05 Dec 2023

The National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) is an emerging digital map of underground pipes and cables that is revolutionising the way we install, maintain, operate and repair our buried infrastructure. This project update on NUAR includes information on: The platform’s minimum viable product being extended to cover the whole of England and Wales Updates to […]

05 Dec 2023

The WWT (formerly known as the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust) has called for significant investment in natural flood management schemes to increase resilience to future flood risk. It says that the recent impacts of storms Babet, Ciaran and Debi have exposed how unprepared the UK is to the growing risk of flooding caused by climate […]

05 Dec 2023

Defra has published a suite of guidance to support the (delayed) introduction of biodiversity net gain (BNG) becoming mandatory. They include: The statutory biodiversity metric tool and user guide The tool allows the calculation of biodiversity value for the purpose of BNG for major developments.  The user guide has the information needed to use the statutory biodiversity […]

05 Dec 2023

A new paper from Jacobs focuses on the UK water sector’s combined sewer overflow (CSO) challenge. It Outlines the environmental, climate and affordability trilemma currently faced by the U.K. water sector Identifies areas of change that can play a part in the solution, including funding opportunities, nature-based solutions and data- and technology-enabled solutions. Discusses the […]

05 Dec 2023

The Environment Agency (EA) has published the results of a review of the current scientific knowledge about drought in the UK. There is also a blog about the research. It includes how drought may alter due to climate change, and what the implications are for both the catchment environment and the way we manage water […]

29 Nov 2023

If you’re not one of the 70,000 or so attendees at COP28 in Dubai, you can follow all the action as the events from the Water for Climate Pavilion will be live streamed. Events will highlight the role of water towards climate mitigation and adaptation, expected to be among the critical topics during negotiations. The […]

29 Nov 2023

Potentially toxic “forever chemicals” have been detected in the drinking water sources at 17 of 18 England’s water companies, with 11,853 samples testing positive, something experts say they are “extremely alarmed” by. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – a group of 10,000 or so human-made chemicals widely used in industrial processes, firefighting foams and consumer […]

29 Nov 2023

DEFRA’s budget for day-to-day spending will fall from £4.7bn in 2022/23 to £4.2bn in 2024/25 when inflation is taken into account, amounting to a real terms budget cut of £500m, according to analysis by the Liberal Democrats. Campaigners have previously said the budget is already cut to the bone, with huge reductions made during the […]