest Presentations from Industry and Academia is going to be running soon.

For more information and access to the course go to Oxford Molecular Biosensors (click on video introduction) or contact Paul Whitehead ( paul.whitehead@ouce.ox.ac.uk) Oxford and Water Resource Associates.

See the accompanying poster for more detailed information.

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Current policies cannot stabilise the Colorado River in face of ongoing megadrought

OWN member, Dr Kevin Wheeler, publish a new article in Science Magazine, titled “What will it take to stabilize the Colorado River?”

Download the article here: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo4452

Read the Oxford Martin School’s recent article that featuring this Science publication: Current policies cannot stabilise the Colorado River in face of ongoing megadrought

“An ongoing megadrought, impacts of climate change and systematic overuse have created a crisis for the Colorado River, an essential water source for 40 million inhabitants of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The current policies and international agreements governing this river are insufficient to maintain secure water supplies, concludes a commentary published today in the journal Science from the University of Oxford, Utah State University and Colorado State University.”

The New York Times has also recently published a great piece on the topic related to this Science article: A Painful Deadline Nears as Colorado River Reservoirs Run Critically Low

Many Congratulations!

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OWN Sessions at the AGU Fall Meeting – Now accepting abstracts!

OXFORD – July 2022

The AGU (American Geophysical Union) Fall meeting will be held in Chicago and online from 12-16 December 2022. The AGU Fall meeting is the world’s most prominent Earth and space science event, bringing together research communities to advance science and create impact. This year the theme of the meeting is ‘Science leads the future.’ OWN members and collaborators are convening two sessions that focus on pathways for better science-based decision-making. One session will focus on the nexus of water, health and climate change. The second focuses on citizen science water quality monitoring.

Abstract submission is open! Any questions about the sessions can be directed to OWN co-chair Dr Saskia Nowicki (saskia.nowicki@ouce.ox.ac.uk). Note that the conference is hybrid, so presenters will have the option to present in-person or online. The conference registration fee will be waived for residents of lower-income and lower-middle-income countries.

GeoHealth Session GH022 – Water and health in a volatile climate: science-based strategies for equitable well-being in a water secure future
Deadline for abstract submissions: Aug 3.
Submit here: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm22/prelim.cgi/Session/160329

Session description: Global health is inextricably linked to water security, which is jeopardised by climate change. Research is needed to understand the severity and distribution of health risks as water demand and contamination pressures are compounded by the intensifying water cycle. Reliance on groundwater, for example, is central in climate-resilient water supply strategies. Yet groundwater geochemistry, salinity, and pollution risks are not sufficiently evidenced nor accounted for in policy – particularly in lower income settings. This session seeks interdisciplinary research that focuses on the complex intersection of climate change, water (in)security, and health. Following the AGU22 ‘Science Leads the Future’ theme, research presented in this session will support the inclusion of water-related health risk management in key global agendas: for example, those that focus on climate-resilient water services, net zero energy transitions, adaptation financing, and biodiversity restoration. Presentations will also indicate research priorities by outlining the limitations of evidence in this space.

Convened by OWN Co-chair Dr Saskia Nowicki from the University of Oxford, REACH programme collaborators Dr Florence Tanui from the University of Nairobi, Dr Behailu Birhanu from Addis Ababa University, and Dr May Sule from Cranfield University.

Innovation Session – Technologies & Approaches for Decentralized Water Quality Monitoring with Citizen Engagement.
Deadline for abstract submissions: Aug 17.
Link to session description and to submit is here: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm22/prelim.cgi/Session/158916

Session Description: Many citizens have a close relationship with their local water bodies, e.g. they use them for drinking water for themselves and their livestock, for crop irrigation, and for fishing as a source of food or recreation. Therefore, engaging citizens in monitoring their local water bodies can provide them with the knowledge and information to take an active role in preserving water quality at community level, and at national and regional level by providing additional data and information that can support policy and management. Despite significant progress and increased prevalence of citizen science projects for water management, mixed results are still observed. A large question is whether data acquired via CS programs can be of substantial enough quality to serve different purposes from regulatory surveillance to operational decision-making. For CS to be useful, rigor as well as data-validation tools need to be incorporated. Elements of participant social identity (e.g., their motivation for participation), and contextual knowledge (e.g., of the research program itself) can shape participation and resulting data outcomes). As such, the success of the data collection is not solely dependent on the technology, but also on the recruiting strategy and program structure. The aim of the hereby proposed session is to explore technological and institutional success factors to guide the development of decentralized water quality monitoring programs that engage citizens.

