Water Scarcity in Scotland: A Regulator's Perspective | WEBINAR

Hosted by the CIWEM Scottish branch

Event description

Scotland experienced one of its most challenging drought years in 2025. This webinar will take participants through the story of the 2025 drought from the perspective of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) looking at: how conditions developed; how water scarcity was assessed and reported; and how regulatory decisions were made to protect the environment whilst maintaining sustainable water use.

The drought of 2025 may offer a glimpse of the climate conditions we can expect more frequently in the future. We will contextualise the event using historical data and explore the roles of snow cover and enhanced convective rainfall intensity, considering both ecological consequences and operational impacts.

The session will also cover the operational and regulatory challenges faced through the season, how SEPA engaged with water users, and how monitoring tools and reporting systems supported decision making. Finally, we will look at what has happened through autumn and winter 2025/26 and begin to look ahead to the 2026 water scarcity season.

Part of the CIWEM Water Resources and Climate Emergency Adaption and Resilience series.

Who should attend this webinar

• CIWEM members and non-members.
• Water environment specialists, consultants, regulators, other statutory bodies, environmental managers, landowners/land managers.
• Anyone interested in the developing their understanding of the water environment, hydrology and environmental regulation.

Why you should attend this webinar

• Learn about how the Scottish Environment Protection Agency monitors and responds to water scarcity events.
• Gain Continuous Professional Development whilst learning about a topical issue impacting Scotland and beyond.
• Opportunity to network with like-minded professionals in the sector.

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About the speakers

Claire Tunaley | Senior Specialist Scientist | Water Resources Unit, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

Claire Tunaley is a Specialist Scientist in the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's (SEPA) Water Resources Unit. Over the past eight years, she has been closely involved in the development of Scotland’s water scarcity reporting processes, witnessing the shift from Scotland being seen as a reliably wet country to one increasingly vulnerable to drought.

Before joining SEPA, Claire worked in academia researching hydrological flow paths in northern peatland catchments.

Dr Eilidh Johnston | Senior Manager | Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

Dr Eilidh Johnston is a Senior Manager in the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s Regulation, Business & Environment function.

Eilidh has coordinated SEPA’s operational response to water scarcity since 2020, which included taking action to limit abstractions and protect the water environment in 2022 and 2025. Her experience in SEPA since 2009 includes work on River Basin Management Planning and rural regulation.

Prior to this, Eilidh worked with several environmental charities, with Scottish Natural Heritage, and in academia.

Booking and joining information

This event is open to members and non-members of CIWEM. The webinar is hosted on the Zoom platform and will be recorded.

Please register your place by clicking on the registration button. Non-members who have not registered for the CIWEM system can create an account on the booking page in order to reserve their place. This should not take more than two minutes.

If you have any questions about your booking or would like to cancel your attendance, please contact branches@ciwem.org.

Please note that registrations will close at 11:00 on the day of the event. If you have not registered before that time, unfortunately we cannot add you to the event.

If you have any queries about this talk, please contact David Balmford at david.balmford@sepa.org.uk.