Water System Science And Policy Interfacing Andre Van Der Bekenmichiel Blindilke Borowskijos Brilsanthony Chapman Et Alall Authors

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Water System Science and Policy Interfacing

WaterSystemScienceandPolicy
Interfacing
Edited by
Philippe Quevauviller
European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
and Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium

ISBN: 978-1-84755-861-9
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
rRoyal Society of Chemistry 2010
All rights reserved
Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of research for non-commercial purposes or for
private study, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003, this publication may not
be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior
permission in writing of The Royal Society of Chemistry or the copyright owner, or in the
case of reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright
Licensing Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the
appropriate Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to The Royal Society of
Chemistry at the address printed on this page.
Published by The Royal Society of Chemistry,
Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Milton Road,
Cambridge CB4 0WF, UK
Registered Charity Number 207890
For further information see our website at www.rsc.org

Foreword
I am particularly honoured to preface this book because current issues in the
management of natural resources, water and aquatic environments raise
questions that cannot be solved without innovative and eﬀective partnerships
between scientists, policymakers and people in the ﬁeld. These questions are
increasingly complex and their urgency means that we cannot wait to have
all the desirable scientiﬁc information before taking action. They call for new
types of relations between scientists and policymakers.
Today’s challenges require the continuous transfer of knowledge as it
becomes available and, in return, stakeholder participation is essential in
ﬁnding answers for up-coming challenges. Managers and policymakers need
tools and scientiﬁc advice for which the necessary knowledge is complex and
not always fully or adequately available. At the same time, it is important to
mobilize the scientiﬁc community on research challenges often located at the
interface between several disciplines or requiring integrated, multi-disciplinary
analysis.
To achieve a number of goals at local, national and European levels, for
example deﬁning and achieving good ecological status, adapting to climate
change, halting the loss of biodiversity, ensuring sustainable and equitable
management of water resources, providing good governance frameworks for
water and sanitation services,etc., we must be able to understand processes, use
diagnostic tools and scenarios to predict and anticipate the future, measure
discrepancies between current status and objectives, and ﬁnally prioritize and
set guidelines for corrective action and measures.
We must learn how to make this interface between science and policy
operational and eﬀective so that better understanding can lead to better action.
Water System Science and Policy Interfacing, published by the Royal Society
of Chemistry, oﬀers a unique opportunity to take stock of the progress made in
recent years to promote more eﬀective use of science to assist policymaking and
implementation of water-related regulations. The feedback collected from
many initiatives at European, national and regional levels, as discussed in this
Water System Science and Policy Interfacing
Edited by Philippe Quevauviller
rRoyal Society of Chemistry 2010
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org
v

book, demonstrates that current practices are not suﬃcient and that more
eﬀorts are needed. The authors were able to identify key factors that have the
potential to improve the eﬀectiveness of the interface between research and
public water policies, such as identifying and formulating research questions
and associated research and development programmes between scientists and
the end-users, transparency, access to information and science advice, the role
of new players, so-called ‘translators’, who can translate scientiﬁc ﬁndings into
usable information for decision-makers, communication and educational
needs.
The recommendations provided in this book will be of the utmost value for
our own strategy to strengthen collaboration between research, business,
managers and consumers in the ﬁeld of water and aquatic environments. These
ﬁndings are of particular importance for our national strategy in France and at
the European level in the light of an initiative launched with the agencies of
other Member States and with the European Commission to organise con-
sultations between the main European structures interfacing between research,
policymakers and major stakeholders in the water ﬁeld. Building on synergies
spanning Europe, the goal is to make the best use of research results to reach
the ambitious objectives of European water policy, itself tailored to the eco-
nomic, societal and environmental issues facing us.
I warmly thank all the authors of this outstanding volume on the interface
between science and policy in the water ﬁeld. I would also like to extend my
thanks to those who took the initiative in bringing together these contributions,
notably Philippe Quevauviller, editor of the book, whose unfailing dynamism is
a source of progress for the interaction between science and public policy in the
environmental ﬁeld. This synthesis work is the result of many exchanges among
the scientiﬁc community, policymakers and stakeholders over the last ﬁve
years, which were strongly facilitated by series of EU-funded research projects
that are described in this book and reﬂected by the authorship.
Whether we are scientists, policymakers, local managers, elected oﬃcials,
business or association leaders, it is now up to us to build fully operational
interfaces to meet the future challenges of the ﬁeld of water and aquatic
environments.
Patrick Lavarde
Director General of the French
National Agency for Water
and Aquatic Environments
vi Foreword

