water management@leeds
Water management research
water management@leeds focuses on the interface between science and society and the implementation of systems to control human impact on the aquatic environment. Our work connects environmental knowledge to public and private sector decision making, and provides socio-economic benefits, from improved community-based management and sustainable livelihood provision, to enterprise initiatives and business solutions.
The management theme draws broadly on sociology, politics, planning, economics, management, development studies and law. Specialising in developing innovative and integrative solutions to sustainability and management problems that cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries, the group has a wide range of expertise and interdisciplinary track record.
The water management group has a wide range of tools, methods and approaches at its disposal for application to wide-ranging interests, including:
- Modelling approaches such as: econometric models of non-domestic water demand; ecologic-economic modelling; water demand assessment; mediated modelling; Input-Output modelling; and agent-based modelling
- Participatory methods such as: semi-structured interviewing, focus groups, facilitation, multi-criteria evaluation, scenario analysis and dynamic systems modelling and methods for the identification and evaluation of sustainability indicators
- Environmental informatics, including Geographic Information Systems for environmental risk assessment
- Aquatic ecological assessments as tools for water quality monitoring especially in urban catchments
- Evaluating the social, economic and environmental impacts of land use change, acidification, atmospheric deposition and other diffuse source pollutants on nutrient cycling in soil and water
- Catchment planning and risk management, focusing on risk perception and decision-making based on system dynamics, and the development of load models for urban diffuse pollution mapping and hazard identification
- Climate change impacts on hydrology and water resources focusing on seasonal climate predictions for uplands, and feedbacks between water colour, carbon dynamics and climate change
- Sustainable water consumption through water demand assessment and input-output modelling
- Groundwater management and risk assessment
For further information about any of these areas, please contact water@leeds or visit the membership list to search for our experts in the areas of water management and sustainability.
