HELP

1. Integrating mesoscalecatchment experimentswith modelling:the potential for sustainable water resources management HELP byEnda O’Connell1, Jaime Amezaga1, James Bathurst1, Chris Kilsby1, Geoff Parkin1, Paul Quinn1, Paul Younger1,Steve Anderton2, and Mick Riley3 1. Water Resource Systems Research Laboratory,Department of Civil Engineering,University of Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU 2. Department of Engineering, University of Durham 3. School of Earth Sciences, University of Birmingham

2. CHASM : Catchment Hydrology And Sustainable Management A major UK initiative in catchment research

3. CHASM • CHASM is a framework for a long-term programme of catchment research which presently involves UK universities, research institutes, and end-user organizations; it is planned to extend it internationally • CHASM will be implemented through a series of research projects to be funded from various sources (UK research councils, EC etc.) • The first major project to be funded is NICHE (National Infrastructure for Catchment Hydrology Experiments). Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF) funding of £4M has been approved for catchment instrumentation

4. Key Issues • The vast majority of catchment experiments have been conducted at the small scale (<10 km2); only limited aspects of hydrological understanding can be transferred to larger scales (the scale issue) • The range and intensity of anthropogenic influences within catchments is increasing and impacts are not fully understood, particularly in relation to ecological diversity and biogeochemical cycling • A better understanding is needed of how catchments are likely to behave under future climatic conditions • Sustainable management plans for catchments need to be underpinned by good scientific understanding, particularly of the influences of abstractions on the hydrological and ecological regimes of catchments

5. Key Elements of CHASM • A new focus on mesoscale (~100 km2) catchment research to bridge the CHASM (!!) between the typical scale of past experimental catchment research (~10 km2) and the catchment scales which are the focus of sustainable management issues • A major assault on the scaling issue, with new scaling theories to be developed and tested using multiscale experiments • a set of n mesoscale nested catchment experiments which (a) sample heterogeneity in rainfall/topography/soils/ vegetation/geology comprehensively, and (b) cover a range of anthropogenic impacts • A scientific platform for new developments in hydroecological research • An integrated monitoring and modelling approach in which modelling is used from the outset to design the catchment experiments and to steer field campaignss

6. CHASM Objectives • 1. To understand and model catchment response as a function of landscape heterogeneity and scale • 2. To understand the impacts of internal anthropogenic activities on catchment response • 3. To understand the impacts of climate change on catchment response • 4. To use the understanding gained under 1, 2 and 3 to underpin sustainable catchment management

7. Science for Sustainable Management Meteorology Physics Catchment Experiments Scaling Theories for Hydrological Flow and Transport Geology Applied Maths and Statistics Ecology and Biogeo-chemistry Multiscale Catchment Models of Flow and Transport

8. Planning for Sustainable Management Land-use Change Climate Change Catchment Experiments Multiscale Catchment Models of Flow and Transport Point source pollution Management Models Non-point source pollution Abstractions Sustainable Management Plans

9. Co-ordinator: Prof. H. Wheater Imperial College Co-ordinator: Prof. P.E. O’Connell University of Newcastle upon Tyne NICHE Project Structure NICHE National Infrastructure for Catchment Hydrology Experiments NICHE-LOCAR LOwland CAtchment Research 3 catchments NICHE-CHASM Catchment Hydrology And Sustainable Management 4 catchments

10. NICHE-CHASM Partner Organisations Uni. Of Newcastle Uni. Of Aberdeen Uni. Of Dundee Uni. Of Durham Uni. Of Lancaster Uni. Of Leeds Uni. Of Ulster Institute of Hydrology Institute of Freshwater Ecology Prof PE O’Connell (co-ordinator) Dr C Soulsby Prof A Werrity Prof T Burt Prof K Beven Prof M Kirkby Prof DN Wilcock Prof JS Wallace Prof AD Pickering

11. NICHE-LOCAR Partner Organisations Imperial College Uni. Of Birmingham Uni. Of Exeter Institute of Hydrology Institute of Freshwater Ecology Prof HS Wheater (co-ordinator) Prof GE Petts Prof DE Walling Prof JS Wallace Prof J Hilton