Preface
This book would probably never have been produced, at least in its present
form, if I had remained solely in the scientiﬁc sphere. I had grown up as a
researcher in chemical oceanography, then evolving as a scientiﬁc oﬃcer at
the European Commission for many years in the sector of environmental
analytical chemistry. A need to change and to ‘see something else’ made me
move to the policy world in 2002 where I have learnt to face diﬀerent reali-
ties,i.e.what is behind the design, development, negotiation and imple-
mentation of an EU policy.
With a strongly anchored scientiﬁc background, my very ﬁrst days as a
policy-maker gave me the impression of landing on another planet with dif-
ferent rules and codes. On my former scientiﬁc planet, discussions were often
about ﬁnding the best methods to measure, evaluate or understand environ-
mental pathways or pollution impacts. We were striving for the most accurate
ways to better understand and protect our environment and our communica-
tion route was exclusively through the international scientiﬁc literature. On the
policy planet, the development of legislation often relies on ‘best possible
political compromises’ where scientiﬁc progress is only one of the many com-
ponents of policy design, and later implementation. In this respect, while it is
generally well accepted that legislative developments have to fully take into
account the existing scientiﬁc foundation, I soon realised that the way scientiﬁc
information is made accessible to policy-makers, and the way policy-makers
perceive scientiﬁc inputs, turn this ‘logical link’ into a very complex machinery
and sometimes mutual incomprehension.
Discussions with scientists, policy-makers, stakeholders and colleagues of the
European Commission conﬁrmed my feeling that science and policy are often
living in two separate worlds due to a lack of a clear transfer mechanism. This
debate is not new and we can trace discussions back to before the 1990s. I have
been, however, in the position of a ‘science user’ in a very practical case –
namely the development of the Groundwater Directive 2006/118/EC – in which
Water System Science and Policy Interfacing
Edited by Philippe Quevauviller
rRoyal Society of Chemistry 2010
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org
vii

the question of transfer of scientiﬁc outputs to various steps of the policy
process (design, negotiation, implementation) was very critical. In a way, I
started to face the ‘two planets’ problem when I mixed scientists, stakeholders
and policy-makers, asking them naive questions such as ‘What do we know,
and what scientiﬁc information may I use to justify policy orientations?’. This
primarily resulted in diﬃcult debates, and it took several meetings and a lot of
diplomacy to establish and develop a constructive dialogue.
These interactions gave rise to the consciousness that the two worlds have
diﬃculties in communicating directly and that they need ‘intermediaries’ to
cohabit and evolve together. From 2003 onward, the need to develop an
operational interface among the scientiﬁc and policy communities has grown
up, as reﬂected by joint works.
i
This latter evolved in practical experiences
mixing science and policy in support of legislative developments, namely the
EU Groundwater Directive adopted in 2006, which are illustrated by a separate
volume published by RSC Publishing.
ii
In 2008, after several years of discussion, a ‘Science–Policy Interfacing’ group
was proposed in the water sector in the framework of the Common Imple-
mentation Strategy of the Water Framework Directive. This was linked to
various research and supporting initiatives establishing links between diﬀerent
communities at EU level. This development was initiated while I was still living
on my policy planet at DG Environment. Later on, I took an opportunity to
move back to my previous (research) planet, where I am now looking at the
issue from another angle.
iii
This book project arose from these many exchanges and projects. It was
supported by the positive welcome of a groundwater science–policy book,
which encouraged me to embark on this new editorial venture. Behind this
project, and behind interfacing in a general sense, there are open-minded people
who have agreed to discuss shortcomings and reﬂect on possible ways to
progress together. This book reﬂects this ‘human side’ of the issue. I would like
to brieﬂy explain why I thought of the authors who I invited to contribute to
this volume:
ﬃAndre´Van der Beken has been very active in water engineering-related
training, and we have often discussed science–policy issues in the framework
of teaching duties (in particular the IUPWARE programme, which is an
International Master programme jointly coordinated by the Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where I am currently
i
Ph. Quevauviller, P. Balabanis, C. Fragakis, M. Weydert, M. Oliver, A. Kaschl, G. Arnold, A.
Kroll, L. Galbiati, J. M. Zaldivar and G. Bidoglio,Environ. Sci. Policy, 2005,8, 203.
ii
Groundwater Science and Policy– An International Overview, ed. Ph. Quevauviller, RSC Pub-
lishing, Cambridge, ISBN: 978-085404-294-4.
iii
Since October 2008, I have been in post at the ‘Climate Change and Natural Hazards’ Unit of DG
Research, where I am following up projects concerning climate change impacts on water and
water-related natural hazards.
viii Preface