Convened by José Monge Castro, a student in the University of Oxford’s MSc Water Science, Policy and Management programme, OWN Co-chair Dr. Saskia Nowicki, and Javier Mateo-Sagasta from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

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Good Luck with your exams – WSPM 2021-2022 Cohort

Despite the fact that the year has started in the pandemic, and the Michaelmas and Hilary terms are passed, the Trinity term exam season is approaching. Since 2004, students from all over the world have taken the master’s degree examination in Water Science, Policy, and Management (WSPM) every spring/summer.

We understand that studying for examinations might be difficult at this time. As a WSPM alumnus, I recall the stressful moments of revising for the three exams: Water Science, Water and Society, and Water Management. It was challenging and required hard work to go through old questions and brainstorm to answer and frame the arguments by using previous exam sheets, compiling case studies to support the arguments, and structuring the exam essays within the given time frame. But, in the end, we were able to complete the exams successfully. Remember to take a deep breath and believe in yourself, as many alumni have done before you. We all have faith in you.

We wish you the best of luck for the exam week.

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Dorset trip- Consolidating Water Science and Management in the field

By Aaron Acuda (WSPM 2020-2021)

This year, unlike the previous years, the residential field trip was at the end of the course. The disruptions caused by COVID were obvious. Nevertheless, having a field trip at the end of the course was one of the silver linings of the dark cloud. It was advantageous because the vast readings, classes, talks, and discussions during the year became clear when we observed their practical applications in the field. No wonder the questions the students asked at various locations were insightful since they were able to integrate the different course themes into the field. Often, the discussions exceeded the planned times. In the trip, there are key things that stood.

Visit to Maiden Castle

Dorset is a unique part of the UK with most of what we require to know about water. It has unique climatic, hydrological, ecological, economic, political, and social dimensions that provide an exciting opportunity to explore water management. For example, the geology composed mainly of chalk provided an important location for groundwater discussions. The geological discussions started off the field trip at a marvellous location at Maiden Castle, one of the largest Iron age hillforts in Europe and a World heritage site because of the unique rock composition.

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Wessex Water groundwater abstraction station

The day got more interesting at the Friar Waddon groundwater pumping station of Wessex water. Since the aquifer where the pumping station is located is mainly recharged through rainwater infiltration, it is liable to contamination from the extensive agriculture in the area. Nitrate and pesticides contamination of groundwater were the major issues. It was interesting to learn how the company (Wessex Water) addresses the issues through catchment-based management (CBM), working with farmers in a win-win approach. For example,  they pay farmers for their yield deficit if they give up certain quantities of fertiliser. They combined CBM with engineering solutions such as the multimillion cryptosporidium filtration plant that enables the company to comply with drinking water standards.

Visit to Freshwater Biological Association to learn more about macroinvertebrates

Visit to Freshwater Biological Association to learn more about macroinvertebrates

On the second day, there was no other place better than the River Frome and Piddle catchments (both rivers flow towards Poole Harbour) to learn about surface water quality issues, most importantly, the use of macroinvertebrates to monitor water quality. It is also interesting that much of the surface water is abstracted for various uses, including agricultural, industrial, and fisheries uses. Thus, river augmentation schemes are typical in the area to maintain environmental and base flows.

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 St Augustine’s Well

The visit to St. Augustine’s Well, a holy well in Cerne Abbas, dating back to the 9th Century, relates more to this year’s World Water Day theme of valuing water. Here, water is conceptualised as sacred, a source of fertility, and a place of celebration.  It attested to the multiple ways people view, conceptualise, and value water beyond what is delivered in people’s taps.

“We can use such narratives behind water to create powerful stories that can foster communication of climate change, environmental, and water issues”—Kevin Greskch, WSPM Course director.

