Research Funding cycle: 2022-27
Science Policy Fellowship: Resilience to Fluvial Flooding: Knowns and Unknowns to Recommendations for Management
CREW Code: CSPF2023_02
Theme: Hydrological Extremes, Coasts and Risk Management
Type of project: CREW Science Policy Fellowship
Project Status: Project complete. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.
Lead research team: Heriot-Watt University
In this Science Policy Fellowship, the research team aimed to critique what we know and don’t know about fluvial flood risk, resilience and management. The research team used the epistemological construct of “known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns” to assess both scientific and stakeholder knowledge. The team conducted a Rapid Evidence Assessment utilising the power of AI to synthesise thousands of papers and to produce network visualisations of keywords and conducted a workshop with key stakeholders. Four themes emerged; 1) Climate Change; 2) Flood Generating Hydrology; 3) Natural Flood Management; and 4) Stakeholder Engagement.
This project has completed. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.
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Science Policy Fellowship: Building Public Health Resilience to Fluvial Flooding in Scotland
CREW Code: CSPF2023_01
Theme: Hydrological Extremes, Coasts and Risk Management
Type of project: CREW Science Policy Fellowship
Project Status: Project complete. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.
Lead research team: University of Glasgow
Climate change is increasing our exposure to fluvial flooding in Scotland. Physical and mental health are negatively impacted by flooding, with the greatest health impacts in the UK and Scotland on mental health. This CREW Policy Brief reviews the literature on the public health impacts of fluvial flooding, including physical and mental health impacts, and identifies factors that influence health resilience to flooding.
Key Scottish flood-related and public health policies were analysed to identify knowledge gaps and mechanisms to incorporate public health resilience to fluvial flooding in Scotland. To build health resilience in Scotland the reseach team recommend that further research is undertaken to understand health impacts on vulnerable groups (knowing who, where and when) and to implement this knowledge into localised flood emergency management, as a public health priority.
This project has completed. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.
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CRW2023_09 Methodologies for sampling fish populations in Scottish freshwater lochs
CREW Code: CRW2022_09
Theme: Hydrological Extremes, Coasts and Risk Management
Project status: Project complete. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.
Type of project: Capacity Building
Lead research team: University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI)
An understanding of the fish species present and their abundance in Scottish lochs is required for management and conservation purposes, and also to fulfil regulatory requirements. Furthermore, the recent increase in pumped storage hydro-electric development proposals involving large freshwater lochs has the potential to create additional pressures on fish populations. In order to address this, it is important that fish populations are properly assessed during environmental impact assessments and scoping. While a variety of established methods for fish monitoring exist, there is no ’one size fits all’ method, therefore careful consideration is needed in order to determine the best approaches to monitoring. It is therefore important that we have an understanding of the ecological data requirements, and how best to attain these across space and time in order to ensure that fish populations in Scottish freshwater lochs are adequately protected.
The aim of this project was to assess the currently available methodologies for sampling fish populations in Scottish freshwater lochs. Acknowledging the complexity and longstanding challenges with fish monitoring in standing freshwaters, the main objective here was to produce guidelines which support the development of suitable fish assessment programmes.
This project has completed. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.
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CREW Science Policy Fellowships
Type of project: CREW Science Policy Fellowship
Overview: CREW Science Policy Fellowships intend to support evidence-based decisions by providing the opportunity for Scotland’s research community to advocate for critical science that addresses upcoming water-related policy, regulatory and/or industry needs. This ‘research-push’ workstream compliments CREW’s ‘policy-pull’ Capacity Building and Call Down workstreams in facilitating exchanges of expert knowledge between Scottish Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) and Research Institutes, and policymakers, regulators, and industry representatives.
Eligibility: CREW Science Policy Fellowship funding is open to applications from all relevant Scottish HEIs and Research Institutes (approved subcontractors). Approved subcontractors have received a copy of CREW’s Terms and Conditions. CREW encourages applications from experienced to early career researchers (ECRs) under the supervision and mentorship of experienced researchers.