associate professor besides my EC position) and EC-funded training pro-
grammes (e.g.TECHWARE). His life-long experience made him the natural
choice for setting the scene of Section 1 of the book (Chapter 1.1).
ﬃIn another context, I have been interviewed as a policy-maker in the fra-
mework of the ’Science meets Policy’ initiative that is described by John
Holmes and Alister Scott. Their summary of discussions, in particular the
London report written in 2005, has been a source of inspiration that is
reﬂected in many places in this book and is developed in Chapter 1.2.
ﬃJudy Payne arrived later in the book project. I was very interested to hear a
presentation she made at a conference of the IWRM.Net project (Chapter
3.2) in Brussels in February 2009, and invited her to write a chapter in a
very short time period, which she did (Chapter 1.3).
ﬃIt was natural that a chapter on EC undertakings be included in the book
(Chapter 1.4). This is written in association with two colleagues, Christos
Fragakis and Panagiotis Balabanis, with whom I have been in close con-
tact for many years and with whom I share the same awareness regarding
eﬀorts needed for a better transfer of scientiﬁc outputs to policy users.
Behind this chapter, there are many other EC colleagues who brought
ideas and contributions to the discussions,e.g.Elisabeth Lipiatou, Cathy
Eccles, Wanda Gaj (from the Research Directorate-General), Patrick
Murphy, Irja Vounakis (from the Environment Directorate-General),
Giovanni Bidoglio and colleagues from the EC Joint Research Centre; the
list is not exhaustive!
ﬃI have shared many dynamic discussions with Bob Harris who has, like me,
an exotic proﬁle with experiences in both the scientiﬁc and policy-making
arenas. He is certainly one of the ‘translators’ and enabling intermediaries
that are evocated in this book. Along with Ben Surridge and Alison Holt,
he brings us discussions on the evidence base for Integrated Catchment
Management (Chapter 1.5).
ﬃOne of the elements that popped up from the discussion concerning sci-
ence–policy interfacing was the need to analyse the policy relevance and
possible impacts of research (from the 5th and 6th Framework Pro-
grammes) and demonstration (LIFE programme). This has been carried
out in the context of the SPI-Water project and is described by Kees
Kramer and Xenia Schneider in Chapter 1.6.
ﬃEdi Interwies arrived at the same time as Judy Payne in the book project–
as a result of discussions over a coﬀee break at the IWRM. Net conference.
We had in the past many exchanges about the importance of economics
in policy-supporting research, and it was natural that he describes
experience gained, in association with Ilke Borowski, in the present book
(Chapter 1.7).
ﬃThe SKEP initiative was the natural choice for introducing Section 2 of the
book. This ERANET project looks at the issue of improving the inte-
gration of science into the policy process, and, in this respect, I had fruitful
discussions with Simon Gardner and the SKEP team from a policy
perspective.
ixPreface

