Our research studies the ways that land use can affect water resources and their quality.

In particular, we look at how the downstream impacts of pollution from both point sources (such as industry and sewage treatment works) and diffuse sources (such as agricultural fertilisers washed from fields into rivers) may damage and degrade our freshwater and coastal ecosystems.

Understanding the catchment means understanding the processes within and between ecosystems (upland, lowland and coastal).

Our research programme is unique in the UK because it includes socio-economic research as well as the biophysical science of catchments. We address problems such as the way society uses water resources and the cost of changing current practices.

Our catchment management research aims to:

• understand how pollutants move through the environment.
• assess the impact of pollution on soil and water ecology.
• develop ways to help predict how human activities might affect the environment.
• provide the scientific evidence to help develop and implement government policy.

Principal research areas

• Assessing Water Quality
• Catchment Management
• Sustainable Flood Management

Research themes

• Biogeochemistry
• Transport Processes
• Hydro-Ecology
• Catchment Futures

Knowledge Exchange

• iCatch