John O’Neill Otter Trophy: New Generations Competition | Tyne & Humber Branch Award

Clover Misra

Competition winner 2024

Mitigating flooding in urban catchments: when walls don’t work

Josh Greener

Competition winner 2022

Exploring the Catchment-Wide Implications of Flood Mitigation Optioneering

“Flooding is a perpetual issue, becoming increasingly difficult to mitigate in an urbanising world undergoing climatic challenges.

Using a methodological approach, I have assessed flood mitigation strategies to determine optimal solutions based on flooding mechanism, severity, and frequency, whilst considering other wider catchment risks. Level of service assessments enabled me to identify the locations and scale of detriment in the surrounding network during the model testing phase, and CSO spill comparisons have been used to ensure permitted discharges are kept within regulation. Furthermore, I have gained an understanding of cost-implications of different options, improving efficiency and deliverability to clients.

Using hydraulic models, I have assessed solutions to various flooding issues, including property, cellar, overland flow and development impact assessments (DIAs). The process has taught me the importance of wider considerations when identifying flood mitigation strategies, including feasibility and timescales, and impacts on flood risk and CSO discharges in the surrounding network.”

You can view the recording of the competition on the CIWEM YouTube channel.

Jack Lonsdale

Competition winner 2019

An Analytical Approach to Identifying Sustainable Drainage Systems Opportunities

“Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are becoming increasingly prevalent as we move to promote water quality, quantity, amenity and biodiversity benefits to drainage solutions in light of modern global challenges. The identification of suitable measures and locations, and the quantification of the costs and benefits, is vital to give clarity to key stakeholders and promote the commission of SuDS.

I have developed a suite of desktop routines, building off previous work by Stantec around Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMP), to automate and quantify the identification of possible SuDS retrofit opportunities across a catchment. Using a grid-based GIS approach, a visual and quantified output is produced for a range of different SuDS and surface water measures, consisting of location, size, storage capacity, practicality and cost. It also calculates available impermeable area within the study area and uses Digital Terrain Models to map drainage paths to estimate the requirements of measures.”