ﬃThe AQUATERRA project pioneered the idea of including a speciﬁc task
about science–policy exchanges that had been discussed in the JOINT
event in Orle´ans at the end of 2002. This resulted in many contacts with
Tony Chapman, Adriaan Slob, Jos Brils and others. Chapter 2.2 describes
the EUPOL subproject, which aims to establish operational links between
science and policy.
ﬃAnother example of project that considered the need to enhance com-
munication between scientists and policy-makers is the RISKBASE pro-
ject. It will be no surprise to see that the drivers are people already
mentioned,e.g.Jos Brils and Bob Harris, along with a range of other
dedicated scientists,e.g.Winfried Blum, Werner Brack, Dietmar Mu¨ller,
Philippe Ne´grel, Vala Ragnarsdottir, Wim Salomons, Thomas Track and
Joop Vegter. This project is described in Chapter 2.3.
ﬃThe Harmoni-CA initiative has been the source of discussions in the
water sector that are now growing into operational developments. From
the workshop held in 2005 in Ghent (of which the proceedings were
published as a special issue ofEnvironmental Science & Policy,vol.8)
until now, Michiel Blind, Ilke Borowski, Jens Christian Refsgaard,
Wim de Lange and many others have contributed to develop the science–
policy concept linked to the WFD implementation. This is described in
Chapter 2.4.
ﬃIn the framework of Harmoni-CA, the OpenMI project has also greatly
contributed to bringing together scientists and policy-makers. It is one of
the few projects that brought a model-interfacing tool to the knowledge of
policy-makers and industry stakeholders (through meetings and various
contacts) and made eﬀorts to demonstrate its applicability through a
dedicated LIFE project. Roger Moore tells us about this experience in
Chapter 2.5.
ﬃThe involvement of stakeholders in the participatory approach of the
WFD and research in support of adaptive integrated water management
are core activities of Claudia Pahl-Wostl’s group at the University of
Osnabrueck. With Ilke Borowski, Britta Kastens and Darya Hirsch, she
describes the experience gained in the NeWater project (Chapter 2.6).
ﬃThe third section of the book opens with an example of SPI at national
level (which is also reﬂected in the foreword of the General-Director of
ONEMA, Dr Patrick Lavarde). This experience is described in Chapter 3.1
by Marie-Perrine Miossec and Patrick Flammarion, who are both very
active in the development of the CIS-SPI initiative described in Chapter
5.3.
ﬃI have always thought that an improved transfer of scientiﬁc information
could be better relayed at national level, and the ERANET funding
mechanism is interesting in this respect. The science–policy interfacing
issue has been widely discussed within the IWRM.Net network, which is
described by Natacha Amorsi and co-authors (Chapter 3.2). Personal
exchanges with Peter Allen-Williams, Stephen Migdley, Michiel Blind,
x Preface

