12 Jan 2016

Last weekend hundreds of tourists crowded the beach at Ostional Wildlife Refuge in Guanacaste, preventing several olive ridley sea turtles from nesting along the coastline, as they do every year. The Environment Ministry’s Workers Union (SITRAMINAE) reported on its Facebook page that hundreds of tourists stood in the way of the turtles, causing many of them to return to the […]

07 Jan 2016

Comment: A one off session – surely there needs to be a rather more systematic approach given the scale of the events.  EFRA Interview the Environment Agency – in response to Storm Desmond Cumbria Scope of the inquiry ‘This one-off session was organised in response to Storm Desmond in early December. The first panel comprises of […]

07 Jan 2016

PRESS RELEASE The challenges faced by the water sector are being met head on by the Future Water Association (FWA) as they announce a formal partnership with the Sheffield Water Centre at the University of Sheffield Both organisations have a clear goal of futureproofing the sector with innovative thinking and practical solutions and creating a […]

06 Jan 2016

Thames Water Utilities Limited (Thames Water) has been ordered to pay record-breaking £1 million after polluting a canal in Hertfordshire. This is the highest ever fine for a water company in a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency. The case was brought by the Environment Agency after Thames Water caused repeated discharges of polluting matter […]

06 Jan 2016

Bob Earll It is difficult to put all of the aspects of this massive event into context; this is an event that will dominate thinking and debate for many years to come. Some initial thoughts. Scale of the flooding and storms – equivalent to or greater than 2007     The current series of storms have been […]

06 Jan 2016

Bob Earll   ‘The warning reports have been published. We have great difficulty in assessing ‘events’ in the context of a changing baseline. This is aided by our amnesia over past events. Remember the floods of 2007 and the Pitt report. This winter’s floods have shown that we – in particular George Osborne – needs to […]

06 Jan 2016

Bob Harris ‘This is the last Demonstration Test Catchment (DTC) newsletter that I shall be putting together, the task passing to the Wensum DTC Consortium for 2016 (contact: Andrew Lovett). I’ve really enjoyed my 6+ years working with Defra, the DTC Consortia and the wider related research and stakeholder groups. The early days were exciting […]