Autumn Talks: Cameron Adams

CAMERON ADAMS: Where and how will we get our water both now and in the future?

Tuesday September 22, 6.30-8.30pm German Lutheran Church, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge

Eventbrite invitation here.

More than half of England is now officially in drought, with the driest July since records first began 200 years ago. Meanwhile Cambridgeshire (designated a ‘water stressed area’ by Defra with less water available per person than Madrid or Jerusalem and with its precious chalk streams running dry) is set to accommodate significant growth and planned development overseen by the planning authorities and the newly formed Greater Cambridge Growth Corporation. There is also the prospect of water intensive data centres and a ‘Forest City’ being built in proximity to Cambridge. At the same time reservoirs are running dry, farmers are struggling to irrigate their crops, and nature is paying a heavy price. This, in tandem with the ongoing impact of nonlinear climate change, and our debt-laden water companies; water intensive lifestyles; outdated and failing water services infrastructure; and potentially inequitable water transfer schemes, poses the question 'Where and how will we get our water from both now and in the future?' Cameron will consider whether existing efforts to address the problem are plausible and sets out the need for a comprehensive ‘nature first’ (as opposed to a technical) approach towards how we value, source, manage and use water.