Water Resources

Our research

We provide insight into the relationships between the natural water resource and its dependent ecosystems, so that the impacts of pressures from exploitation of the resource can be understood.

This knowledge is key to maximising the benefits provided by our water resources, while minimising adverse consequences to the environment or to human development. Additionally this understanding will inform integrated water resource management and the restoration of over-exploited freshwater and wetland ecosystems.

Our research embraces ecology and hydrology, water quality and water quantity, pristine and polluted environments, short-term variability and long-term change. It aims to deliver locally and globally.

World-class science and innovation

Long-term observation of surface waters, including the physical habitat, chemistry and biology of rivers, lakes and wetlands
Development and deployment of novel monitoring techniques to quantify extremes, dynamics and fluxes of water, associated chemicals, biota and sediment
Understanding the nature and change of variability in water resources, water quality and ecosystem function, and identifying trends and step-changes by comparison with observed historical variability
Using Earth observation data, monitoring and models to assess the status of regional and global water resources, now and in the future
Informing strategic planning and development of water policy by applying models that deliver forecasts of the likely impacts of change on water resources availability

Science Groups

Freshwater Restoration and Sustainability (Group Leader: Linda May)

Our group conducts science underpinning the sustainable management and restoration of freshwater resources (rivers, lakes and reservoirs). In particular, we investigate water quality and ecological responses to climate and land-use change in freshwater ecosystems.

We also test technical and management solutions for improving water quality, ecosystem health and ecosystem services that freshwaters provide. We do this using large-scale datasets from UK and overseas, alongside long-term monitoring data from CEH lake observatories, and experimental laboratory facilities. We also host the UK Lakes Portal.

Contact: Linda May.

Hydrological Status and Outlooks (Group Leader: Jamie Hannaford)

Key areas of interest are hydrological data management, hydrological monitoring and seasonal forecasting, analysis of past hydrological change and appraisal of future climate change impacts.

Using data from the National River Flow Archive (NRFA) and National Groundwater Level Archive, we produce a monthly Hydrological Summary for the UK, describing the hydrological conditions during the preceding month. We also administer the Hydrological Outlook UK, providing an insight into future hydrological conditions, river flows and groundwater levels, across the UK on a monthly basis.

Contact: Jamie Hannaford.

Lake Ecosystems (Group Leader: Steve Thackeray)

We conduct fundamental research into how lakes function and respond to environmental stressors such as climate change, nutrient enrichment and air pollution. We work at the ecosystem scale, on physical, chemical and biological processes (including bacteria, algae, zooplankton and fish).

Our approach is multi-faceted, including the analysis of data from the CEH Cumbrian Lakes monitoring programme and further afield, modelling, and experimentation in order to provide robust advice for lake management.

As well as a number of UK and international universities and research institutes, we work with water companies, regulators, non-departmental government bodies, and charities.

Contact: Steve Thackeray.

River Water Quality and Ecology (Group Leader: Mike Bowes)

We specialise in understanding the impacts of pollutants and mitigation strategies on river plant, invertebrate and microbial communities.

Including nutrient interactions with river biota and bed-sediment, our group identifies thresholds in nutrient concentrations in UK rivers that are required to observe improvements in ecological status. We also research the effects of light and flow velocity on biofilm growth rates in rivers.

We lead the Thames Initiative, an integrated monitoring programme for water quality and ecological research across the River Thames catchment and are also responsible for the Wallingford Nutrient Chemistry Laboratories.

Contact: Mike Bowes.

Water Resources Systems (Group Leader: Harry Dixon)

We specialise in multi-scale catchment modelling and analysis of water demands in support of operational hydrology and agricultural water management. We create and maintain key hydrological datasets and information management systems for water resources managers and researchers.

In addition, we undertake projects which facilitate international collaboration in freshwater science.

Contact: Harry Dixon.

Our facilities

Aquatic Mesocosm Facility

The CEH Aquatic Mesocosm Facility (CAMF) comprises 35 tanks, used for experimental assessments of the impacts of external drivers or stressors on the structure and function of shallow lake ecosystems. Each tank is equipped with water temperature, dissolved oxygen and underwater solar radiation sensors and can be heated under close control to simulate climate change. A weather station tracks air temperature, rainfall, wind speed and direction.

Data are automatically logged and transmitted to CEH to keep track of the experimental conditions and outcomes. A simple adjacent laboratory is available to research teams working at the site, for storage, working space and sample preparation.

Contact: Heidrun Feuchtmayr

COSMOS-UK

COSMOS-UK is an innovative, long-term network of soil moisture monitoring stations for the United Kingdom, providing near-real time soil moisture data for use in a variety of applications including farming, water resources, flood forecasting and land-surface modelling.

Each station is equipped with an instrument that uses cosmic-rays to sense soil moisture over an area of about 20 hectares (about 50 acres).

Contact: David Boorman

Lake observatories

Our lake monitoring sites in England and Scotland are significant for the breadth of science they support and the length of the environmental record. CEH holds more than 420 lake-years of data, making this the world’s largest long-term lake monitoring programme.

Loch Leven is one of CEH’s most important long-term monitoring sites (>50 years), with more than 500 chemical, physical and biological water quality variables monitored at fortnightly intervals and many others in partnership with others (Scottish Natural Heritage, Loch Leven fishery).

We also conduct regular physical, chemical and biological monitoring on a number of the larger Cumbrian Lakes, including the two basins of Windermere, England’s largest natural lake, Esthwaite Water, and Blelham Tarn (all since 1945). In addition, we conduct high-frequency monitoring of water quality parameters, and hydroacoustic surveys of fish populations.

Contact: Linda May (for Loch Leven) or Stephen Maberly (for Cumbrian Lakes)

Soil Hydrology Laboratory

The CEH Soil Hydrology Laboratory is equipped with a range of both field and laboratory instrumentation able to provide high quality data on the hydrological properties of soil.

Available field measurements include: saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, water infiltration, soil moisture, leaf water potential, leaf area index and canopy through-fall. In the laboratory, CEH can measure particle size distribution, as well as soil water retention at low, medium and high tension.

Contact: Ragab Ragab

UK Lakes Portal

With more than 40,000 lakes represented, the UK Lakes Portal includes physical, environmental, and water chemistry data compiled from an extensive set of sources over many years. Beginning life in 2004 as a GIS-based inventory of British standing waters, the portal has been gradually accumulating data to become an extensive and comprehensive resource for lakes in the United Kingdom. This vast dataset is now online and fully accessible to the public.

Contact: Phil Taylor

Wallingford Nutrient Chemistry Laboratories

The Nutrient Chemistry Laboratories provide high quality chemistry data for the Thames Initiative project. Using many different methods, specialist staff analyse water samples for a range of chemistry data (including P, N, DOC, F, Cl, Br, SO4, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Al, chorophyll-a, pH).

The outputs help inform a range of CEH projects with both internal and external collaborators.

Contact: Mike Bowes