Soil stabilisation and the process of strengthening the physical properties of soil is fundamental to the construction process of infrastructure such as roads, runways and earth dams. Many chemical additives currently used in soil stabilisation are associated with adverse environmental effects and this study examines the use of biopolymers, such as xanthan gum and guar gum, as more sustainable alternatives. The researchers have run a series of laboratory experiments to evaluate the viability of these two types of biopolymers for use as additives for collapsible soil stabilisation, and found that both could be used in place of conventional additives to improve soil strength, permeability and collapse potential.

The announcement of a new no-take fishing zone in the Pacific led to a 130% increase in fishing activity ahead of its implementation, satellite data reveal. Although fishing activity dropped to zero once the marine protected area (MPA) came into effect just over a year later, the study warns that the pre-emptive short-term surge in fishing could have caused long-term ecological damage.

'Greywater' that is recycled from household washing can be used to irrigate home gardens, according to a new study by Jordanian researchers. The researchers found that treatment units supplied by the Jordanian government produced small quantities of recycled water that could be used to irrigate gardens, whilst meeting national standards for irrigation of trees and many home-grown crops.

Climate change is expected to increase the intensity and occurrence of regional floods in Europe. A recent study has examined existing natural and constructed retention (or holding) basins that can be adapted to provide flood defences. As part of the study, a classification system for flood defence structures was developed to help Member States design sustainable flood risk management plans.

New research in the Netherlands indicates that spatial planning to manage flood risk, such as the elevation of residential areas and the exclusion of vulnerable land uses from flood-prone areas, is underused. Its use appears to depend on governmental requirements, previous experience of flooding and previous experience of using spatial planning as a mitigation strategy.

A new international report has investigated the impact of water scarcity and other water-related issues on some of the world’s largest companies in water-intensive industries. Nearly 40 per cent of companies surveyed are already experiencing water problems and nearly 90 per cent have developed water policies, strategies and plans.

Populations of organisms that live on the bottom of an aquatic ecosystem, the benthic community, can be assessed to determine the health of the ecosystem. New research explores the many existing methods for assessing benthic communities to ensure that the most appropriate and useful tests are used under the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

To assess the impact on ecosystems of chemical contamination in aquatic environments, scientists need to measure not only the concentration of the contaminants, but also the extent to which they can disrupt biological processes at a cellular level in plants and animals and at an ecosystem level. According to a new study, considering these complex inter-relationships in combination will help improve the ecological status of waterways, in line with Water Framework Directive (WFD) commitments.

Only wetland environments with high sediment input from rivers can keep pace with rising sea levels, according to a new study. However, human activity is destroying wetlands’ natural defences, making their survival increasingly unlikely. The researchers call for sustainable management approaches to protect wetlands under future climate change projections.

A new Spanish study has highlighted current developments in the tourism sector that have significant implications for water supply and demand, but are barely addressed in recent land use policies. The findings indicate that any tourist destination that is to follow the ‘quality tourist’ model will have an increased water demand in domestic residential areas, which is one of the biggest threats to sustainable water management.

Scientists have modelled the potential benefits of decentralised flood protection (DFP) in Central Europe and conclude that it could be a significant step towards natural flood management in the EU.

Under water restrictions, farmers will achieve the optimal balance of income and efficient water use if they combine the planting of crops that require little water with the planting of more profitable crops that need more water, according to research.

A new study from Spain has explored economic degrowth (the scaling back of economic models based on growth) in the water sector and indicates that rainwater harvesting and reclaimed water use are most aligned to degrowth principles.

Long-term, low level exposure to arsenic in drinking water may increase a person’s risk of skin cancer, according to a new study conducted in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. The study suggests that levels of inorganic arsenic previously thought to be harmless may have a carcinogenic effect over a longer period of time.

The global sea level is rising, yet only part of that rise can be attributed to the effects of climate change. New research has calculated that human impacts on terrestrial water storage make up around 42% of total sea level rise, in particular, the extraction of groundwater that eventually makes its way to the ocean.

An earthquake that killed nine people in Lorca, Spain, last year could have been triggered by groundwater being drained from the area for use in irrigation, according to scientists. The study found that the ground moved in the same places as subsidence has been occurring since the 1960s, due to the extraction of groundwater.

Desalination technologies could help alleviate water shortages, but they need to have low environmental impact. A new life-cycle analysis of desalination options for water supply in off-grid areas indicates that a photovoltaic-powered reverse osmosis system has the least environmental impact of the three technologies considered by the study.

