An aerial shot of a flooded river system. The surrounding land green and fertile.

Water is a shared natural resource society relies on and its management needs to take into account a wide variety of conflicting interests. It is critical to food, energy and material production (the ‘food-water-energy nexus’, POSTnote 385) as well as the functioning of natural resource systems

Climate projections for the UK suggest that total rainfall will increase in winter and decrease in summer, while individual rainfall events may increase in intensity, especially in winter. This may simultaneously increase risks of flooding and drought. These risks could be managed by large scale investment in infrastructure or through adapting landscapes and existing infrastructure through measures to restore freshwater systems. This seminar was an opportunity for MPs and Peers to consider changing flood and drought risks and discuss with experts the opportunities and challenges arising from more integrated approaches to managing water resources (POSTnote 396 and POSTnote 419). Click on the names of the presenters for audio of the event, on the titles for adobe acrobat pdfs of the presentations.

Summary of the event is available here

Programme
5.00pm Chair’s Welcome – Lord Whitty of Camberwell
5.05pm Presentations
Professor Ed Maltby, Emeritus Professor of Wetland Science, Water and Ecosystem Management, University of Liverpool and Visiting Chair of Research Innovation at Louisiana State University –  An ecosystem approach to the management of land, water and living resources in the UK
Richard Benyon MP, Defra Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Natural Environment and Fisheries
Professor Jim Hall – Director of the Environmental Change Institute, Director of the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford and Member of the Adaptation Sub-Committee of the UK independent Committee on Climate Change – Preparing for the Impacts of Floods and Droughts
Professor Alan Jenkins – Deputy Director of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and Science and Director for the Water Research Programme – Science for the future management of floods and droughts
Ian Barker – Head of Land and Water at the Environment Agency
6.15pmDiscussion
6.45pm Chair’s closing remarks

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