Pharmaceuticals in the water environment: baseline assessment and recommendations
This study carried out by researchers at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), with the James Hutton Institute and the Environmental Research Institute (University of the Highlands and Islands) delivered the first national assessment of the emerging area of concern around pharmaceutical pollution of Scotland’s water environment, with an innovative Scottish partnership (One Health Breakthrough Partnership) using results to promote practical actions to reduce this globally recognised public health and environmental issue.
Pharmaceuticals (medicines) enter the water environment when people taking medicines go to the toilet (between 30-100% of a dose is excreted) and when partially used or expired medicines are inappropriately flushed down the toilet instead of being returned to a pharmacy for proper disposal.
Key messages from the study include:
- Data on 60 medicines in the water environment, known to occur through consumption and inappropriate disposal into wastewater systems, were obtained from a range of sources
- Nine medicines were recommended for further action to reduce the potential environmental risk
- The need to promote positive action on medicine use and disposal, to reduce pharmaceutical pollution
The Scottish Government’s ambition to decarbonise its electricity generation means that run-of-river hydroelectric power schemes are now a feature of many Scottish catchments. The essential requirements of these schemes (adequate hydraulic head and flow) mean that their locations often coincide with important freshwater habitat. A scheme can have various effects on the quality and extent of this habitat, in and downstream of the depleted reach (between the intake and tailrace), and upstream of the impoundment. The interruption of natural sediment movement is one such effect and, if measures to ensure that conveyance is maintained are not included in the design of a scheme, it can have significant and far reaching consequences for habitats, species, channel evolution, and adjacent land. It can also, significantly for the operator, affect the efficiency and profitability of a scheme. The realisation that the need to maintain sediment continuity has not been adequately taken into account for many schemes was the impetus for this project. The research published in this report has led to recommendations for dealing with accumulations of sediment at operational schemes, and for the incorporation of sediment management measures in proposed schemes. The effects of climate change and the biodiversity crisis have increased the imperative for remedial action and to ensure that measures for maintaining sediment movement and other natural processes are incorporated in the design of existing and new schemes.
First Annual CREW Lecture (22nd March 2022) - view online
1st Annual CREW Lecture: Water science supporting policy- reflections and future challenges
Find out more about - World Water Day 2022
Profile: Professor Alan Jenkins
Professor Alan Jenkins is Chief Scientist at UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH). He is Hydrological Adviser to the Permanent Representative of the UK with World Meteorological Organisation, acts as UK Head of Delegation with the UNESCO IHP and chairs the UK Committee for International Hydrology. He holds an Honorary Professorship at Lancaster University and is a Visiting Professor at University College London.
Please contact event co-ordinator for any enquries: enquiries@crew.ac.uk
Moderating extremes in water availability: a review of the role of functioning wetlands
Wetlands can be defined as areas of marsh, fen, or peatland with permanent or temporary water (brackish or freshwater). They cover an estimated 2 million hectares of Scotland’s land area from uplands to the coastline and are important for sequestering carbon, providing habitat, storing water, and maintaining biodiversity. When in good health, these wetlands can have capacity to buffer both high and low flows for moderating extremes in water availability (i.e., flood and drought risks respectively, both individually and in combination) which are predicted to become more frequent due to climate change. Yet the health of wetlands is under extensive pressure from land use conversion, management, and climate change. Furthermore, what has been missing up to now is an assessment of a broad range of wetlands with respect to their buffering capacities for both high and low flows. To improve wetland resilience, we also need to better understand the various impacts on such capacities, as well on their biodiversity.
The aim of this project was to review the role of functioning wetlands in moderating extremes in water availability in a Scottish context. A comprehensive assessment of the current and future buffering capacity to high and low water flows of the eighteen wetland types that occur in Scotland was undertaken. This used an interdisciplinary approach and synthesised information from the available literature, expert opinion, indicator data analysis, mapping visualisation methods, climate change scenario modelling and workshop participation for responding to the overall objective and four research questions asked. Assessments on the health, biodiversity, and ability to mitigate droughts and flooding was made across this broad range of wetlands. Wetland area extent was also mapped, and the impacts of climate change were assessed using models. This enabled an assessment of how the water holding and biodiversity characteristics of wetlands may be impacted by climate change. Together, these strands of work informed recommendations for creating, maintaining and restoring wetlands. The evidence on the ability of wetlands to buffer extremes of water quantity was often limited with the effects depending on the timing, location, and health of a particular wetland. Thus, a cautious assessment was made. It was found that most wetland types have a limited ability to moderate extremes in water availability, with particular wetland types like floodplain fens, swamps, wet woodland and reedbeds having the best potential. These should be prioritised for restoration especially in catchments that are at high risk of drought and flooding. However, given the poor health or loss of wetlands, it is expected that restoring all wetland types where opportunities arise will also improve mitigation. Climate change is expected to lead to wetter conditions in wetlands in the north-west with wetlands in the east becoming drier; the health of 10 out 18 wetland types and the ability to moderate water extremes, is at risk. More frequent drought is also expected to threaten rare plant species and 98 out of 700 species in the Scottish Biodiversity List are vulnerable to change which could in turn have impacts on the water holding capacity of wetlands. Some existing policies, such as the Flood Risk Management Act and Scottish Climate Change Action Programme, already provide support for maintaining and restoring wetlands. This project also made key recommendations, such as maintaining reliable funding, improving the planning framework, and redesigning agri-environmental schemes, for enhancing wetland buffering capacity in Scotland.
