Groundwater Rising

After nearly two years of presenting Groundwater Rising, Katie Hargrave-Smith is leaving to pursue a new role (full details in the episode) and hands over the microphone to Helen Banyard. Helen shares her background, including her journey to working within Flooding and Innovation.

Katie and Helen discuss everything from the emotional impact of flooding, to areas they want to explore with the podcast, as well as talking about Katie's insights and highlights from her time on the podcast. A lovely listen at the beginning of a new year and a new chapter for Groundwater Rising.

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Dr Paul Ellis (Hydrolex) joins host Katie to share his expertise on how groundwater interacts with other water sources. Often, in flooding situations, there is a mistaken assumption that just one source of water is involved. But, understanding how all sources of water - including groundwater (which the least is known about) is vital to understand, plan for and mitigate flooding properly.

Have a story you’d like to share on Groundwater Rising? 

Email groundwaterrising@projectgroundwater.co.uk

To find out more about Project Groundwater, visit projectgroundwater.co.uk

Wa...

Dr Sarah Fitton and Simon Wilson (co-authors of upcoming book 'Socially Successful Projects in the Built Environment') join host Katie to properly unpack the term "social value". It's a term that gets used heavily in project applications, reports and mission statements for many flood management projects (including groundwater flooding schemes)... but what does it actually mean and how can it be done well?

In this useful and pragmatic discussion, Sarah and Simon discuss:

Host Katie speaks to Ted McCormack, a senior geologist and hydrogeologist at the Geological Survey Ireland (GSI), whose specialism is groundwater, particularly regarding groundwater flooding and turloughs in Ireland. 

Ted explains what turloughs are, what karst is and explains how Ireland maps groundwater flood extents, assesses risks, and develops models for flood management. Plus Ted discusses how Ireland is leading the way in using remote sensing and satellite imagery to model and predict groundwater flooding... and the potential these methods have to be used elsewhere.

What insights can we gain from Ireland's progress that could h...

Mary Long-Dhonau OBE (aka 'Flood Mary') is an expert on property flood resilience, having been flooded herself and made it her mission to raise awareness of flood risk and property flood resilience. 

Craig Glynn is CEO of Citizens Advice, Bucks and has spent years helping members of the public deal with challenges and issues - working with landlords and renter's rights are areas of expertise for him.

Mary and Craig join host Katie to address what could be seen as a knowledge gap. There is plenty of information and advice for homeowners and businesses wanting t...

Guy Parker is a technical specialist in groundwater flooding from chalk aquifers with over 20 years experience in flood incident management. In this episode he shares his knowledge and provides a brilliant guide to how chalk works and the unique way it affects groundwater flooding.

A huge swathe of the UK sits on top of chalk aquifers and this is a key part of how the nation stays supplied with water. But, chalk reacts in very specific ways to water, and, with climate change affecting weather patterns, there are knock-on effects to the interaction between chalk, groundwater levels...

Every major project wants to create a legacy, but how is it done? Does it come about organically or should it be planned for and worked towards? If so, when is the right time to talk about it and what are the steps to deliver it?

Since - once a project ends - legacy will be what's left behind... shouldn't it be a vital part of any project's design?

What are some examples of legacy planning done well, and where has legacy not worked out as hoped for?

Flood risk planning has a...

Sea level rise will be one of the consequences of climate change. It will change the delicate balance between fresh groundwater on the land side and salty sea water in the sea. 

What will be the implications for groundwater flooding, coastal communities and coastal ecosystems? How will existing and potential future built infrastructure flood defences react to and affect the changes that sea level rise will bring? Where are the gaps in knowledge and what are the challenges and opportunities in this area of research?

In this episode we bring together two great minds on e...

Vivian Quynh Pham is Knowledge and Benefits Lead at the Environment Agency for the 6-year £200 million Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovations Programme. Vivian supports 31 Risk Management Authority led projects across England to demonstrate how practical innovative actions can work to improve resilience to flooding and coastal erosion. This role involves harnessing huge amounts of data.

Vivian's varied background across arts, sciences, geography and engineering helps shape their approach that recognises the dual importance of quantitative and qualitative data. In this fascinating episode, host Katie and Vivian cover many areas of discussion including:

For groundwater flooding to progress from being under-researched and under-prioritised it will need to move the needle on policy, because policy - in a complex relationship with legislation and funding - is what actually gets stuff to happen. But how is policy instigated and how can it be harnessed? This episode aims to find out by talking to two experts with slightly different angles on policy and also featuring the case study of using beavers as a nature-based solution to flooding (and the current policy situation this approach finds itself in).

The two experts joining host Katie...

Mike Cowdy and Nora Balboni from McGregor Coxall are working with Project Groundwater to create a framework for resilience in order to achieve the goal of making communities more resilient to groundwater flooding. In this episode they join host Katie to discuss how their work is progressing.

Among the many fascinating talking points are the philosophy of "bio-urbanism" and how a holistic non-silo approach to resilience is more likely to move us toward a reliable and useful framework.

Discover what the pillars (or "capitals") of resilience are, as proposed by Mike and Nora, from their...

Greg Gomez (Software Developer, 3 Sided Cube) and Dr Jonathan Mackay (Hydrogeologist, British Geological Survey) talk to host Katie about the new Project Groundwater Flood Warning system they have built.