A new study provides the first global estimates of river and coastal flooding, highlighting past and future trends, and indicates that Asia and Europe are two of the regions that are worst affected. The researchers suggest that their methods could be useful in developing a global framework for flood risk assessment.

Under pressure from rising food prices, many nations have begun to acquire large tracts of agricultural land in foreign countries, a practice known as ‘land grabbing’. New research has now quantified current levels of land grabbing and demonstrated that it is accompanied by concerning levels of ‘water grabbing’ which could affect water supply in the ‘grabbed’ countries.

Valuations of water quality as an ecosystem service often fail to include related services like recreation or human health, and do not consider the effects of water quality changes due to management. Researchers have now developed a template for valuation that considers multiple services and links management actions to changes in water quality and ultimate economic value.

A recent study suggests that a shift to more sustainable development, based on ecosystem services, is needed to support human health and wellbeing. Focusing on ecosystem services provided by river catchments, this study recommends that more needs to be done on a practical level to support decision-makers, in a way that recognises the relationships between different types of ecosystem services.

A recent study has revealed how water use has changed across the world over the last 60 years. Growing populations and economic development, particularly in newly-emerging countries, have increased water demand, but technological developments have led to water efficiencies and savings, which moderate these demands.

Population growth of any country is ultimately dependent on that country’s access to freshwater resources, which also determines its capacity to produce food. A new study shows that population growth is expected to decline in countries with low water resources, as water-rich countries reduce food exports in order to feed their own growing populations.

Improved understanding of flash flooding could be achieved through post-flood observations, re-examination of weather radar data and the use of combined weather and hydrological modelling, according to the recent HYDRATE research project. This information can be used to improve flash flood forecasting.

The majority of respondents to a recent, large-scale European survey claim not to have prepared themselves for floods, even though they know their property is at risk of flooding and they are worried about the effects. A set of key recommendations for flood communications wrer developed from the survey’s findings, intended to improve community preparedness as part of effective flood management plans.

According to a recent study, flood risk management projects should be economically evaluated in terms of their efficiency, i.e. the sum of the costs and benefits of a project over its lifetime. This would capture more fully the value of non-structural measures, such as warning and evacuation systems, that are better in terms of effectiveness related to hydrological protection standards.

Shellfish harvesting areas in the UK are cleaner, thanks to sewerage improvement schemes over the last decade which have lowered average levels of Escherichia coli in oysters, mussels and other commercially-important species and boosted the shellfish industry’s economic value. Addressing the additional pollution risks from agriculture could further reduce contamination and human health risks.

Around 20% of all species found in a Spanish coastal wetland could be affected by increasingly salty water as seawater intrudes into the groundwater system as a result of groundwater being withdrawn to irrigate crops. This is the conclusion of a recent study which used a Life Cycle Impact Assessment approach to characterise the ecological damage in the wetland as a result of changes in groundwater consumption.

The socio-economic costs and benefits of adaptation to river flooding caused by climate change have been assessed in a new study. According to the study, adaptation measures could save €53.1 billion every year in flood-related losses across Europe by 2080.

The number of earthquakes of magnitude 3 or greater in the central and eastern US has increased significantly in recent years, from about 21 a year between 1967 and 2000, to over 300 between 2010 and 2012. Most of this increase seems to be linked to the deep injection of wastewater in underground wells, according to a recent review of seismic activity.

Climate change adaptation measures could improve the security of some groups of society at the expense of others, a new study concludes. Climate change adaptation policies should be based on genuine democracy and investment must be fairly distributed, to ensure that all at-risk groups benefit equally, its authors recommend.

A tool to calculate the risk of food and waterborne diseases under current or future climate change conditions has been presented in a recent study. Free to use, the online tool can help guide climate change adaptation, such as improvements to water management, by estimating the likelihood of contracting four diseases under a range of environmental conditions.

Climate change may increase the amount of pathogens entering bathing waters in some areas, finds a new study. The research, carried out in a lagoon in the Baltic Sea, found that, although higher temperatures can reduce microorganism populations, this is likely to be outweighed by contamination due to runoff caused by increased rainfall. The authors are currently developing a system for alerting local authorities and the public to potentially hazardous bathing water.

Public participation is an essential part of integrated water management. In a recent study, researchers following the development of a UK catchment management plan found greater cooperation between land managers and environmental regulatory bodies as a result of a participatory process.

Funding for scientists, planners and inspectors should be available before any shale gas development begins, a new review recommends. As revenue for such staff is often provided by the development itself, planning, which is vital to provide immediate environmental protection as well as monitoring long-term impacts, is neglected. The researchers also advocate the use of 'adaptive management' as a decision-making framework for this complex issue.

