Support for Environment Agency Groundwater modelling

Support for the Environment Agency, Midlands Region on Groundwater Modelling

During 2011 there was intense pressure on the Environment Agency to internalise as much work as possible and, going forward, the current plan is to minimise use of consultants wherever appropriate.  This is a significant change from the way in which the Environment Agency’s National Groundwater Modelling Strategy has been delivered in the past: the bulk of the technical work being carried out by consultants with Environment Agency Project Managers, Stakeholders and External Reviewers providing technical oversight.

In order to help the Environment Agency in Midlands Region make this transition, ESI provided a free one day training course in November 2011 to give an introduction to groundwater modelling for 8 staff.  The content was aimed at helping them to understand the challenges of groundwater modelling and to appreciate the aspects that can be handled in-house as opposed to those complex tasks that are best outsourced to modelling specialists.  ESI has offered to provide ongoing technical support/mentoring to these staff on the back of this training.

Meanwhile, ESI has been assisting the Environment Agency Midlands Region in updating and re-calibrating the West Midlands Worfe and Lichfield groundwater models.  These models both include heavily over-abstracted groundwater units that are currently being investigated as part of the AMP5 Restoring Sustainable Abstraction programme.  The updated models will be useful tools for assessing the potential benefits of measures proposed under these schemes.