Oxford University leads £2 million research project on UK droughts and water scarcity

Droughts and water scarcity pose a significant risk to the environment, society and the economy. In 2012 the UK experienced the driest spring in over a century, following two dry winters. However scientific understanding of the complex drivers and impacts of droughts is inadequate.

This project will adopt a risk-based approach to the management of droughts and water scarcity, drawing upon global experiences and insights from other hazards to society and the environment. It will use real case studies and model future scenarios, analysing drought at multiple levels, from households and farms to river basins and national scales.

The researchers will work closely with stakeholders in government, businesses and NGOs who will benefit from improved evidence of the risks and impacts of droughts and water scarcity. Better understanding of the effectiveness of different measures will help decision-makers make more informed decisions, from real-time drought management to longer-term planning.

The project team is led by Professor Jim Hall (Environmental Change Institute) and includes Drs Chris Decker and Bettina Lange (Centre for Socio-Legal Studies), Dr Pam Berry (Environmental Change Institute), and Professors Sarah Whatmore, Paul Whitehead, Myles Allen, and Dr Simon Dadson (School of Geography and the Environment).

Funding comes from NERC, in collaboration with ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC and AHRC.

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Taxonomy

• Scarcity
• Drought