12. NICHE Catchments Feshie Oona Eden Tern Upper Severn Pang/Lambourn Frome

13. Oona Water University of Ulster 92 km2 Feshie University of Aberdeen University of Dundee 200 km2 Upper Severn Institute of Hydrology 187 km2 Eden University of Newcastle University of Lancaster University of Durham University of Leeds Inst. of Freshwater Ecology 337 km2 + 90 km2 10 km NICHE-CHASM Catchments

14. Key Elements ofGeneric Experimental Design • Landscape classification • Adaptive, staged approach to instrumentation of catchments: • permanent instrumentation • staged instrumentation • mobile instrumentation • Multi-scale approach with nested structure • Understand and resolve heterogeneity (Integrated Monitoring and Modelling) • Reclassification of the landscape and repetition of the cycle

15. Landscape Classification Mobile Instrumentation (‘Green Machine’) Staged Instrumentation (‘Patches’) Permanent Instrumentation (mesoscale, miniscale and microscale catchments) Experimental Design

16. Landscape Classification topography soils geology land use ? classifications hydrological geomorphological ecological

17. Mobile Instrumentation • Rapid surveys (prior to installation of staged instrumentation, and for landscape classification) • Lightweight all-terrain vehicle (‘Green Machine’), with • drilling rig • differential GPS • surface geophysics

18. Staged Instrumentation 1 Raingauge 2 Nested multi-level piezometers 3 Soil moisture probes Tensiometers Gypsum blocks suction lysimeters 4 Interception gauges Sap flow meters 1 4 3 2

19. Permanent Instrumentation River gauging stations with nested structure Observation boreholes and river-aquifer experiments Hydrometeorological stations and raingauges Hillslope instrumentation (runoff troughs, lysimeters) Suspended sediment and water quality monitors Ecological monitors (e.g. fish tracking) Mesoscale (~100 km2) Miniscale (~10 km2) Microscale (~1 km2)

20. End-User Participation • Catchment Management Committees (CMCs) have been set up to create a partnership of NICHE participants and end-user organizations (e.g. Environmental Agencies, Water Companies, Conservation Bodies, Government Departments etc.) • The CMCs will • identify key anthropogenic issues to be investigated • harmonize expenditure on instrumentation to meet both research and operational needs • co-ordinate research projects and monitor their progress

21. National Forum for Catchment Hydrological Research • Provide wider access to NICHE infrastructure • Promote involvement in CHASM initiative • Discuss research strategy and priorities • Develop thematic funding initiatives • First meeting at BHS National Symposium in September 2000 • Ecological and geomorphological forums to be convened in subsequent years

22. International Context • The UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP) has identified Experimental Hydrology as a high priority activity for the 6th phase of IHP (2002-2007) • The NICHE catchments may be potential candidates for inclusion in the proposed UNESCO Hydrology, Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) programme • It is planned to expand the network of CHASM catchments through international collaboration with scientists interested in participating in the CHASM initiative. Those interested should contact the CHASM co-ordinator, Enda O’Connell (P.E.O’Connell@ncl.ac.uk).

23. Sustainable Water ResourcesManagement (SWRM) • Need to connect with socio-economic dimensions of SWRM • Sustainability is concept through which hydrologists can engage with policy makers: meeting the needs of the current generation without foreclosing on the options available to future generations

24. Different Perspectiveson Sustainability • Physical, ecological, social and economic perspectives: how to reconcile in context of SWRM? Need to achieve a: • Multi-criteria analysis: technical solution but difficult to articulate the ways in which policy makers think and act e.g. when water resource systems are under stress or undergoing change Sociotechnical Perspective

25. Sociotechnical Perspective • Need methods and concepts for sociotechnical research • How to deal with the human/social factor? HELP!

26. Sociotechnical Perspective • Shaping one common reality Planning forSustainable Management Land-use Change Climate Change Multiscale Catchment Models of Flow and Transport Catchment Experiments Point source pollution Management Models Non-point source pollution Abstractions Sustainable Management Plans

27. Problem Structuring Methods(PSMs) • Can deal with ill-structured situations involving human actors with multiple perspectives • ‘Soft-system’ approaches require human skills and expertise which technical experts find difficulty in relating to • May help to arrive at consensus among different actors and stakeholders in different settings as to what SWRM really means, and how it might be achieved in the future