The impacts of climate change in the Black Sea region are likely to affect agriculture in Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, new research suggests. The number of days of plant growth was reduced in these countries as a result of reduced precipitation, increased temperatures and low capacity for irrigation to supplement water needs. A strong legal framework is necessary to deal with conflicting future demands for water, say the researchers.

Hypoxia – low levels of dissolved oxygen – can cause genetically female fish to develop into males, new research has found. Hypoxia in aquatic environments is often the result of eutrophication, which is caused by pollution from human activities. The findings suggest that hypoxia could cause fish populations to collapse, with consequences for entire ecosystems.

By 2070, there may be insufficient water for irrigation to ensure yields and profitability for some crops currently grown in northern Germany - if the IPCC´s worst case climate change scenario becomes a reality - new research warns. To reduce future demand for water under a changing climate, the study suggests that farmers grow different crops and change their management practices.

Farmers in one of Europe’s most water-stressed regions would be willing to pay double the current amount for irrigation water in order to ensure a reliable supply, new research from Spain suggests. The study also shows that they appear unsupportive of new policies proposed by the researchers, such as water markets and tighter controls on groundwater pumping, which could help enable a guaranteed supply of water.

Unusually warm or cool Pacific sea surface temperatures, known as El Niño and La Niña, can be used to reliably predict anomalies in flood risk for river basins that cover 44% of the Earth’s land surface, a new study has shown. The researchers also quantified overall flood damage by combining information on flood risk with estimates of damage to economies and numbers of people at risk. This could help improve flood disaster planning, they say.

Phosphorus in sewage and manure could be more available to crops than previously thought, suggests new research. The study found that some forms of sewage and manure treatment provided plants with more phosphorus than conventional inorganic fertilisers.

Plastic pollution in the ocean is a growing problem. This study, which is the first to investigate the presence of plastic debris in large pelagic fish in the central Mediterranean Sea, found that over 18% of fish had ingested plastics.

The English Channel (La Manche) is one of the world’s busiest sea areas, and management of it is a challenging task. This study reviews governance across the Channel, finding poor integration between countries, sectors, policies and research. The study also considers management in terms of the ecosystem approach and suggests that linking research between the UK and France could be key to improving marine governance.

Reducing plastic carrier bag consumption in different EU Member States requires different approaches and combinations of measures, according to a new study. The authors studied consumption and littering levels across Europe in relation to national plastic bag consumption reduction policy options, and found that there is not one specific solution for both of these factors, nor a single solution that can be used in all Member States. They suggest a holistic approach and additional research into consumer or stakeholder behaviour is needed.

A pilot cloud-based learning platform that brings together multiple datasets, models and visualisation tools has been developed with the engagement of numerous stakeholders throughout the design process. This tool could lead to informed decisions about flood risk at the local level. These types of tools and frameworks are effective ways of facilitating better decision making.

Marine diesel contains sulphur compounds, which generate sulphur oxide (SOx) pollution and acid rain. Ships can use mitigating technologies to reduce their SOx emissions, but these can also have a negative environmental impact. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) introduced stringent legislation to control these, aspects of which are incorporated into EU policy. This study examined the implications of the IMO’s policy and recommends a number of design solutions to help ships comply.

In the face of substantial evidence that modern land use management practices have increased runoff at the local scale, a new study reveals changes in local land use management practices can reduce the risk of local flooding. However, there is little evidence so far that these local increases in runoff culminate in large-scale flooding effects. To address this lack of evidence, the researchers present a model that maps the downstream rate of flow back to its source areas.

Comprehensive data analysed in a new study show how extensive rainfall can erode soils across the EU and Switzerland, revealing that Mediterranean regions have the highest risk for erosive events and floods. The resulting dataset can also be used for disaster planning and relief.

Increasing population, overconsumption and technological development have depleted many of the world’s natural resources, with profound impacts on the environment. This study applies the concept of criticality, which determines whether a resource may become a limiting factor to future development, to water.

The impact that national energy sectors have on international freshwater resources has been demonstrated in the first global study of its kind. The analysis of 129 countries showed differences between countries and sectors in their reliance on international freshwater resources. For example, although the petroleum industries of North America and China are similar in magnitude, the North American industry consumes three times as much international freshwater. Demands from economically developed countries on less economically developed countries, which may have pre-existing water-scarcity issues, compound these problems and complicate the creation of policies that ensure both water and energy security.