Gilles Neveu and others within this group have been extremely mind-
opening.
ﬃLinking water science to policy is not solely a concern for Europeans.
Similar debates are taking place on the other side of the Atlantic and this is
reﬂected by the Canadian experience described in Chapter 3.3 by Karl
Schaefer, Alex Bielak and Leah Brannen.
ﬃI had been positively impressed by a regional platform mixing repre-
sentatives of research institutes and universities, industry and local
authorities in my home region,i.e.the Adour-Garonne area. The beneﬁt
of such a regional platform is described by Philippe Vervier and co-authors
(Chapter 3.4). It is certainly an excellent example of how transfer of
scientiﬁc outputs to regional authorities and stakeholders could be
ensured.
ﬃSection 4 of the book deals with communication and education needs.
Resulting from research projects that initiated discussions in the water
sector,e.g.Harmoni-CA, the WISE-RTD web-portal brings a gateway for
information on water scientiﬁc projects, and represents an extremely useful
tool (Chapter 4.2). I have enjoyed participating in discussions around this
development with Wim de Lange, Patrick Willems, Fred Hatterman,
Guido Vaes, Frank Provost, Patrick Swartenbroeckx and many others.
ﬃEUGRIS is another web portal, which follows similar aims to WISE-
RTD, with a focus on soil–water interactions. I have also had very con-
structive discussions in this respect with Jo¨rg Frauenstein, Paul Bardos and
Tony Chapman, who describe this tool in Chapter 4.3.
ﬃRaising awareness for improving science–policy links in the water sector is
also linked to education and training at international level. In this respect,
an example of an outstanding initiative is the EuroAquae network
resulting from an Erasmus Mundus project, which Philippe Gourbesville
and Jean Cunge describe in Chapter 4.4.
ﬃI met Skye Duncan at a conference in Leuven in September 2008, where
she highlighted that SPI also occurs at the level of urban development. I
was interested by this diﬀerent viewpoint and invited her to express her
views regarding New York city developments – and she has done so in
Chapter 4.5.
ﬃWhile I was a research correspondent for the Water & Marine Unit at EC-
DG Environment, topics could be deﬁned in the framework of ‘Scientiﬁc
Support to Policies’ projects (6
th
Framework Programme), and the unit
hence designed terms of references for a support action that is mentioned
in several places in this book (the so-called ‘SPI-Water’ project). Behind
the SPI-Water project there is a large network that works hard to ease
links among scientists and policy communities. I had many fruitful
exchanges with this group, including Patrick Swartenbroeckx, Guido Vaes,
Kees Kramer, Xenia Schneider, Katherine Kober, and many others. All
these exchanges are reﬂected in considerations expressed in Section 5 of the
book.
xiPreface

My hope is that this book will serve as an inspiring source of information to
develop an operational and sustainable science–policy interface in the water
sector, and that this will result in building a strong bridge between the two
diﬀerent planets of science and policy. All the pieces of this complex puzzle are
on the table. It is now up to us to bring them together and to transform an
energy-losing patchwork into an eﬃcient working party mixing scientiﬁc dis-
ciplines, policy sectors and stakeholder’s inputs.
Philippe Quevauviller
xii Preface

Contents
List of Contributors xxviii
Section 1 General Introduction
Chapter 1.1 Reﬂections on Fundamental and Policy-oriented Research
of Water System Knowledge over the Past 25 Years 3
Andre´van der Beken
1.1.1 Introduction 3
1.1.2 Policy, Management and Knowledge 4
1.1.3 Scientiﬁc Research 5
1.1.3.1 Objectives 5
1.1.3.2 Methodology 7
1.1.3.3 Dynamics 8
1.1.3.4 Finalization 9
1.1.3.5 Evaluation 10
1.1.4 Water Research Progress and Problems 10
1.1.4.1 Progress in General Research based on
Technological Developments 10
1.1.4.2 Problems in Water Research 11
1.1.5 By Way of Conclusion 13
References 14
Chapter 1.2 Bridging the Gaps between Science and Policy: A Review
of the Evidence and some Principles for Eﬀective Action 15
John Holmes and Alister Scott
1.2.1 Introduction 15
1.2.2 Developments in Europe 18
Water System Science and Policy Interfacing
Edited by Philippe Quevauviller
rRoyal Society of Chemistry 2010
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org
xiii

