The rivers of southern England and northern France which drain into the English Channel contain several genetically unique groups of trout (Salmo trutta L.) that have suffered dramatic declines in numbers over the past 40 years. Knowledge of levels and patterns of genetic diversity is essential for effective management of these vulnerable populations. Using restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) data, we describe the development and characterisation of a panel of 95 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci for trout from this region and investigate their applicability and variability in both target (i.e., southern English) and non-target trout populations from northern Britain and Ireland. In addition, we present three case studies which demonstrate the utility and resolution of these genetic markers at three levels of spatial separation:(a) between closely related populations in nearby rivers, (b) within a catchment and (c) when determining parentage and familial relationships between fish sampled from a single site, using both empirical and simulated data. The SNP loci will be useful for population genetic and assignment studies on brown trout within the UK and beyond.

How does society engage public and community support for and co-create action on climate and environmental change, resilient water management and sustainable critical infrastructure? The answer to this often-asked question, as expected, is not simple yet also not complicated – just a complex layering of scales and dimensions from engineering, environmental and social sciences, science communication and intergenerational recognition that there is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach – just as with technical infrastructures. With these perspectives in mind, this paper shares best practice on mobilising the co-creation of sustainable water-resilient communities in the south-west of England, UK. Consideration of evidence and engagement across multiple scales and dimensions is positioned through exploration and evaluation of projects undertaken through the Westcountry Rivers Trust’s Water Resilient Communities programme in two counties (Devon and Somerset). The projects cover town-based sustainable drainage systems (Sudss) co-created with residents, school-based Sudss co-created with children and teachers and a Water Resilience Summit and associated hub co-created with communities and businesses. Over 400 people were directly engaged in exploring, planning and co-creating different aspects, which met the intended objectives. Learning points were uncovered and reflected on to take forward into future projects to enable further mobilisation of sustainable water-resilient communities.

Increasing pressures on ecosystems in the Latin American region, as well as the adoption of multilateral conservation commitments, have led to the implementation of instruments that are economic in nature but oriented towards the recovery, conservation, and functioning of ecosystems such as Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES). In the Peruvian Andes, hydro-climatic factors and land-use changes are affecting the capacity of the ecosystems of the glaciated Cordillera Blanca to provide water services, in terms of both quality and quantity, to the main users of the Santa River basin. Thus, this study analyses how the socio-ecological interactions affect, and are affected by, the planned introduction of water-related PES in the Quillcay sub-basin, the most populated sub-basins along the Santa River basin. We use a conceptual model based on the current evolution of the water metabolism approach to integrate into a common language of analysis the multiple dimensions of water: water as an ecological fund, as a service, and as a political asset. To explore the interface of these three domains of analysis we rely on a mixed-method data collection: primary data collection through a stakeholder survey and interviews and a review of information from secondary sources. The result of our case study shows that both the ecological dimension and the social dimension affect on the PES project and vice versa. These complex interactions could result in the design of a mechanism in which not all stakeholders benefit equally. This raises the need to recognise the multidimensional nature of water in the design and implementation of policies, and the importance of identifying processes and barriers which affect the success of these policies without making invisible the direct effect they also have on social-ecological systems.

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes are an increasingly popular form of catchment management for improving surface water and groundwater quality. In these schemes, downstream water users who are impacted by agricultural diffuse pollution incentivise upstream farmers to adopt better practices. However, this type of scheme will not be successful in all situations, in part, due to a lack of potential for agriculture to improve the suuply of good water quality and/or a lack in demand from downstream users for good water quality. As such, this study aims to present a flexible approach to mapping the potential for PES schemes to improve water quality in agricultural catchments. The approach is based on multi-criteria analysis, with supply and demand as key criteria. It uses expert judgement or current guidance on PES to select supply and demand sub-criteria, expert judgement to weight all criteria through pairwise comparisons and readily available, national datasets to indicate criteria. Once indicator data are normalized, it combines them in a weighted sums analysis and presents results spatially at the national scale, all within a geographical information system. The approach can easily be applied to the country or region of interest by using locally relevant criteria, expert judgement and data. For example, when applied to the situation for river waterbodies in England, supply sub-criteria were the contribution of agriculture to loads of the major pollutants (nitrogen, phosphorus and sediments) and demand sub-criteria were the different downstream water users present (water companies and, tourist and local recreational users). Experts assigned equal weight to supply and demand criteria and the highest weights to sediments and water companies for sub-criteria, respectively. When national scale datasets to indicate these criteria were combined in a weighted sums analysis, it was possible to identify areas of high potential for PES. This would hopefully motivate more detailed research at the individual catchment level into the constraints in linking supply and demand. Three case-study schemes were also examined to show how some of these constraints are being identified and overcome. As such, the approach forms the first tier in a two-tier framework for establishing PES schemes to improve water quality in agricultural catchments.