Autumn 2023: CREW commissioned three Science Policy Fellowships which are aligned to, and support, the development of Scotland’s first Flood Resilience Strategy.
Project Status: All projects complete.
Please use the links below to access the project outputs for each project:
Building Public Health Resilience to Fluvial Flooding in Scotland
Policy to Preparedness: Flood Policy and Community Engagement
Resilience to Fluvial Flooding: Knowns and Unknowns to Recommendations to Management
Spring 2025: CREW commissioned a Science Policy Fellowship to undertake a rapid evidence review of the current and emerging capabilities of AI to support and enhance flood forecasting capabilities.
Project Status: In progress.
Please use the link below to access the project page:
Exploring the use of Artificial Intelligence for flood forecasting in Scotland
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CRW2023_07 Increasing flood resilience: residential and community rainwater run-off retention solutions
CREW Code: CRW2023_09
Project status: Project complete. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.
Type of project: Capacity Building
Lead research team: Abertay University
In recent years there has been an increased awareness of the need to address surface water runoff in urban environments. This includes understanding where flood risks may arise, increase, or change in the future due to climate change and increased urban creep, the increased conversion of gardens and other vegetated areas which help to soak up rain. To support resilient surface water management in urban environments, the identification, efficacy, cost effectiveness and prioritisation of implementable flood risk management solutions is essential.
This project evaluated and compared the cost and effectiveness of residential and community property rainwater runoff source control solutions to increase flood resilience. Source control Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) manage water at or near its source, in order to slow down or stop the water entering the drainage system.
The project undertook a literature review, case study reviews and cost benefit analysis to consider the following key issues:
- What are the multiple benefits of source control SuDS and suitability for different urban land types?
- What are the barriers to adopting these solutions at both residential and community property level?
- What are the opportunities and recommendations for overcoming these barriers?
This project has completed. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.
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CRW2023_01: Hydro Sector engagement over environmentally effective and cost-efficient sediment management at impoundments
Type of project: Capacity Building
Impoundments on rivers are often critical for purposes such as power generation and water supply yet they can also reduce or prevent the natural movement of sediment downstream. Accumulation of sediment behind an impoundment can pose a risk to its intended use and result in adverse ecological consequences downstream due to sediment not being naturally replenished. This project developed initiatives to raise awareness of the commercial and environmental risks associated with sediment discontinuity caused by impoundments. Knowledge exchange activities with the hydropower community enabled the production of a video and infographic to communicate key messages. A hydropower scheme permit application guidance framework was also developed to assist both operators and regulators. Cost-benefit analysis evaluated the environmental and commercial effectiveness of various catchment sediment management options. Riparian planting and peatland restoration delivered a positive benefit in all cost-benefit scenarios, and in most scenarios, catchment-scale tree planting also generated positive benefits. SEPA and NatureScot have key leadership roles in disseminating these findings to the hydropower community and in managing rivers more broadly. The project also demonstrated a need within the hydropower community for further knowledge exchange activities which would likely maintain or improve river catchment health and reduce commercial risk.
Project Status: This project has completed. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.
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CRW2023_05: Future predictions of water scarcity in Scotland: impacts to distilleries and agricultural abstractors
CREW Code: CRW2023_05
Theme: Hydrological Extremes, Coasts and Risk Management
Project status: Project complete. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.
Type of project: Capacity Building
Lead research team: The Jame Hutton Institute
Scotland’s climate is changing, and we expect to see further changes in seasonal precipitation patterns that may increase the frequency and severity of water scarcity conditions, including droughts. Drought is a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to water scarcity and environmental stress (formally defined in Scotland as when river water levels are less than 5% of their normal flows, for more than 30 days). Overall, droughts are predicted to increase particularly in the eastern parts of Scotland. These changes are likely to affect water users in these regions, particularly agriculture (livestock, arable and horticulture) and the distilling sector.
