Managing the world's water resources
Water is critical to all life on Earth, underpinning everything from food production to energy generation and transportation. It also sustains our natural ecosystems which we all rely upon for diverse goods and services.
Our research brings together interdisciplinary expertise from across the university to develop knowledge and solutions to help ensure sufficient availability of water for humans and the environment under climate and socio-economic change.
Our key areas
Our changing water cycle
Human activities and climate change are causing significant perturbations to the water cycle, with increases in the frequency and magnitude of extreme events such as floods and droughts.
We will bring together expertise in hydrological modelling and monitoring, including EO, to improve understanding about how the water cycle is changing, the underlying drivers of change, and the implications of water cycle extremes for societal and ecosystem resilience.
Ensuring water for people and environment
As water scarcity increases, so does competition for water between different users and sectors (including the environment).
We will develop knowledge, approaches, and tools to support efficient, equitable, and sustainable management of finite water resources to meet needs of both growing populations and the environment. A key focus will be to improve behavioural understanding about human water demands across different sectors and regions worldwide, recognising the critical role of demand management given water resources are finite and can no longer be addressed with supply-side interventions (e.g. new dams, conveyance systems, treatment tech, etc) alone.
Tackling water pollution and contamination
Water pollution and contamination has severe negative consequences for human and ecosystem health – including through exacerbating scarcity of finite freshwater resources.
We will assess the magnitude and causes of water pollution from both natural (e.g. arsenic release) and man-made (e.g. microplastics) sources, and develop approaches and technologies to reduce, remove, and mitigate impacts of aquatic pollution on humans and freshwater-dependent ecosystems.