1.2.2.1 European Commission 18
1.2.2.2 European Union Member States 20
1.2.2.3 Science Meets Policy and Bridging the
Gap 20
1.2.3 The ‘Front End’: Planning and Managing
Research Programmes 21
1.2.3.1 Identifying Research Needs and Setting
Research Agendas 21
1.2.3.2 Engagement and Stakeholder Dialogue 22
1.2.3.3 Research Project Selection 23
1.2.4 The ‘Back End’: Dissemination and Uptake 24
1.2.4.1 Intermediaries and Translators 24
1.2.4.2 Enhancing the Accessibility of
Knowledge 25
1.2.4.3 Quality and Transparency 26
1.2.5 Cross-cutting Issues 27
1.2.5.1 Two Worlds 27
1.2.5.2 Training and Development 29
1.2.5.3 Developing Inter-disciplinarity 29
1.2.5.4 ‘Strong Science’ 30
1.2.6 Discussion 30
1.2.7 Principles of Eﬀective Science-into-Policy
Practices 32
References 34
Chapter 1.3 Research into Practice – An Organisational Learning
Perspective 36
Judy Payne
1.3.1 Introduction 36
1.3.2 How Many Gaps? 37
1.3.2.1 Lost in Translation 37
1.3.2.2 Lost before Translation 38
1.3.2.3 Closing the ‘Lost in Translation’ and
‘Lost before Translation’ Gaps through
Collaboration 38
1.3.2.4 Lost after Translation 38
1.3.2.5 Summary 39
1.3.3 The Tension between Exploring New Knowledge
and Exploiting Existing Knowledge 39
1.3.3.1 Exploration and Exploitation 39
1.3.3.2 The Tension 40
1.3.3.3 Exploration, Exploitation and the Gap
between Research and Practice 40
1.3.4 Organisational Knowledge Creation and Learning 41
xiv Contents

1.3.4.1 Crossan, Lane and White’s
Organisational Learning Framework 41
1.3.4.2 Using the Organisational Learning
Framework to Explain the
Research–Practice Gaps 43
1.3.4.3 Enabling the 4I Processes 44
1.3.4.4 Learning from Research across
Organisational Boundaries 48
1.3.5 Summary and Implications 49
References 50
Chapter 1.4 General Features of the EU Water Policy and Related
Scientiﬁc Framework 52
Philippe Quevauviller, Christos Fragakis and Panagiotis
Balabanis
1.4.1 Introduction 52
1.4.2 General Features of the EU Water Policy
Framework 53
1.4.3 Water in the EU R&D Framework 53
1.4.3.1 EU RTD Framework Programme 53
1.4.3.2 Research carried out by the Joint
Research Centre (JRC) 55
1.4.3.3 Demonstration Projects 55
1.4.4 Identifying Research Needs in the Water Sector 55
1.4.5 Examples of Water-related Research Projects and
Initiatives 56
1.4.5.1 Research on the Knowledge of Ground-
water and Dependent Ecosystems 56
1.4.5.2 Research on Catchment Modelling 57
1.4.5.3 Research on Climate Change Impacts on
Water 58
1.4.5.4 Technological Platforms 60
1.4.5.5 Science–Policy Interfacing 61
References 61
Chapter 1.5 Developing the Evidence Base for Integrated Catchment
Management: Challenges and Opportunities 63
Ben Surridge, Alison Holt and Bob Harris
1.5.1 Introduction 63
1.5.2 Towards an Integrated Catchment Management
Approach 64
1.5.3 Institutional and Legislative Contexts for
ICM – Examples from the UK 66
xvContents

1.5.4 A New Framework for ICM 69
1.5.4.1 Ecosystem Services and the ICM
Framework 70
1.5.4.2 Implementing a Framework for ICM 71
1.5.5 Using Science to Support the ICM Framework 76
1.5.5.1 Social–Environmental Systems and ICM 77
1.5.5.2 Developing Participatory Processes 78
1.5.5.3 Understanding Social–Environmental
Systems 79
1.5.5.4 Scenario Analyses and the Evolution
of Integrated Models 81
1.5.6 Interdisciplinary Science and ICM 86
1.5.6.1 Calls for Interdisciplinary Research 86
1.5.6.2 Changes in the Practices of Science 87
1.5.6.3 Supporting Interdisciplinary Research 89
1.5.7 Future Challenges Facing Implementation
of ICM 92
1.5.7.1 Developing a Revised Conceptual
Understanding of ICM 92
1.5.7.2 Designing Suitable Frameworks for
Implementing ICM 93
1.5.7.3 Supporting the Implementation of
Frameworks for ICM 93
References 95
Chapter 1.6 Analysis of EC Framework Programme and LIFE
Projects for their Relevance to the Water Framework
Directive 101
Kees J. M. Kramer and Xenia Schneider
1.6.1 Introduction 101
1.6.1.1 Research Dissemination and
Communication 102
1.6.1.2 Bridging Science–Policy 104
1.6.2 Collection of EC Research Project Information 104
1.6.2.1 EC Projects Considered 105
1.6.2.2 Nature of the Information 105
1.6.2.3 Sources of Information 106
1.6.3 Project Information Uploaded to the WISE-RTD
Portal 106
1.6.3.1 Research Projects with WFD
Relevance 106
1.6.3.2 WFD Relevant Information 108
1.6.3.3 Shelf Life of RTD Results 108
1.6.3.4 RTD Information Lost? 109
1.6.3.5 Maintenance 110
xvi Contents