Taking a collaborative approach in the water sector: A review of the Metropolitan Glasgow Strategic Drainage Partnership
The Metropolitan Glasgow Strategic Drainage Partnership (MGSDP) is a non-statutory partnership between public bodies involved in managing surface water, water quality, flood risk, investment planning and economic delivery, with a vision to ‘Sustainably Drain Glasgow’. The MGSDP began following severe flooding in July 2002 in the East End of Glasgow. It was recognised that an integrated strategy to master planning was required to meet the needs of all stakeholders as responsibilities for stormwater management in Scotland are divided between several parties, with conflicting statutory duties and unaligned funding streams making collaboration difficult.
The Partnership vision is to “transform how the city region thinks about, and manages rainfall, to end uncontrolled flooding and improve water quality”. The vision provides a strategic focus and is supported by five objectives and eight guiding principles.
As the MGSDP enters its next phase, now is an ideal time to take stock of the gains made, study its impact, and fully understand how the knowledge gained can be used to address challenges other cities in Scotland face. In the coming decade the scientific, political and public aspirations to mitigate climate change impacts will result in increased demand for investment in adaptive approaches and collaborative working. To support the MGSDP and inform policy developments, the research team reviewed how it has operated to identify the lessons learnt. To deliver this, a literature review was undertaken, consultation data gathered, case studies developed, and recommendations made.
Lessons learnt are considered in the context of both the MGSDP’s future and the development of new partnerships.
Lessons learnt from the MGSDP: (1) A coordinator is required to drive the partnership working process and sustain strong collaborative groups; (2) Knowledge building is crucial to avoid narrow-focussed partnerships and deliver broad agendas; (3) Being open, honest and sharing information builds trust and helps overcome barriers such as lack of equity and misaligned policy/funding cycles.
Lessons learnt for Policy Makers: (1) robust coordination maintains focus on a co-developed vision; (2) Overlapping responsibilities and misaligned funding cycles are challenges to efficient progress; (3) Establishing trust, leads to enhanced problem solving and a willingness to take risks.
A state of knowledge overview of identified pathways of diffuse pollutants to the water environment
Pathways of diffuse phosphorus and nitrogen pollution from agriculture to the water environment is complex and, sometimes, poorly understood. This report provides a review of the current state of knowledge of several plausible pathways: i) surface runoff and soil erosion, exacerbated by soil compaction and structural degradation ii) role of tramlines, iii) leaching through drain-flow and iv) hotspots that contribute greater than average pollutant loads due to the combined effect of land management intensity and soil properties. Focussing on Scotland we reviewed the relevant evidence for each of these pathways, their scale and extent, preventative measures and solutions to minimise pollutant losses, the costs and impacts on water quality associated with these preventative measures and solutions, as well as identifying key knowledge gaps and providing recommendations for future research.
Key findings from this overview concluded that standard agricultural practices are the main source of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution rather than poor nutrient management practices in Scotland. Spatial modelling showed that surface runoff and erosion are the principle source of phosphorus loss in arable soils while phosphorus loss through drains is also a key pathway, particularly in improved grasslands on soils with artificial drainage. Good soil nutrient management such as the use of a fertiliser plan linked to soil sampling for nutrient status and soil pH is a simple and cost-effective measure for minimising pollutant losses. Finally, it was found that more research is needed across all pathways and there are many knowledge gaps, particularly being able to quantify diffuse pollution from ‘hotspots’ in fields within Scottish catchments and our understanding of the impacts of recommended preventative measures and solutions on water quality.
Knowledge transfer products, including a podcast and video featuring farmers, a technical video and information sheets, have also been produced to communicate key messages about good soil management practices to farmers and landowners. These can be accessed from the Farming and Water Scotland website
Effective future communication of flood risk in Scotland
Effective future communication of flood risk in Scotland
This project investigated how to effectively communicate future flood risk and flood risk-related climate change in Scotland, including considering tools and methodologies that currenty exist, and how flood risk can be communicated more effectively to technical and non-technical audiences in future. It conducted a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) of literature alongside interviews and workshops with key stakeholders.
