Meeting held 16th March 2010
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This was the Forum’s 40th meeting. It was held in the Boardroom of the Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management (CIWEM) in London. Members of CIWEM’s Wastewater Management Panel joined the Forum for the technical presentations and discussion which were on flooding and adapting to climate change.
Members of the Forum had a very useful exchange of information about their research activities.
Professor Joe Morris, Professor of Resource Economics and Management at Cranfield University described Integrating floodplain management through an ecosystems framework.
Brian
Cafferky,
WSP Group described development of the Surface
Water Management Plan for Thatcham
in Berkshire, which was part of developing the surface water management
plan guidance and move forward local flood risk management in some key
high risk areas.. it was one of six local authorities funded to develop
first edition surface water management plans. The others in this pilot
were; Gloucestershire, Hull, Leeds, Richmond, and Warrington.Richard Kellagher, HR Wallingford, described the National SUDS Standards project and the National Pluvial Screening Project in Ireland.
European Wastewater Issues Bryan Wallis updated members on some of the water-related issues in the EU that he is aware of through his work with EUREAU. A European Parliamentary Intergroup on Water convened its first meeting in Brussels on 27th January 2010 it will consider all the strands of water including adaptation to climate change, risks of both flooding and water scarcity. It is supported by EUREAU, the European Federation of drinking water and waste water operators; it will meet once a month and has already invited all EU Commissioners with related portfolios to participate.
The European Commission (EC) is taking the UK to the European Court of Justice about the number of CSO spills. EUREAU says environmental impact should be the yardstick rather than the number of CSO spill. The EC is proposing a climate review of water quality and also revision of the sludge directive.