2025 – Potential and Risks
In January 2025, 80 groundwater scientists from across academia, consultancy and government congregated in Edinburgh for the Scottish Groundwater Conference. The event, envisaged to be an engaging day of learning and networking, was hosted in conjunction with the IAH and proudly sponsored by Envireau. This was the first meeting to be held with a focus on Scottish groundwater in recent memory!
It is now 8 months since this exciting day and as we start to plan for the next one, a good time to reflect!
MORNING SESSION
The one-day conference kicked off with some of the largest, and tastiest, pastries ever seen! All attendees were quickly caffeinated and satiated, ready for a series of keynote talks.
For an introduction to the day Isla Smail, SEPA, gave a regulator’s perspective on groundwater in Scotland. This set out the context for SEPAs role and their multifaceted responsibilities to protect the groundwater environment in Scotland, including managing increasing demand for groundwater as water scarcity increases nationwide, emerging contaminants in groundwater, and the introduction of new groundwater standards.
Professor Alan MacDonald, British Geological Survey, followed with a presentation on groundwater extremes. He highlighted the critical role that groundwater could play in Scotland as a reliable supply during future droughts, and the important role that sub-surface flows play in controlling flooding. Understanding what is “normal” is key to building resilience to increasing groundwater extremes under climate change.
Dr Fraser Leith from Scottish Water gave an insightful, albeit alarming, presentation on emerging contaminants in Scottish drinking water sources. He highlighted PFAs as an example for risk assessing future hazards, the importance of continuous improvement led by research and sampling, and the impacts of climate and environmental change.
Dr David Walls from TownRock Energy took the conference on a tour of all things geothermal. By highlighting novel and exciting projects that TownRock Energy have been working on, David gave a great overview of this emerging, and exciting, area of geoscience with a keen interest from a hydrogeologically minded audience.
To round out the morning session Shona Symon from Envireau gave a great talk titled Demistifying Groundwater: Reflections from a Caledonian Hydrogeologist. Shona gave an overview of her career to date with focus upon case studies from groundwater exploration fieldwork projects on Islay.
LUNCH
Time for lunch, posters, networking and catchups!
There was great interest in bringing posters to the event and we were delighted to be able to accommodate all submissions! In total we had 13 posters covering all areas of groundwater from fractured Lewisian gneiss basement in NW Scotland to Future-Proofing the Scotch Whisky Sector! There were also presentations from other areas of the world from researchers based in Scotland including managed aquifer recharge in Lagos, Nigeria.
AFTERNOON SESSION
The afternoon provided the opportunity for an interactive deeper dive into the themes from the morning’s talks. Discussion sessions on policy and regulation, groundwater quality, flood and drought, and energy, focussed on current challenges and future priorities. Recurring themes emerged across these discussion sessions:
Excitement. It was clear from the conference that there is a vibrant community working and interested in groundwater in Scotland. Discussions on future priorities focussed on how we can maintain and build momentum, both within this community, but also among a broader group of stakeholders. There was a particular interest in how to increase public awareness of groundwater issues in Scotland.
Collaboration. Linked to the point above, there was a strong desire for increased collaboration across the different sectors represented at the conference, but also with non-groundwater specialists. How can we facilitate more collaboration to ensure the right people are working together for a positive groundwater future in Scotland?
Data. Groundwater data in Scotland does exist! How can it be used more effectively to provide maximum value? There were discussions about the need, and issues, associated with open access data. Data gaps were also highlighted, for example baseline data for emerging contaminants and technologies.
Funding. The million dollar question: how can we raise groundwater up the agenda to attract more funding? This is needed to harness the excitement and expertise within the groundwater community, foster collaboration, and ultimately better understand how groundwater can effectively and sustainably contribute to Scotland’s ambitions as a Hydro Nation.
