This webinar is art of the UK Climate Resilience Programme (UKCR) 2023 webina series.
Each webinar provides an overview of a project, its key findings and its implications. Which is then followed by a response from a relevant stakeholder/non-academic partner, who will be invited to provide their perspective on the research process and outputs. Each webinar concludes with an open Q&A session with both panellists.
This presentation presents the outcomes of my Embedded Researcher experience with the Water Resources Team at water company Anglian Water Services. The project sought to explore how both operational improvements and long-term planning could improve drought resilience, in particular through the use of seasonal weather forecasts. Project outcomes include a new methodology to better quantify the relationship between the quality of a forecast and its value to water managers. Beyond that, the identification of research gaps that also correspond to technical gaps for the partner led to two successful follow-up funding proposals that will keep the collaboration alive for the next few years. One project focuses on incorporating climate-induced risks to reservoir water quality in long-term planning. The other will build the modelling tools to quantify the impacts of the energy transition on water resource systems, and to suggest drought- and climate-resilient infrastructure investments that will also be well-adapted to future energy systems.