Speaker

Professor. Adrian Collins ADAS

Adrian is Head of Water in the Soils, Agriculture and Water research team at ADAS, and Visiting Professor in Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, and has worked for 20 years researching diffuse pollution from agriculture and additional sectors.  He is Vice President of the International Commission on Continental Erosion (ICCE) of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) and Chair of the SETAC SEDAG international working committee on sediment targets for diffuse pollution policy support.  Adrian is a member of the National Scientific Advisory Panel for the Salmon and Trout Association and a Member of the UK Committee for National and International Hydrology. He is currently the lead external peer reviewer of the Scottish Rural Development Plan revisions for sediment management and mitigation and is collaborating with sediment researchers and policy teams overseas, including those in Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany and the USA. From October 2013, he will be a Visiting Professor funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to work on diffuse pollution characterisation and mitigation in the Upper Yangtze River basin.

Abstract

The need to manage fine sediment problems in river catchments has risen up the policy agenda with growing awareness and understanding of a range of detrimental off-site impacts including those on aquatic ecology. Since the EU Freshwater Fish Directive is due to be repealed this year and the Water Framework Directive does not currently stipulate alternative sediment thresholds for guiding catchment management, individual Member States are considering the evidence base for making informed decisions.  Against this background, an ongoing multi-partner research programme has been updating the evidence base on the ecological impacts of fine sediment, using this information to devise a strategic scale modelling framework integrating sediment pressures and the potential impacts of mitigation options with biotic end points for fish and macroinvertebrates for informing targeted sediment management across England and Wales. This presentation will provide a brief overview of this ongoing work programme.