Innovation
Innovation, PR14, ESPRC and Multiple Benefit
A surprisingly provocative ‘PR14’ seminar in December 2012 featured this presentation , and highlighted three particular related aspects of innovation:-
- The Environment Agency, disarmingly, are seeking innovative paths to ‘good’ water – Private (albeit regulated) and Public.
- ESPRC & NERC are funding close to £8,000,000 to ‘develop and give impact to novel ways of managing flooding sustainably‘.
- In most catchments, sustainable engineered attenuation would be regarded as innovative, even when existing defence and resilience systems have been overwhelmed by cost or by events.
So, reflecting on the threads explored at the seminar, and at the end of a year of loss for many homes, it is relevant to consider whether Defence, Resilience, or Attenuation should be the most worthy of focus in the run-up to 2014. This could be helpful in informing on-going study.
Urban value-at-risk is surrounded by rural ‘sponge’. Furthermore, there is evidence that such high friction floodplains can deliver useful green storage gain.
Conference also considered whether catchment innovation, in respect of both storage (reservoirs, aquifers) and conveyance (piped, fluvial) systems would be more likely to yield mutiple benefit in public or in (albeit well regulated) private hands.
The public are fortunate that ESPRC & NERC have briefed for INNOVATION – ie outside the ivory box – thereby perhaps to join up water supply (the asset) and flood conveyance (the liability) – even under a PES umbrella.
Links
Seminar = http://www.coastms.co.uk/conferences/466
Poster = http://wp.me/a2ZSzN-4U
Attenuation = http://wp.me/P1WSBl-4
Benefits = http://wp.me/P1WSBl-6
http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/NGBOViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/K013661/1 (and KD12770)
http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/flooding/events/documents/ao.pdf
ATREPO 