Effecting a paradigm shift in water industry approaches to water resource management

Research led by geographers at the University of Exeter has provided the environmental and financial evidence base to justify catchment restoration as a cost-effective water management mechanism, effecting a paradigm shift towards nature-based solutions in the water industry.

Issue

Historically, the water industry has provided clean drinking water through expensive engineering solutions. Climate change and population growth are challenging the economic viability of such approaches, with business-as-usual costs projected to double by 2030.

Approach

During 2010-15, the team evaluated the effectiveness of the Mires-on-the-Moors project, which restored 2000 hectares of bog by blocking drainage ditches. The team implemented a 4-year ecohydrological monitoring plan.

The research demonstrated that restored bogs release up to 43% less dissolved organic carbon into surface waters; damaged mires release 1-5 tonnes of carbon per hectare per year, while re-wetted mires start storing, rather than emitting, carbon in less than 5 years.

The team showed that the peatland resource in the South West uplands has lost significant amounts of carbon in the past, which could be restored in the future.

Impact

Justified by this research, peatland restoration to date on Exmoor is estimated to have prevented 870 tonnes of CO₂ from being emitted to the atmosphere each year.

The research positively impacted the Environment Agency’s national policy on flood management, resulting in a spend of £1.2 million in the South West, securing £15 million nationally, and informing the decision on how to allocate £6 billion capital investment in flood risk management schemes between 2021 and 2027.

The research has led directly to a cultural change in how water resources and quality improvements are planned and approved by demonstrating that catchment restoration would allow South West Water to meet regional demand without building new infrastructure. The research also demonstrated that landscape restoration is cost-effective.

More information 

• Read the full impact case study in the REF 21 database

Institution: University of Exeter

Researchers: Professor Richard Brazier, Dr Karen Anderson, Dr David Luscombe, Dr Emilie Grand-Clement, Dr Naomi Gatis, Leon DeBell, Dr Donna Carless, Dr Amanda Robinson, Dr Ben Jackson