Improving our understanding of intermittent chalk streams

The OU has an international reputation in pioneering innovative co-creative approaches to water governance, working with stakeholders in many different contexts in the UK and internationally.

Chalk streams provide an important and globally rare habitat, with the majority being found in England. Often referred to as England’s rainforests, their clear cool waters provide a unique habitat for iconic species such as the otter, kingfisher, and salmon, and with drying also a characteristic of their behaviour, they are home to some rare specialist invertebrates. But the habitat is at real risk due to intense management, increasing domestic and agricultural demands for water, and the pressures of climate change.

This project will work closely with existing stakeholder groups to improve the collective understanding of chalk streams by key stakeholders within academia and policy fora. Innovative techniques for capturing the hydrological and structural behaviour of intermittent chalk streams will be used.

A new collaboration between the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the OU, the project will combine local knowledge with cutting-edge drone-based sensing techniques and morphology studies, helping to deliver key insights that will be shared to advocate and raise awareness for intermittent chalk streams. The results will help shape future policies and practices for managing chalk streams in South East England in the long term.

The project is funded by Affinity Water, and supported by Cambridge Water and Anglian Water, through the Water Industry National Environment Programme.

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Email Gillian Hosier or call on 01908 858285 to discuss this project