News and Events

• 2009 Ineson Lecture

  Prof Denis Peach, Chief Scientist at BGS, will give the 2009 Ineson Lecture at Burlington House on 15 October 2009. The theme will be the future of hydrogeology. Further details of the programme and supporting speakers will be announced in August.

• Ian is the new treasurer

  Ian Davey is the new treasurer of the IAH British Chapter. Ian takes over from Richard Boak, who has moved to the Netherlands. The committee would like to thank Richard for his great contribution to the IAH and in particular the British section over many years on the committee.

• Groundwater & Climate in Africa – conference report

  Groundwater & Climate in Africa, an international conference held in Kampala, Uganda from 24-28 June 2008, is a landmark, the first-ever meeting to discuss the role of groundwater in improving livelihoods in Africa under conditions of rapid development and climate change. Organized by the Ministry of Water & Environment (Uganda), University College London (UK) and the International Hydrological Programme of UNESCO, the conference brought together more than 300 water scientists, managers and policy makers from 23 countries in Africa and 14 other countries. The conference featured 96 presentations that contributed to 6 strategic themes including the impacts of climate variability and change on groundwater-based livelihoods and groundwater-fed ecosystems, monitoring and modelling of groundwater replenishment and use, estimation of groundwater resources and demand and groundwater management. With over 20 hours of dedicated discussion time, participants were able to translate scientific and policy-related research findings into technical and policy recommendations, summarised in the Kampala Statement, for national governments in Africa, regional, basin-wide and transboundary organisations as well as international fora. See http://www.gwclim.org. Conference papers will be published early in 2009 in an IAHS Red Book with selected papers forming a special issue of Hydrological Sciences Journal. RICHARD TAYLOR University College London, UK; E-mail: r.taylor@geog.ucl.ac.uk CALLIST TINDIMUGAYA Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda; E-mail: ctindi.wrmd@dwd.co.ug

• Twinning with new chapters in Malawi and Tanzania

  Under the guidance of Segun Adelana (IAH Vice President for Africa), the British National Chapter is embarking on twinning arrangements with fledgling national chapters in Malawi and Tanzania. Twinning will provide opportunities for sponsorship of new members, and for giving professional, organisational and financial support. As part of this initiative, Mjemah Ibrahimu Chikira from Tanzania and Mcpherson Nkhata from Malawi were sponsored to attend the Kampala conference at the end of June 2008. While at the conference, Richard Boak, John Chilton and Alan McDonald (all from the British NC) met delegates from Tanzania and Malawi to prepare for the twinning.

• Call for New British IAH Chapter Committee Members

  The British National Chapter Committee members consists of 10 individuals, each serving the Committee for a period of 5 years. Some of the incumbant Committee are approaching the end of their term and the Committee invites all members to consider joining the Committee. For further details and nomination submission please contact the Committee Secretary. The Committee next sits on 08 Jul and again on 08 October 2008, and will review candidate applications on these occasions.

• Tribute to Brian Hardcastle

  Everyone who knew him was sorry to hear of the death of Brian Hardcastle earlier this year (2007). He graduated in Civil Engineering from Imperial College in 1942, and enjoyed a long and varied career until his retirement in 1983. He was a valued member of the committee of the IAH British National Chapter for many years, and edited the ‘Undercurrent’ newsletter right up until it was replaced by this website. He will be greatly missed.

• Jane takes over as Chair

  Jane Dottridge has taken on the role of Chair of the IAH British Chapter. She replaces John Chilton, who has now retired from the committee.

• Clive takes over as Secretary

  Clive Carpenter has stepped up to the Secretary role having originally been appointed to the National Committee in 2005. Clive replaces Willy Burgess, who has now retired from the Committee.

Oman - polluted water supply