Now and over the coming decades, water resource managers across the UK & Ireland face compounding challenges – climate change resulting in unpredictable weather patterns and, as drought becomes a greater threat, low flows (the periods when watercourses, such as rivers and streams, have significantly reduced water volume and flow) and their devastating impact on biodiversity.

From this challenge point, our Big Question 01 team - led by South West Water’s Richard Amos and focused on strategic research priorities in water resources and abstractions - recognised a vital research gap: a framework was needed that modelled both water resources and biodiversity resilience in tandem for 2050 and beyond.

In collaboration with the Environment Agency (EA) and National Resources Wales (NRW), researchers from WSP, APEM and HR Wallingford developed a six-stage assessment framework with a toolkit of approaches for water resources planning, including:

1. Understanding the current relationship between abstraction and biodiversity losses
2. Projecting forwards to understand how this relationship will change over time
3. Priority actions (cost/benefit/time)
4. Linking into adapted plans
5. Monitoring
6. Implementation

How does this research benefit the industry?

This project provides significant benefits to the industry, helping water companies, abstractors and regulators work together to prioritise and plan effective measures for delivering improved low flow ecological resilience, sustainably balanced with reliable water supplies. Findings from the project and methods outlined in the report will therefore be vital in the design of Water Resource Management Plans (WRMPs), for English and Welsh companies, as well as aiding with water resources planning across all UK & Irish nations. Further, it shines a light on valuable global learnings, reviewing international approaches to setting and implementing environmental flows within the context of a shifting climate.

“Ensuring that infrastructure investment decisions are based on robust evidence is paramount for water companies. UKWIR provides this by ensuring that strategic plans are grounded in sound science.”

Richard Amos, Senior Water Resources

Environment Manager, South West Water

To read the report in full, search for ’25/WR/02/20 - National Framework for water resources:

Environmental Destination investigation framework’ in the UKWIR publications library:

To read the report, click here.

This project falls under UKWIR’s 2nd strategic research theme, ‘Providing clean water for all’:

To read the report, click here.

WSP UK Ltd was the main contractor for this project with significant contributions from APEM Ltd and HR Wallingford. Richard Amos was the UKWIR Programme Lead with Paul Henderson as UKWIR’s Project Manager.

The Environment Agency, Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru / Natural Resources Wales and Scottish Environment Protection Agency were represented on the Project Steering Group alongside water company representatives from the UK and Republic of Ireland, and English Regional Water Resource Planning Groups.