Halcrow and Cardiff University’s School of Engineering have been working together to develop a new approach to integrated water management and investment planning, fit for the future in an ever-changing world.
The approach is known as Cloud to Coast or C2C solutions. A C2C solution takes an integrated approach to water infrastructure development and maintenance over short and long term planning timescales.
Halcrow chairman Tony Pryor CBE commented: “There is a growing vision of looking at the water system as a whole, from ‘Cloud to Coast’. The C2C concept is motivating Halcrow staff to think in a more holistic manner in addressing multi-disciplinary projects and would encourage greater communication, giving Clients more confidence in feeling that their challenges were being addressed more holistically”.
The novel approach facilitates assessment of climate change impacts on water resources in droughts and floods and the evaluation of possible mitigation and adaptation strategies. It looks at investment decision pathways ensuring that solutions are robust, flexible and cost effective.
Professor Roger Falconer FREng, Halcrow professor for water management, and Dr Kunle Akande - Halcrow‘s associate director, have championed the C2C concept. Roger Falconer and Michael Norton MBE, Halcrow’s water and power managing director, recently presented the Halcrow concept at the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering workshop on water security. It was opened with a presentation from the Government’s chief scientific advisor, namely Professor John Beddington, and chaired by Professor Sir Gordon Conway, former Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department for International Development (DFID).
Michael Norton said: “By considering the whole system, from Cloud to Coast, Halcrow will be recognised as a thought leader and effective provider of consultancy services related to their current and future challenges”.
The holistic, C2C system-based approach is being developed into a unique multi-disciplinary service delivering solutions to meet the needs of the most challenging projects through a Halcrow C2C programme. Through the C2C programme, the ISIS by Halcrow software will be enhanced and associated with other commercially available modelling packages, delivering the ability to assess entire systems.
The C2C solutions technique is being piloted on the Ribble catchment, one of the nineteen European Union Catchments selected for testing the principles of the Water Framework Directive (Council Directive 2000/60/EC).
By adding value to the solutions Halcrow offers, the C2C programme is being targeted at existing and potentially new Clients including water utilities, wholesale suppliers of water and water based products, water companies, international financial institutions, regulators, non-governmental organisations, local authorities and developers worldwide.