IUKWC Workshop November 2016: Developing Hydro-climatic Services for Water Security Day 1 - Introduction - Harry Dixon

1. Dr Harry Dixon
UK Coordinator, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Developing Hydro-Climate Services for Water Security Workshop
29 November - 1 December 2016, Pune
The India-UK Water Centre

2. A Natural Environment Research Council and Ministry of Earth
Sciences virtual joint centre.
Hosted by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and the
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

3. Natural Environment
Research Council
NERC fund excellent, peer-reviewed
environmental science that helps:
• understand and predict how our
planet works
• manage our environment
responsibly
• Meet society’s needs:
– Benefiting from natural resources
– Resilience to environmental hazards
– Managing environmental change

4. Partnership with MoES
• Scientific and technical collaboration in natural environmental
research including meteorology, climate variability and change,
oceanography, hydrology, natural hazards and biodiversity.
• Currently have 4 joint programmes:
• Changing Water Cycle
• Sustaining Water Resources
• Drivers of Variability in the South Asian Monsoon
• Atmospheric Pollution & Human Health in an Indian Megacity

5. • Five joint projects to improve
understanding and predictions
of regional precipitation,
evapotranspiration, soil
moisture, hydrological storage
• Finale event held in New Delhi
in May 2016
Changing Water Cycle
Changes in Groundwater Level in
Ghaggar Basin (Punjab & Haryana). From
‘The structure and dynamics of
groundwater systems in Northwestern
India’ project led by IIT Kanpur and
University of Durham

6. • Part of the MoES National
Monsoon Mission
• Three joint UK-India projects
underway
• The focus is on developing a
better understanding of
processes driving variability,
seasonality and predictability
in the South Asian monsoon
Drivers of Variability in the
South Asian Monsoon

7. • Supported by Newton-Bhabha
Fund, led by NERC and MoES
• Will use a whole systems
approach to develop a
framework for integrated basin-
wide models of water resources
• Three UK-India case studies
across India
Sustaining Water Resources
for Food, Energy & Ecosystem
Services

8. • India-UK Water Quality
programme being developed by
Dept. of Science & Technology
(DST), NERC and the Engineering
& Physical Sciences Research
Council (ESPRC)
• Scoping workshop held in
November 2016
• Call for India-UK collaborative
projects expected to be issued
in early 2017
Water Quality

9. The Centre aims to support the development
of the sustained and meaningful
interdisciplinary UK-India partnerships
needed to deliver the aspirations of MoES-
NERC water resources research

10. Functions of the Centre
•Research
Community
•Stakeholder
Community
Engaging the Community
•Science
Workshops
•Researcher
Exchange
Schemes
Facilitating Partnerships
•User
Engagement
Initiatives
Enhancing Knowledge Exchange
•Pump
Priming
Projects
Supporting Future Collaboration

11. 5 Cross-sectoral Themes
Developing hydro-climatic services to support water security
Building cross-sectoral collaborations to understand the
dynamic interactions across the water-energy-food nexus
Using new scientific knowledge to help stakeholders set
objectives for freshwater management
Improving freshwater monitoring frameworks and data
for research and management
Transforming science into catchment management solutions

12. • Join the Open Network of India-
UK Water Scientists
• Respond to calls to take part in
science workshops
• Submit a proposal under the bi-
annual calls for activity funding
How to get involved
1st funding call for workshops
and exchanges between
January - June 2017 to be
announced soon

13. Workshop and Researcher Exchanges
Science Workshops
• 2-4 days
• Held in India or the UK
• Bring together 15-30
scientists
• State of knowledge, ideas
for future joint research,
training
Researcher Exchange
Schemes
• 1-3 weeks
• India to UK or UK to India
• Senior Exchange Scheme
and Junior Exchange
Scheme
• Explore research ideas,
build capacity in methods,
exchange latest findings

14. Promoting cooperation and collaboration between Indian and UK
water researchers, water policy-makers and water businesses
More information available via: