Urban Drainage Group

Our vision and aims

The CIWEM Urban Drainage Group (UDG) sustains the excellence of people professionally engaged in urban drainage management now and for future generations. It continues the work of WaPUG which was established in 1984.

The aims and objectives of the Urban Drainage Group are aligned with CIWEM’s Royal Charter. They are to:

• Advance the science and practice of urban drainage management for the public benefit.
• Promote education, training, study and research in urban drainage management and to publish the results of such research.
• Establish and maintain appropriate standards of competence for urban drainage management Professionals.

Please contact us at udg@ciwem.org

UDG community page

Get more involved with the Urban Drainage Group! For the latest announcements and discussions, please visit your UDG community page by logging into your account.

UDG New Members Development community page

This is a page for all people working towards becoming a qualified member of CIWEM. We are hoping this would be an opportunity to have discussions on key topics; keep up to date with events and activities relevant to those in training; and ask questions of senior members of the UDG communities.

There is a recognition that many members in the UDG community have the same challenges in completing their competencies, and sharing examples of how these objectives are met can help overcome these hurdles. The value of this page will increase with use, so do contribute.

If you have suggestions on how to improve this page please contact James Hale james.hale@rpsgroup.com or Fiona Barbour fiona.barbour@mottmac.com.

Inviting nominations for the WaPUG Prize 2021

Each year CIWEM Urban Drainage Group awards the WaPUG Prize at our annual conference in November. The prize is named in recognition our predecessor organisation (WaPUG) which was founded to support the UK urban drainage management community in 1984 when modern planning approaches and models were in their infancy. The prize celebrates our rich heritage but also looks to celebrate the leaders and technologies of the future.

We make the award to an individual, project or team who has either:

• an established history of distinguished service in the field of urban drainage;
• made a lasting contribution to urban drainage practice, through development of tools or process, or the delivery of enhancements;
• exhibited leadership and inspiration to other urban drainage practitioners;
• influenced urban drainage issues and policy on a national level;
• delivered a significant urban drainage solution, demonstrating innovation and excellence;
• delivered innovation that has led to a step change in the way urban drainage issues are approached.

Proposers should provide an evidence based narrative, of not more than 1 page in length, setting out the justifications for the nomination. If you are nominating yourself or own project/team then please seek and state an independent endorsement of your application.

We will again seek the input of our membership to select the winner of this prestigious award from a short-list created by the committee. This will take place through a voting process to be undertaken during September/October.

The winner receives a handsome trophy, however due to the current Covid-19 circumstances this will be announced at the virtual AGM to be held sometime in November as part of the Annual Conference. The intention is for the winner to be a guest of the Urban Drainage Group at the CIWEM Annual Dinner in 2022 and at our annual conference in November in 2022.

Nominations should be via email to the Urban Drainage Group secretary (Ian.Lang@atkinsglobal.com) before 9^th July 2021.

Diary Dates 2021

UDG Annual Conference (Virtual) 9th-11th November 2021 (Call for papers coming soon)

With thanks to our 2020 event sponsors

The Margetts Bursary in Urban Drainage Engineering 

The Margetts Bursary in Urban Drainage Engineering bursary is sponsored by CIWEM and RPS Environmental Management Ltd (RPS) to recognise the significant contributions made by Jamie Margetts in the field of urban drainage engineering, both in the UK and internationally.

Jamie was a technical director of RPS and chaired CIWEM’s Urban Drainage Group at the time of his death. As well as being part of the team that developed one of the UK’s most innovative Urban Drainage consultancies he made significant contributions to raising the technical capabilities of the UK Urban Drainage community. In particular, he always placed great emphasis on the education, mentoring and training of young urban drainage professionals.

This bursary has been set up to continue this work, by supporting young professionals (early career graduates, or final year undergraduates) to improve their capabilities in the field of urban drainage.

The bursary is of a value of £3,000, and will be awarded annually.

The purpose of the bursary is to:

• To provide financial support for a young professional to obtain a postgraduate qualification which can support a career in the field of urban drainage.
• To provide financial support to allow a young professional to carry out a period of research-based study that would significantly contribute to their career development in the field of urban drainage.

Please go to CIWEM's award page for more information | Awards page