1.6.4 Challenges and Recommendations for Bridging
Science and Policy 110
1.6.4.1 Challenge 1: Preserving the Project’s
Generated Knowledge is a Necessity 111
1.6.4.2 Challenge 2: Tapping into the
Knowledge of WFD Related Projects
through a Single Source 112
1.6.4.3 Challenge 3: Simplifying
Communication with
Non-scientiﬁc Audiences 113
1.6.4.4 Challenge 4: Dissemination of Research
into Practice and Change Management
are Lagging Behind 114
1.6.4.5 Challenge 5: Having a Continuous
Dialogue and Adopting a Participatory
Approach 114
Acknowledgements 115
References 115
Chapter 1.7 WFD Economics and the Science–Policy Interface:
Status and Perspectives 117
Eduard Interwies and Ilke Borowski
1.7.1 Introduction 117
1.7.2 Main Fields of Work for the Implementation
of the Economic WFD-aspects: Gaps and
Current Activities 119
1.7.2.1 Selection of Measures, Cost-eﬀectiveness
Analysis (CEA), Integrated
(Hydro-economic) Modelling 120
1.7.2.2 Cost–Beneﬁt Analysis (CBA),
Exemptions, Environmental Beneﬁts 122
1.7.2.3 Water Pricing, Cost Recovery/
Polluter-pays Principle, Economic
Instruments 122
1.7.3 Use of Scientiﬁc Economic Models and Methods 124
1.7.3.1 EU-funded Research on Socio-economic
aspects of Water Management 125
1.7.3.2 Awareness and use of EU-funded
Research 126
1.7.3.3 Main Diﬃculties in Current
Implementation Regarding the use of
Scientiﬁc Tools and Methods 127
1.7.4 Summary and Conclusions: Elements for a Future
Research Agenda 129
xviiContents

Acknowledgements 133
References 134
Section 2 Interfacing Science and Policy in the Context of Selected
RTD Projects
Chapter 2.1 SKEP Network: Facilitating Improvements in Science into
Policy Process 137
Simon Gardner, Eeva Furman, Paula Kivimaa, Pirjo
Kuuppo, Hanna Mela, Pa¨ivi Korpinen, Erik Fellenius,
Jennie Savga˚rd and John Holmes
2.1.1 Introduction 137
2.1.2 Science–Policy Aspects of the Network 138
2.1.2.1 European Overview of Research
Management Approaches in the Field of
Environment Protection 138
2.1.2.2 Linking Research and Policy through
Evaluation: A European Overview of
Approaches and Practices in
Mid-term and Ex-post Evaluation of
Environmental Research Programmes 143
2.1.3 Assessing the Dissemination and Implementation
of Research 146
2.1.4 SKEP Joint Calls: Maintaining a Focus
on the Practical Application of Science into
Policy Processes 148
2.1.4.1 Assessment of Current Approaches
towards the Evaluation of the Uptake,
and Impact, of Research Projects and
Programmes by Environmental
Policy-makers 149
2.1.4.2 Assessment of Lessons Learnt in the
Communication and Dissemination
of Emerging Scientiﬁc Issues to
Environmental Policy-makers 150
References 151
Chapter 2.2 Evolution of Methods to Link Science and Policy: The
Experience of EUPOL 153
Antony Chapman, Adriaan F.L. Slob, Marc Rijnveld
and Corinne Merly
2.2.1 Introduction 153
2.2.2 Scientiﬁc Framework 154
xviii Contents