The aim of this project was to provide summaries of the future predictions of water scarcity in Scotland and the impacts this may have, tailored to three groups of abstractors: crop producers, livestock producers and distilleries. The project summarised evidence on changes to the availability of surface waters and groundwaters for abstraction; as well as changes to climatic water balance for rainfed farming systems. This evidence was then put in the context of how the water resources are being used by the three groups and how future water scarcity may impact the sector.
The evidence review highlighted that there is likely to be overall deficit in climate-water balance during the summer months in eastern Scotland, with some uncertainty about how the shoulder months of April and September will be affected; that the number and duration of surface water drought events are likely to double by the middle of the century; and that there are questions about the resilience of groundwater supplies, particularly in areas with low storage and decreasing potential recharge. Overall, our farmers and distillers focus group participants were aware of water scarcity as a business risk. The irrigated crop sector and the distillery sector have invested in technological solutions, such as efficient irrigation systems, offline irrigation lagoons and thermal vapour compressing, whereas the rainfed farming systems identified fewer adaptation options. Several barriers to wider uptake of adaptation options were identified. Recommendations are provided, including the need for increased data on actual water used by abstractors, alongside expanding the monitoring and analysis of groundwater resources, to improve our understanding of the different dimensions of water scarcity; and ways to overcome barriers to uptake of the available adaptation responses.
This project has completed. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.
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CRW2023_02: Creating healthy and resilient river systems across Scotland: prioritising research and development gap opportunities for river woodlands.
Type of project: Capacity Building
Aim: The overall aim of this project is to prioritise the research and development (R&D) gap opportunities identified in the Riverwoods evidence review for creating healthy and resilient river systems through improved riparian and floodplain management in Scotland, and identify opportunities to address these gaps to enable investment in new and extended river woodlands, and improved/restored riverscape environments.
Project Status: Project in progress
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CRW2023_03: Assessing the impact of forestry on water quality in Scotland: A review of modelling capabilities
Type of project: Capacity Building
Commercial forestry operations potentially exert various influences on water quality, with impacts varying depending on the type of forestry operations and their interactions with local environmental conditions. Although the relative impacts of commercial forest activities to water are relatively small (compared to other land-uses), localised impacts on water quality can be significant and the existing literature highlights a critical gap in the connection between water quality and forest management, especially with regards to interactions between multiple environmental parameters and forestry activities. This CREW-funded project aimed to assess suitability of existing models in predicting these impacts. This study noted that although existing models are valuable for assessing forestry impacts, many do not fully integrate water quality considerations and forestry activities as inputs. The project findings highlight a gap in data availability as well as modelling efforts to couple water quality dynamics with forestry operations.
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CRW2022_05 Understanding the relationship between water scarcity and land use in private water supply catchments – a review
CREW code: CRW2022_05
Theme: Land and Water Resource Management
Type of project: Capacity Building
Project status: Complete
This project aimed to compile an evidence base and offer recommendations informing policy and practice regarding how land use changes may impact the amount of water available to private water supplies (PWS). The focus was on the impacts to water availability from emerging land use trends of tree planting (afforestation and agroforestry) and wind farm development in Scotland.
The project involved a review of the available scientific evidence and a review of international PWS policies and practices considering PWS in relation to tree planting and wind farm development, and stakeholder engagement. Key findings included that tree planting effects on water availability vary widely based on a complex set of inter-related factors, such as timing, spatial orientation, extent of planting, tree species, and landscape characteristics, including previous land use. Agroforestry effects are generally smaller than for afforestation, but they are more sensitive to specific planting details. Wind farm effects also depend on landscape factors and specific characteristics like type, number, and density of turbines, with limited research available for Scottish landscapes.
The key findings of the project emphasize the need for better data, data availability, integrated policies, and stakeholder engagement to prevent negative impacts on PWS amidst changing land use change trends.
This project has completed. Click here to visit the publication page to view the project outputs.
