How can Scotland build resilience to climate change from both a water quality and quantity (scarcity and flooding) perspective?
Background
Question Group: Focused on safeguarding and enhancing Scotland’s natural resources, its air, soils, land, water, plants and wildlife, by addressing the drivers of nature loss and environmental degradation. Emphasises restoration of degraded ecosystems, sustainable use of wild species, minimising of pollution, improving the management of invasive non-native species. Targets sustainable use of resources to support thriving communities, nature, and the economy in a changing climate.
Sub-questions: -How much water will be available in Scotland in the future and how can we better manage it under new demands and a changing climate?
-Can we produce a national assessment of water availability, both a nowcast and for future use, including groundwater, aquifers, etc.?
-How can we balance water availability/demand on a sector-by-sector basis in the future?
- How resilient is Scotland's water supply infrastructure?
-What are the financial impacts of water scarcity under different climate change scenarios?
-How can we best understand and communicate current and future risk of drought, including changes in capacity for water-dependent development, demand and efficiency?
-How can we best use our water data and information to promote adaptation?
-What is the role of groundwater in sustainable water resource management? What is the right balance between surface, ground, loch abstraction sources?
-How can we influence behaviours around water use, and flooding/ flood warnings in Scotland?
-What are the impacts of climate change on water resource availability, water quality and flooding in Scotland and how can we mitigate and adapt to them?
-How can we respond to rising pathogen/indicator organism survival rates due to climate change and warmer water for bathing water quality and algal blooms?
-What are the impacts of our climate scenarios for floods & water resource planning and river basin management?
-How do we encourage adaptation and overcome barriers for climate behaviours, e.g. efficient water management, and the protection against soil degradation?
-How is the impact of climate change accounted for in climate adaption options such as off-line storage?
-What would be needed to scale up flood resilience activities in Scotland including market capacity, workforce, skills and training ?
-How effective are current flood resilience measures under future climate change?
Next steps
Get in touch with [email protected]
Source
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Environment natural resources agriculture research strategy 2027 2032
Related UKRI funded projects
-
Projecting extreme droughts in rapidly changing human-water systems
A reliable water supply is usually taken for granted in the UK. However, there is increasing pressure on water supplies. By 2050, anthropogenic climate change and increasing water demand from a growing population is proj...
Funded by: UKRI FLF
Lead research organisation: University of Bristol
Why might this be relevant?
Addresses extreme droughts and water supply resilience in the UK, including impacts of climate change.
-
Projecting extreme droughts in rapidly changing human-water systems
Droughts are complex events driven by water fluxes between the atmosphere, land surface, and subsurface. These water fluxes are being modified by humans at unprecedented rates due to climate change and water use by agric...
Funded by: UKRI FLF
Lead research organisation: University of Bristol
Why might this be relevant?
Focuses on extreme droughts, human-water interactions, and resilience of water systems in Great Britain.
-
Planning for floods and droughts in the face of climate change - a continuum approach
Over the past ten years, water related risks have emerged as key symptoms of climate change faced by UK society. It has been estimated that flood damage could account for £10bn to the UK economy in 25 years and tha...
Funded by: NERC
Lead research organisation: University of Sheffield
Why might this be relevant?
Addresses floods and droughts in the face of climate change, but does not specifically focus on Scotland.