Advanced Water Management MSc

• Professor Ian Holman

This module concentrates on the conceptualisation, quantification and modelling of surface and groundwater hydrological processes. You will gain an understanding of rainfall, evapotranspiration, runoff, discharge, groundwater recharge, groundwater storage, and groundwater movement, all essential for those involved in the science, engineering or management of the water environment.  The module further addresses how this understanding can be embedded within a range of different types of numerical models to address environmental and management challenges. The module offers you the opportunity to strengthen your analytical abilities with a specific mathematical emphasis, including model development and data analysis, which are key skills to launch future careers in science, engineering and technology. 

This module is 20 credits.

• Land-atmosphere interactions: measurement of precipitation amount and intensity, spatial analysis. Interception and depression storage.  Evapotranspiration, actual evapotranspiration and soil water availability. Runoff processes; water balances.
• Hydraulics: properties of fluids, basic mechanics. Hydrostatics: Pressure, pressure measurement, pressure and forces on submerged surfaces. Fluids in motion: Types of flow. Continuity, energy and momentum equations and their applications. Behaviour of a real fluid.
• Discharge measurement; velocity area methods. Structures; hydraulic principles of weirs & flumes. Stage measurement. Rating curves and other methods. 
• Groundwater: Aquifer properties; recharge, groundwater movement, groundwater flow; conduct and analysis of pumping tests including limitations and assumptions.
• Overview of the types of models applied; mechanistic, semi-empirical and empirical models. Why these different forms exist, their strengths and weaknesses. How they are applied?
• Model parameterization, sensitivity testing, calibration/validation, model uncertainty, model performance evaluation, predictions and scenarios. 

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

• Explain the processes governing the surface and sub-surface movement of water within a catchment.
• Select and apply appropriate measurement techniques and evaluate their measurement uncertainty.
• Analyse and interpret a range of hydro-meteorological data.
• Identify and evaluate the standard types of numerical models in use in hydrological sciences.
• Apply a process of hydrological model design, building, calibration and validation to a catchment to meet stated objectives, and critically evaluate the usefulness and uncertainty of the model.

• Dr Pablo Campo Moreno

Water bodies are fundamental features of the landscape. Whether they are rivers, canals, wetlands, ponds, lakes, estuaries or the open coast, they are important habitats that support diverse ecological communities and provide essential services to society. Therefore, countries have developed regulations to protect the quality of these water bodies and methods to assess status. Around the world, quality is increasingly being assessed based on a wide set of physical, chemical and biological attributes of the water body. In the UK, quality is assessed based on its ecological and chemical quality under the Water Framework Directive (WFD), which became part of UK law in 2003. This module will provide you with an overview of WFD and other relevant water quality regulation and policy that govern the management and assessment of surface waters. It will also provide you with a background in ecological processes, aquatic communities, and survey design and data analysis to help those working in environmental water management to interpret water quality data in the context of the catchment characteristics and pressures.

This module is 20 credits.

• Importance of water quality for human health, drinking water and the environment.
• Water quality regulation and standards.
• UK methods to assess the status of surface water bodies.
• The physical and chemical attributes and processes structuring the biological community in aquatic ecosystems in the landscape (e.g. rivers, lakes, floodplains, estuaries and coastal zones).
• Design of water quality monitoring programmes: sampling strategies, sampling methods, quality assurance, and data handling.
• Water quality sampling & analysis: field sampling techniques and laboratory analysis methods.
• Statistical analysis of ecological and water quality data.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

• Explain the chemical, biological and hydromorphological processes and their interactions that determine the ecological status of a surface water body.
• Evaluate water quality and ecological data based on knowledge of the sampling and data analysis methods, and analyse them to identify significant spatial and temporal differences.
• Interpret ecological and water quality data based on scientific understanding of aquatic organism occurrence, movement and distribution and natural and anthropogenic influences from the river network and catchment. 

• Professor Jerry Knox

Extreme weather events are considered top global risks. Every year, many places around the world are affected by droughts and floods leading to severe impacts on people, the environment, agricultural and industrial production, and water supply infrastructure. Climate change will increase the frequency and severity of these natural hazards. Thus, we need to improve our ability to characterise and understand their occurrence, duration and intensity; and to effectively implement management responses to reduce vulnerability and minimise their impacts. This module will focus on droughts and floods, covering their definition, forecasting, impacts and management options. The module focuses on impact and management responses in three key sectors – domestic, businesses (including agriculture) and the environment.
 
This module is 20 credits.

• Introduction. Definition of risk. Roles and responsibilities in drought/flood management.
• Drought metrics (Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI), SPEI, Drought Palmer Severity Index (DPSI), Potential Soil Moisture Deficit (PSMD) and their spatio-temporal relevance to different sectors.
• Flood probability. Storm hydrographs and unit hydrographs.  Probability and return period analysis of hydrological events. Design floods. Estimation of peak flows using Flood Estimation Handbook (FEH) methods.
• Impacts of droughts on different sectors and the environment.
• Soft and hard engineering strategies to mitigate drought/flood risk at local (individual business) and catchment scales.
• Management approaches to tackle drought/flood risk at different levels.
• Cost-benefit analysis for assessing different management options to tackle weather extremes.
• Climate change and water-related weather extremes.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

• Define drought and flood risk, their main characteristics and impacts, and policy landscape.
• Calculate and apply different drought indicators (metrics) including assessing their utility and limitations.
• Determine the likelihood of a flow of a given magnitude for gauged and ungauged catchments and catchments using the Flood Estimation Handbook (FEH and ReFH) methods.
• Critically evaluate the role of alternative approaches to managing drought/flood risks.
• Explain the impacts of climate change on the frequency and severity of drought/flood risks.

• Dr Robert Grabowski

There is a growing recognition that sustainable solutions to environmental water management problems require a coordinated approach. With climate change, aging infrastructure, and an increasing human population growth with its increased demand for urban development, food and water, we require creative and effective policy, management and technological solutions that address multiple problems and increase the resilience of our natural, economic and social systems. In this module, you will develop the skills to critically evaluate and analyse environmental data and information in a spatial context and to assess them in light of current drivers (e.g. regulatory and socioeconomic) to develop integrated solutions for water supply, water quality, flooding, conservation of aquatic ecosystems, etc.

This module is 20 credits.

• Global challenges for water management.
• Policy and regulatory framework for integrated water management (UK, EU).
• Future of water and wastewater services.
• Management and technological solutions applicable at different spatial scales.
• Strategic catchment and urban planning.
• Natural capital and ecosystem service. 

On successful completion of this study you should be able to:

• Analyse the spatial dimensions and linkages between the main global challenges for water management and explain the underlying and associated social, economic and environmental factors and interactions.
• Evaluate evidence and conclusions from key regulatory and planning documents from regulators, managers, municipalities and industry to identify possible conflicts or unrealised synergies in management and development goals.
• Develop integrated solutions within the spatial context of the catchment and city, considering the natural environment and socio-economic factors, and assess their impacts using appropriate appraisal methods.