<p>We present the first trial of an accurate, low-cost wireless sensor, the ‘Hydrobean’, and base station designed for use by citizen scientists in catchment water quality monitoring. This novel wireless sensor network addresses key concerns identified with current volunteer monitoring programmes, including temporal discontinuity and insufficient data quality. Hydrobean continuously measures electrical conductivity, temperature and pressure and wirelessly transmits these data to an online portal for observation and download by users. These parameters can be used to assess catchment water quality status, with excursions from baseline conditions detected in real time at high temporal resolution. Citizen scientists have an increasingly important role to play in enhancing our scientific understanding of catchment water quality, but their contribution has so far been limited by barriers to access suitable monitoring equipment. Traditional grab sampling techniques result in key contamination incidents being missed and trend analysis limited as samples are analysed discretely, typically on a weekly or monthly basis. Additionally, the quality of data obtained from basic chemical test kits commonly used by citizen scientists does not meet the requirements of many data users. This research explores the role of low-cost wireless sensor networks in advancing the potential of citizen scientists in monitoring catchment water quality. Monitoring equipment available to citizen scientists generally needs to be low cost, so is unlikely to rival professional standard monitoring techniques in the foreseeable future. However, reliable, low-cost sensors which enable continuous, real-time monitoring do now exist for a limited range of water quality parameters and have been used in the development of the wireless sensor network presented here. Critically, Hydrobean and its base station are low cost, low maintenance, portable and robust in order to meet the requirements of community monitoring programmes. Ultimately, a model will be integrated into the real-time analysis of data collected by the wireless sensor network to predict when and where contamination incidents are expected to be affecting catchment water quality. We report initial field results of the Hydrobean wireless sensor network and will discuss ways in which the basic design can be improved in future versions. </p>

AbstractDigital water transformation is often written about as though universally desirable and inevitable, capable of addressing the multifaceted socioecological challenges that water systems face. However, there is not widespread reflection on the complexities, tensions and unintended consequences of digital transformation, its social and political dimensions are often neglected. This article introduces case studies of digital water development, bringing examples of technological innovation into dialogue with literature and empirical research from across the social sciences. We examine how Big Data affects our observations of water in society to shape water management, how the Internet of Things becomes involved in reproducing unjust water politics, how digital platforms are entangled in the varied sociocultural landscape of everyday water use, and how opensource technologies provide new possibilities for participatory water governance. We also reflect on regulatory developments and the possible trajectories of innovation resulting from public‐private sector interactions. A socially and politically informed view of digital water is essential for just and sustainable development, and the gap between industry visions of digital water and research within the social sciences is inhibitive. Thus, the analysis presented in this article provides a novel, pluralistic perspective on digital water development and outlines what is required for more inclusive future scholarship, policy and practice.This article is categorized under: Human Water

Abstract This research addresses the need to transform success in technical understanding and practical implementation of surface water management (SWM) interventions at a site-scale towards integrated landscape-scale management. We achieve this through targeting the informative preliminary stages of strategic design, where broad, early and effective exploration of opportunities can enhance and direct a regional SWM perspective. We present a new method, ‘Synthetic Stream Networks’ (SSN), capable of meeting these requirements by taking advantage of easily accessible data, likely to be available during regional screening. We find that results from the SSN are validated by existing, ‘downstream’ focused data (90% of the river network is within 30 m of an associated SSN flow path), with the added advantage of extending understanding of surface water exceedance flow paths and watersheds into the upper catchment, thus establishing a foundational and physically based sub-catchment management unit exploring surface water connectivity at a catchment and landscape scale. We also demonstrate collaborative advantages of twinning the new SSN method with ‘Rapid Scenario Screening’ (RSS) to develop a novel approach for identifying, exploring and evaluating SWM interventions. Overall, we find that this approach addresses challenges of integrating understanding from sub-catchment, catchment and landscape perspectives within surface water management.

