Understanding Changes in Quality of UK Freshwaters

A new £8.4 million NERC funded program will investigate fresh water quality pollution in Rivers across the UK.

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) have appointed Professor Joseph Holden & Professor Pippa Chapman as Freshwater Quality Champions and leaders of a new programme that will study water quality of UK rivers.

The four year NERC program titled ‘Understanding changes in quality of UK freshwaters’ aims to examine:

• investigate how pollutants enter, leave and interact with rivers and supporting ecosystems
• determine how the movement of pollutants will be modified with changes in the water cycle
• create better tools to monitor and measure pollution

The program will oversee five different research projects, each focusing on a different aspect of water quality. Each project will be interdisciplinary and bring together a range of experts needed to deliver the integrated and cross sectional research required.

Partners

Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

University of Durham

University of York

University of Sheffield

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

University of Bath

University of Stirling

University of Oxford

Environment Agency