Students at Durdle door, Lulworth

There was no way we could have gone to Dorset and not reached Lulworth Village and the Durdle door. Lulworth (Jurassic coast) is the only English natural World heritage site famous for its distinctive coastline. The Durdle door area has all the geological successions from upper chalk to upper Jurassic. Besides the learning, we also went down on record as part of thousands of tourists that visit the location every year.

Students at Durdle door, Lulworth

Discussions at the coastal management and flood protection schemes

As Grey and Shadoff (2007) argued, water extremes (too little or too much) cause insecurity. Flooding is one of the most common water security risks in the UK, and Poole, a low-lying coastal city, is at high risk. Discussing flood risk and the coastal defence schemes were the activities for day four. Poole council invests heavily on flood protection and coastal defence schemes to protect the property and the people. Poole, according to the city council, is where the most expensive estates are in the UK. It was thus fascinating to explore the issues of justice between the rich and the poor in funding the defence schemes and how best to implement the funding mechanisms.

Pictures at Wessex Water treatment plant, Poole

The last day before leaving for Oxford, we stopped at one of the Wessex Water treatment plants in Poole.  The students seemed to agree with one of the professors, David Johnstone, that wastewater is more exciting, and that water treatment processes reveal human behaviour. Clearly, a lot of work goes into ensuring that safe water is delivered to people’s taps as well as ensuring that wastewater is treated to a standard that meets the various standards. The issues may not dominate the public discourse on the wastewater side but are crucial, sometimes beyond water supply issues.

Wessex Water Treatment Plant, Poole

Of course, it was also a fun trip, where the students got more chances to bond with their peers and the professors, play a couple of games, and as water students, swim. It was also an opportunity for the students and the staff to reflect on the year and the future.

“The field trip reinforced the course learnings, but more importantly, it reminded me of the bond we shared, as a collective part of something greater. It was the perfect way to come together one last time, and celebrate each other, before we embarked on our individual quests for making the world perhaps a slightly better place”— Medha Mukherjee

Credits to all the professors, facilitators at the various locations we visited, and the students who went for the field trip and made the experience worthwhile.

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Welcome to WSPM 2021-2022 Cohort

Although the year has begun in the pandemic and the COVID-19 is still current, we are excited to welcome the new batch of students with strong enthusiasm for water, whether in person or online! Every autumn since 2004, a new group of students from around the world has arrived at the University of Oxford to pursue a master’s degree in Water Science, Policy, and Management (WSPM). Dr Kevin Grecksch, Course Director, and Dr Katrina Charles, WSPM Academic Lead, are especially looking forward to this cohort’s Induction on the week (0) of the Michaelmas Term.

This year’s class is the largest in the WSPM’s history, with a total of 29 students. These students hail from 19 different countries and have a variety of backgrounds, with some having recently completed their undergraduate studies and others returning to academia after working for a while. They have already visited Farmoor on the 1st of October as part of the course. They come from various sectoral backgrounds, enriching discussions and fitting perfectly with this interdisciplinary course, cross-cutting themes in economics, climate and catchment processes, governance, water quality, water and health, and water policy and management. This year-long MSc course enables students to develop a theoretically sophisticated and empirically grounded understanding of sustainable water management. Including this group, almost 400+ students have enrolled in WSPM since it began in 2004.

2019 marked the 15th anniversary of the programme, and to celebrate; an Anniversary Fund was created to help WSPM students pursue overseas work for their dissertations.

We cannot wait to see the WSPM 2021-2022 cohort’s Oxford Journey. Welcome to Oxford!

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Dr Kevin Grecksch as new WSPM MSc Course Director

It is with pleasure that we celebrate that Dr Kevin Grecksch is the new WSPM MSc Course Director. Kevin is excited to take on the course directorship and to meet the students and new colleagues. He is keen to share his interdisciplinary research and teaching experience and to strengthen the bridges between disciplines.

