Modelling the impact of climate change on groundwater in the UK. Stage 1, background, literature and available data review and selection of modelling techniques

This report describes the background to and initial work on the joint BGS-CEH project “Modelling the impact of climate change on groundwater in the UK”. The project aims to develop a flexible modelling methodology for assessing the impacts of climate change on groundwater resources at various scales. An overview of the current state of the art in developing future climate change scenarios is given. The relationships between groundwater and climatic conditions are discussed. Previous work on groundwater and climate change is reviewed. A set of four modelling approaches is selected to develop during the current project for application with future climatic data. Data requirements for groundwater modelling are considered. An overview of the hydrogeological characteristics of the major UK aquifers is given. A scheme of work is specified.