AbstractThere are few reliable data sets to inspire confidence in policymakers that soil organic carbon (SOC) can be measured on farms. We worked with farmers in the Tamar Valley region of southwest England to select sampling sites under similar conditions (soil type, aspect and slope) and management types. Topsoils (2–15 cm) were sampled in autumn 2015, and percentage soil organic matter (%SOM) was determined by loss on ignition and used to calculate %SOC. We also used the stability of macroaggregates in cold water (WSA) (‘soil slaking’) as a measure of ‘soil health’ and investigated its relationship with SOC in the clay‐rich soils. %SOM was significantly different between management types in the order woodland (11.1%) = permanent pasture (9.5%) > ley‐arable rotation (7.7%) = arable (7.3%). This related directly to SOC stocks that were larger in fields under permanent pasture and woodland compared with those under arable or ley‐arable rotation whether corrected for clay content (F = 8.500, p < .0001) or not (F = 8.516, p < .0001). WSA scores were strongly correlated with SOC content whether corrected for clay content (SOCadj R2 = .571, p < .0001) or not (SOCunadj R2 = 0.490, p = .002). Time since tillage controlled SOC stocks and WSA scores, accounting for 75.5% and 51.3% of the total variation, respectively. We conclude that (1) SOC can be reliably measured in farmed soils using accepted protocols and related to land management and (2) WSA scores can be rapidly measured in clay soils and related to SOC stocks and soil management.

Beyond other social actors, such as policymakers and scholars, common citizens are also expected to actively engage with climate change, by adopting sustainable actions and supporting environmental policies. However, and despite the actual growing of environment-related social movements, a kind of inertia still prevails in the social climate of our society. The media should play a key role in promoting, among common individuals, the adoption of new and more sustainable practices. However, it is argued that the media seems to be failing to effectively address the climate crisis. As such, this study aims to identify the main weaknesses of climate change media communication to further discuss possible opportunities of communication improvements. For that, 1609 news articles published between 2017 and 2018 in five European countries were analyzed in-depth, through quantitative content analysis. The news’ general characteristics, specifically reported themes, and the specificities of actors’ discourses were taken into account for the analysis. It was verified that the European media tends to report climate change by using distant (e.g., future-focused) and outcome (e.g., threatening messages) framings, based on non-resilient, scientific, and political narratives, whilst overlooking the role of civil society on adapting to climate change. These results demonstrate that instead of promoting society’s climate action, the media may be contributing to a widespread social apathy about the climate and the disengagement of individuals regarding environment-related matters. Evidence-based forms of improving the media’s communication on climate change will be further discussed.

The Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) was established in 2013 to drive collaborative water management across England. Globally unique in its national coverage, CaBA encompasses 106 river catchment partnerships that either incorporate or work with a range of cross-sector partner organisations including environmental organisations, Government agencies, water companies, local authorities, businesses and civil society. The partnerships work through consensus to build social capital and deliver environmental improvements. Because of the variety of stakeholders and interests represented, partnerships attract a range of funds, multiplying the core monies they receive from Government. A National Support group, several thematic working groups and a team of technical specialists help to build expertise within partnerships. Supported by data and evidence, including that derived through citizen science, the partnerships have developed catchment plans that capture priorities for action. Challenges of legitimacy, funding, integration with England’s wider water management framework, and the monitoring of outcomes remain. Future opportunities exist, including closer alignment with academia and the potential for CaBA to undertake a key role in delivering the UK Government’s 25-Year Environment Plan. Several lessons learnt from the CaBA approach may be applicable internationally.