This study found that the Scottish public’s current awareness and understanding of flood risk is low, and that future flood risk communication approaches should be mindful of the different needs of different audiences within the diverse Scottish public. Further, communication messages that are very complex to understand, such as return periods (e.g. a 1 in 100-year flood'), should be avoided and new approaches developed for both technical and non-technical audiences. These should be developed with local communities to encourage collective action, enhance community resilience, and promote an empowering shared social identity of preparedness in place.
The project also found that communicating flood risk without providing additional supporting actions to prevent or mitigate that risk can increase maladaptive coping strategies, such as denial or wishful thinking. Therefore, the study concluded that effective future flood risk communication should include recommended actions that are affordable, achievable and appropriate to the socioeconomic and demographic status of diverse Scottish households.
A Smart Guide to Flood Risk Communication
Based on data reported in the Effective Future Communication of Flood Risk in Scotland report, the Glasgow Caledonian Univesity team created accessible tools for technical and non-technical audiences that contextualise the communication of flood risk management in Scotland. This supplementary information and diagrams aim to support Awareness Raising - Actions in SEPA and local authorities’ Flood Risk Management Plans/Local Plan by aiding the understanding of social and demographic contexts in which the flood risk awareness communication takes place. These diagrams also illustrate how, when and where these could be effectively used.
Establishing the potential influence of beaver activity on the functioning of rivers and streams and water resource management in Scotland
Beavers are well known for their ability to transform the environment through dam building and other activities. This report provides an evidence review of the role of beavers in modifying physical processes, and the potential benefits they may bring for Scottish rivers, streams and water resources. It will inform the dialogue on the benefits and limitations of beaver expansion in Scotland, including where trade-offs are required.
The work involved two main ways of capturing evidence. Firstly, an international literature review was carried out that collected quantifiable evidence on the effects of beaver dam building on water quantity and quality and the geomorphological characteristics of rivers and streams. Confidence levels for the evidence of effects were determined based on the amount of evidence and the level of agreement between different evidence sources. Secondly, a group of beaver experts worked together to discuss and interpret the findings of the literature review, and to collectively identify remaining knowledge gaps.
Most of the evidence of beaver activity effects on streams and rivers points to positive contributions to local ecosystem services, including water supply and purification, wetland creation and river restoration. Enabling these and other positive contributions may also involve compromises and care must be taken to manage any disbenefits, such as local loss of land. The majority of evidence has been recorded at the local scale (up to 1km2) and more work is required to establish the effects of beaver dam building activities at larger scales. The review also highlighted a lack of knowledge on the site-specific controls on the magnitude of beaver effects, which limits transferability of observed effects to other sites with different characteristics. Addressing these gaps requires more empirical research supported by modelling. Recommendations based on the outcomes of the report also include that the potential for beaver activity to contribute to ecosystem services should be considered in relevant riparian management appraisals. However, discussion with landowners and wider societal groups is required to inform such appraisals and mitigate local adverse effects of beaver activity.
Key findings from the project are summarised in the Policy Note.
The impact of shadow flicker or pulsating shadow effect, caused by wind turbine blades, on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
As the need for onshore wind energy expands, such climate adaptation measures may have unintended and potentially significant influences on how fish respond when situated next to rivers or streams. The aim of this project was to examine evidence of potential impacts of shadow flicker, from wind turbine blades, on Atlantic salmon in the context of species conservation management and climate mitigation strategy in Scotland. Our current understanding of the possible effects of shadow flicker on Atlantic salmon was investigated by reviewing the available literature (peer-reviewed and grey from national and international sources) for existing studies of a similar or relevant nature. Various databases and web-based search engines were used to identify these studies, relevant information was extracted and summarised, and potential impacts across the salmon’s lifecycle identified. There was no direct evidence available, either from laboratory experiments or studies of wild fish, that describe the effects of shadow flicker on Atlantic salmon or any other fish species. Based on the available literature, and our expert opinion, there is currently insufficient evidence to support or refute any biological or ecological impact of shadow flicker on Atlantic salmon. The review has highlighted a lack of basic understanding of the role light patterns may play for Atlantic salmon in rivers and further research is recommended. At present there is no evidence to support any change to related policy guidance. However, under the precautionary principle, some advice for best practice might be advised to prevent shadow flicker being cast on river surfaces. Where appropriate, potential mitigation methods were identified that could reduce any impacts on Atlantic salmon should impacts of shadow flicker on fish be demonstrated in the future.
Performance metrics from the past 5 years of CREW
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