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LOCAR

Aims and objectives

The LOCAR programme aimed to improve the science required to support current and future management needs for permeable lowland catchments through an integrated and multi-disciplinary experimental and modelling programme.

Scientific aims

  • Develop an improved understanding of hydrological, hydrogeological, geomorphological and ecological interactions within permeable catchment systems, and their associated aquatic habitats, at different spatial and temporal scales and for different land uses.
  • Develop improved modelling, database and GIS tools to inform and support the integrated management of lowland catchment systems.

These aims are being achieved by studying:

  • the surface and near-surface environment - runoff, recharge and material transport
  • groundwater processes in lowland catchments
  • physical, chemical and biological processes within the valley floor corridor
  • in-stream, riparian and wetland habitats and their dependence on flow regimes
  • the impacts of society on the natural environment.

Broader programme objectives

  • Provide an underpinning science base for the requirements of the UK and CEC for environmental protection within a framework of sustainable and integrated river basin management.
  • Establish flagship sites as a basis for long-term monitoring, to provide the necessary data to define natural variability and response to environmental change.
  • Build strong inter-disciplinary links so as to better harness the science skill base to tackle problems of national importance.
  • Promote research collaboration between universities, research institutes and user groups such as regulators and water utilities.
  • Equip the UK research community in order to maximise opportunities for international collaboration and to contribute to international initiatives.
  • Provide training in the scientific expertise required for integrated catchment management.
  • Disseminate and exploit the research outputs effectively through close collaboration with users, workshops, seminars and the internet, as well as through the usual channels.
  • Provide suitable and effective data stewardship.

Targets

To answer the following questions:

  1. What are the key hydrological processes controlling surface water-groundwater interactions, the movement of groundwater, and material fluxes in lowland permeable catchments?

  2. What are the key physical, chemical and biological processes operating within the valley floor corridor which affect the surface water and groundwater?

  3. How do varying flow regimes control in-stream, riparian and wetland habitats?

  4. How does land use management impact on lowland catchment hydrology, including both water quantity and quality, and wetland ecology?

  5. How can the hydrological, hydrogeological, geomorphological and ecological interactions resulting from natural or anthropogenic changes be predicted using integrated mathematical models?