London fellowship for water expert

Appointments

University of Adelaide water and environmental policy expert Professor Mike Young is undertaking a 10-week fellowship in London to help find solutions to water issues in the United Kingdom.

Professor Young, one of Australia's leading experts on water management, is working alongside UK colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The fellowship has been facilitated through his recent appointment as an Honorary Professor within the UCL Environment Institute at University College London.

"Most Australians think of the United Kingdom as being a lush, green, rainy environment, free of water issues," Professor Young said.

"In reality, it is faced with water management challenges similar to those experienced in Australia over the last decade."

In December 2011, the UK's Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs presented a Water White Paper to Parliament, setting out a plan to address a wide range of emerging water management challenges arising from climate change and increasing demand for water from population growth.

"Water scarcity is now a real issue in the UK, and one of the government's biggest challenges is to search for ways to improve its water licensing system," Professor Young said.

"Hosepipe bans" (water restrictions) have been introduced in some areas in response to two winters running down ground water, with potential impacts from water shortages on recreation, wildlife and the price of fresh produce. In other areas, communities are dealing with floods.

"The full spectrum of water resource management challenges is on the table," Professor Young said.

UCL's Vice-Provost (International) Professor Michael Worton, who visited Adelaide in March, said he was delighted to see the emergence of a two-way exchange of knowledge between the two universities.

"UCL is bringing knowledge about mining and energy to Australia and Adelaide is bringing knowledge about water to the United Kingdom. Increasingly, research is becoming an international activity," he said.