Kevin holds a doctorate in (Ecological) Economics and an M.A. in Political Science, English Literature and Communication Science. He is a social scientist who specialises in governance, particularly water and climate change adaptation. His research interests include (multi-level) environmental governance, water governance, climate change adaptation, governance of societal transformation processes, property rights and the governance of natural resources, and sustainability. Before joining SoGe, he was British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford. His project dealt with sustainable underground space governance in the UK. Other work at the CSLS included the multi-disciplinary ENDOWS (ENgaging diverse stakeholders and publics with outputs from the UK DrOught and Water Scarcity programme) and the MaRIUS (Managing the Risks, Impacts and Uncertainties of drought and water Scarcity) projects. Kevin recently published a monograph with Palgrave Macmillan on ‘Drought and Water Scarcity in the UK. Social Science Perspectives on Governance, Knowledge and Outreach’.

Kevin is passionate about public engagement with his research and research impact. For example, he has organised drought walks. He recently contributed to the widely reported British Academy evidence review ‘The COVID decade: Understanding the long-term societal impacts of COVID-19’ and the accompanying policy analysis ‘Shaping the COVID decade’.

Water governance is a ‘glocal’ issue and in his role, Kevin will be keen to provide WSPM students with a holistic and integrative perspective on water governance. His previous positions and experience have given Kevin a unique perspective on water issues ranging from political science, ecological economics to socio-legal, a perspective he is eager to pass on to students thereby equipping them with methods and approaches to make a difference in their future professional roles and beyond.

 

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WaterSciencePolicy relaunches

A cohort of WSPM students and alums created Water Science Policy (WSP) as a digital platform last May during lockdown, and this week they have relaunched it as an independent magazine to deliver original and multilingual content around water to a global audience. The platform offers a broad range of views about the most fundamental element of life at the intersection of the economy, climate, health, nature, and society’s issues. You can read the WSP manifesto here. This relaunch contains some important features for a global audience including articles in languages other than English and a greater variety of formats, including policy briefs, podcasts, and photostories. They have expanded the team contributing to WSP to include an impressive cohort of young water professionals from around the world.

So far this impressive initiative is 100% volunteering with no source funding, but it has a big vision and thus has many opportunities for support and engagement. If you would like to become involved with WSP, you are encouraged to do so by donating, translating, contributing with written/visual content to the platform either as an author or as a photographer, or by becoming one of WSP’s regional ambassadors. You can also follow Water Science Policy on social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

 

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The Meaning of “Natural”: Otmoor RSPB Reserve

By Medha Mukherjee, WSPM ’20-21

Photo by William O’Sullivan, WSPM ’20-21

As the global population continues to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, a team of Water Science, Policy and Management (WSPM) students, embarked on an induction field trip to the Otmoor RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) Reserve on a cold October morning. They were ready to wade through the wetlands in small groups, keeping their face masks on and walking two meters apart but grateful to experience something in person months into the new Covid reality of 2020. The objective was to understand the historical background of the wetlands to be able to critically engage with its current contexts of maintaining water quality, managing water levels along with natural flood management, which are in place to meet the RSPB’s aim of nurturing certain bird species. But all through the trip led by their Course Director Dr. Jocelyne Hughes, Dr. Troy Stenberg and Patrick Thomson, one vital question kept coming to the surface – What does “natural” really mean in a highly manipulated freshwater ecosystem?

Located to the northeast of Oxford, Otmoor is a low-lying area of roughly 1000 hectares, the social history of which relates directly to its current hydrological and environmental issues. Once a marshland, with the River Ray as its primary source of water, Otmoor was drained after the 1815 Act of Enclosure, and the River Ray rechanneled, in an attempt to turn the wetland into a farmland. The move had disastrous effects, causing severe downstream floods with the villagers rioting and breaking the embankments to let Otmoor flood naturally again. Then in 1997, the RSPB established the nature reserve, isolating the wetland from the river system. It is now a precipitation-based wetland, with a strong water balancing system in place for the creation of a conducive habitat for bird species such as snipe, redshank, lapwing and others, in a rather expensive attempt to control the ecosystem. The water levels are maintained with the help of pump stations up and down the reserve, with trenches cutting through the grasslands, and scrapes and surface ponds dug out to hold water. To further conserve biodiversity, cows are used to graze out dominant plant species and increase biodiversity, and electric fences keep predators such as foxes and badgers out, thus ensuring a safe nesting ground for the birds. One student commented how surprised he had been that a seemingly pristine wetland was actually sustained with hidden pipes and pumps.

The WSPM team was joined by Heather Bond, an Oxford WSPM alumna currently working for the Environmental Agency, who further explained the hard engineering approaches for natural flood risk management and the efforts to create an optimal balance between letting the wetlands flood naturally, and keeping the rising water levels from affecting nearby farmlands and villagers. As the students stood on a bund constructed for flood risk mitigation, they looked out onto the vast green stretch of serene wetlands under the pouring grey sky, realizing how the sheer magnificence of this “natural” habitat is actually held in place and carefully managed by a highly mechanized system. Thinking about the meaning of “natural” in the age of the Anthropocene, thus, becomes a moral imperative in environmental and socio-political enquiry.

Owing to increasing rainfall, the field trip finally ended in a barn with a deeply insightful session conducted by two local female farmers who manage an award-winning flock of sheep at the nearby Hill End Farm in Noke. They shared first-hand experiences of living in a wetland area, tackling the binary of either being too wet or too dry—the need for a very delicate balance to maintain equilibrium for natural wildlife and the sheep–while dealing with water pollution from raw sewage discharge, which is poorly managed by a private utility company.

Two days later, Hill End Farm messaged the group about the weekend of rain, “I had to evacuate the ewes out of the lower field yesterday morning. I recorded 50mm in 24 hours…It does seem weather patterns are changing.” In some locations 50mm in a day would be high but not unusual. In Oxfordshire, that amount marked the highest amount of rainfall in 24 hours since observations began in 1827. On this field trip, students had seen first-hand humans have manipulated the environment at Otmoor to ensure co-existence between wildlife and humans, but can that balance be maintained by anthropogenic activities when it comes up against the looming extremes of water in the climate change crisis, also propelled by anthropogenic activities?

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Events

WSP Virtual Gala: Catalysing Water Solutions to Climate Change

Welcome to Water Science Policy’s Virtual Gala!

About the Event

Water Science Policy (WSP) was established in May 2020 by the Water Science, Policy and Management (WSPM) alumni, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a virtual platform to share and publish water solutions. WSP has designed a number of project ideas that aim to enhance understanding and appreciation of water and climate issues through a positive communication lens.

The following three programs are planned during the virtual gala and will have an opportunity to learn and engage with WSP’s thriving community of users, volunteers and partners.

Session one: H2O – Hilltop 2 Ocean – River Project – WSP pitch 

  • Speaker 1: Atal Ahmadzai (Lawrence University)
  • Speaker 2: Torkil Clausen (Source 2 Sea platform)

Session two: Citizen Science for Global Water Mapping – WSP pitch 

  • Speaker 1: Katie Truong (University of Texas)
  • Speaker 2: Ma Jun (IPE)

Session three: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Course for Young Filipino Journalists – WSP pitch

  • Speaker 1: Abishek Narayan (EAWAG)
  • Speaker 2: Deepa Karthykeyan (Athena Infonomics)
    The sessions will be moderated by Eliana Harrigan (WSP) and Alejandro Prescott Cornejo (Mongabay)

The event will take place on Sunday 21st November 6 pm – 7:30 pm CET| 5 pm- 6:30 GMT (via Zoom).

Learn more about it here and register here. 

This event is organised by the Water Science Policy(WSP).
WSP’s Vision We view water as a connector, an entry point and a key for climate solutions. Water moves across nations, basins and cities. As such, it is a medium and a system that binds many elements together, including our economies, our health, the global climate and the ecosystems which provide vital services for us and all living creatures. Water as a system is about understanding the water cycle but also being aware of water management decisions. Decisions made in one area will likely have a knock-on effect elsewhere.We have gone very far in such a short time, thanks to the ongoing commitment of all our volunteers, supporters, users and donors. Building on a year and a half’s worth of successes, we want to keep our ambitions and motivation high. To do so, we have designed many project ideas that aim to enhance understanding and appreciation of water and climate issues through a positive communication len.
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