This new app shows exciting potential for what could be achieved nationally. Community hubs, action plans, alert states, detailed maps and forecasting all feature. Katie gets Greg and Jon to explain how the system works, what they did to develop and improve it and how systems like these could be a massive source of help and reassurance to individuals and communities in the future.

Basing this...

Hilary Martin and Trevor Kippax from Marlow share their expertise in the positive difference that Flood Groups and Flood Wardens can make to local flood plans, community resilience and emergency response.

Whatever type of flooding happens in your area - groundwater or otherwise - local knowledge and support is vital. Local people know who lives where and what their needs are, plus they can spot the signs of a coming flood and will have an idea of how events could unfold. In an ideal world this local knowledge would be harnessed by the national agencies, water companies...

Due to a calendar quirk (we release an episode on the last Thursday of each month), this episode publishes on Boxing Day... so we decided to make a bit of a different episode to get into the holiday spirit. Katie Hargrave-Smith is usually the host of 'Groundwater Rising' but for this episode the tables have turned and she's the guest.

It's a great chance to look back on a successful first 8 months for this podcast, which we're very happy to say is getting great feedback and growing steadily.

But what has Katie's experience been like...

Flooding is in the news again as Storm Bert has wreaked havoc in various parts of the UK. We know that climate change makes storm events - and in turn, flooding - more likely. But, as ever... what about groundwater? Will climate change affect the occurrence and magnitude of groundwater flooding in the future?

Rachel May is a graduate water resources engineer at Jacobs and recently received a First Class Masters degree in Environmental Consultancy. Her Masters dissertation was all about how climate change will affect groundwater flooding. Since there is so little existing research in this...

Nature-based Solutions feel like a new thing, but they have actually been around for about 20 years now. In that time they have become a much-talked about source of hope for a new and sustainable way of dealing with flooding. To truly reach their potential, more research and data is need to truly quantify their impact. And, then, there's our favourite question to consider... What about Groundwater? Could nature-based solutions be used in areas prone to groundwater flooding to improve outcomes for residents, businesses, communities and the environment?

Dr Imogen Barnsley is perfectly placed to talk nature-based solutions...

If you are flooded by Groundwater Flooding - or any other type of flooding - insurance is something you spend a lot of time worrying about. Am I covered? Could the wording of my policy or its level of cover mean I am not covered? Will I get a payout and will it be enough?

In this episode we try to cover all the angles of flooding and insurance. Dermot Kehoe explains how re-insurance 'Flood Re' (a collaboration between the insurance industry and the government) can be a lifeline for people whose properties are at risk of...

Groundwater flooding can be infrequent, unpredictable and arrive in combination with other types of flooding - all of this makes it hard to model and predict. But modelling is a key tool in managing other types of flooding such as coastal and fluvial. So, what's being done to improve modelling of groundwater flooding?

Dr David Cobby is Senior Associate Director, Water & Environment for Jacobs and is working on Project Groundwater. In this episode he joins host Katie to explain the core principles behind modelling, explore the challenges groundwater presents... and shares the latest progress on improving the...

Chartered Engineer Fola Ogunyoye from TJAY Counsulting Ltd talks to host Katie Hargrave-Smith about how planning and legislation has changed over the years in terms of how it considers all forms of flooding.  He highlights a familiar tale of a distinct lack of information when it comes to groundwater flooding.

But, there is hope. Fola is working with Project Groundwater and sees a path to progress by bringing multiple sources of information together in a new way that will enable not just the above-ground outputs of groundwater flooding to be understood better... but actually enable mapping of t...

Groundwater flooding is the lowest profile type of flooding, but it can be the hardest to predict, cope with and recover from. It tends to come on unexpectedly and then take a long time to recede. This makes it especially hard to  deal with in terms of PFR - Property Flood Resilience.

In this episode, Rob Pike from RAB Consultants shares his expertise. Why does groundwater flooding present different challenges to defending buildings and keeping them dry? What is the latest thinking in terms of best practice before, during and after a groundwater flooding event? Rob gives g...

Why is groundwater flooding often referred to as "invisible flooding" or "forgotten flooding"?

There's plenty about groundwater flooding that makes it different from other forms of flooding. It's less predictable, less mapped, less measured and less headline-grabbing. But for the people and businesses affected by it, it can often be more trouble.  How can you prepare for something you don't know is coming? How do you recover from a flood that takes way longer to recede than other types? And what about the mental health impacts of seeing the water level millimetres below your floorboards, or slowly r...

Want to watch this episode on YouTube? Go to www.youtube.com/@GroundwaterRising

What does resilience even mean?

 It's a term that gets bandied around a lot - in press releases, government briefings and every new bit of environmental policy... but are there social, political and economic contexts and caveats that mean that in reality, the aim to make communities more "resilient" isn't being achieved? Or are we all more prepared for challenges that things like flooding - especially groundwater flooding - bring... because we are familiar with the concept of resilience and are supported t...

Katie Hargrave-Smith from Project Groundwater explains what's in store from new monthly podcast 'Groundwater Rising'. Why is this often referred to as "forgotten flooding"? How does it differ from other types of flooding... and why is so little known about it?

Have a story you’d like to share on Groundwater Rising? 

Email groundwaterrising@projectgroundwater.co.uk

To find out more about Project Groundwater, visit projectgroundwater.co.uk

Want to watch this episode on YouTube? Go to www.youtube.com/@GroundwaterRising