2.2.2.1 Inventory of Policy Questions 155
2.2.2.2 Linking Demand to Supply 156
2.2.3 DPSIR 158
2.2.4 Resilience 159
2.2.5 Connecting with Scientists and Policy Makers:
Workshops and Interviews 160
2.2.6 Future Plans 161
2.2.7 Lessons Learned From the EUPOL
Experience 161
2.2.8 Conclusions 162
Acknowledgements 163
References 163
Chapter 2.3 Science–Policy Interfacing in the CA Project
RISKBASE 165
Jos Brils
2.3.1 Introduction 165
2.3.2 RISKBASE 166
2.3.3 Science–Policy Interface Pillars in RISKBASE 167
2.3.4 Science–Science Interfacing (SSI) 172
2.3.5 Science–Policy Interfacing (SPI) 173
2.3.6 Policy–Policy Interfacing (PPI) 176
2.3.7 SPI Lessons Learned So Far 178
Acknowledgements 179
References 179
Chapter 2.4 Narrowing the Science–Policy Gap – Experience from the
Harmoni-CA Concerted Action 181
Michiel W. Blind, Jens Christian Refsgaard, Ilke Borowski
and Willem J. De Lange
2.4.1 Introduction 181
2.4.2 Concerted Action Harmoni-CA 182
2.4.2.1 Rationale 182
2.4.2.2 Science–Policy and Science–Science
Interface in Harmoni-CA 183
2.4.2.3 Approach and Methodology 185
2.4.2.4 Results 187
2.4.3 Analyses and Recommendations from
Harmoni-CA’s Eﬀorts 190
2.4.3.1 Workshops and Conferences 190
2.4.3.2 Development of Synthesis Reports 191
2.4.3.3 Development of WISE-RTD &
Dissemination through Leaﬂets 192
xixContents

2.4.3.4 Researching the Science–Policy Interface
with Respect to Model use/Research
Model Uptake 193
2.4.4 Conclusions and Discussion 194
Acknowledgements 196
References 196
Chapter 2.5 The OpenMI – Science Responding to Policy, Industry
and Events 200
Roger V. Moore
2.5.1 Introduction 200
2.5.1.1 Background 200
2.5.1.2 A Starting Point 201
2.5.2 What is the OpenMI? 205
2.5.2.1 Introduction 205
2.5.2.2 Overview of the OpenMI 208
2.5.2.3 Current Status 214
2.5.3 OpenMI Association’s Strategy 214
2.5.3.1 Background 214
2.5.3.2 OpenMI Association’s Objectives
According to its Charter 215
2.5.3.3 Vision 215
2.5.3.4 Mission 216
2.5.3.5 Implementation Strategy 217
2.5.4 Where Next? 220
2.5.4.1 Standards Take Time 220
2.5.4.2 Implementing the Strategy 221
Chapter 2.6 Stakeholder Responsive Research as an Approach to
Support Adaptive Integrated Water Management:
Examples from the NeWater Project 226
Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Britta Kastens, Ilke Borowski
and Darya Hirsch
2.6.1 Introduction 226
2.6.2 Scientiﬁc Background 229
2.6.3 Science–Policy Interface in NeWater 230
2.6.3.1 Stakeholder involvement in NeWater 230
2.6.3.2 CAIWA Science-to-Policy Day 235
2.6.3.3 Synthesizing insights for Water Policy
Makers and Water Managers 237
2.6.4 Conclusions 239
References 240
xx Contents

Section 3 Links to Water National or Regional Research,
Policies and Management
Chapter 3.1 Building a National Strategy on Science–Policy
Interface in Support of Water Policies –
The Case of France 245
Marie-Perrine Durot and Patrick Flammarion
3.1.1 Introduction 245
3.1.2 Plans for Research and Development Support of
Public Water Policies in France 246
3.1.3 The Research and Development System and its
Management in France 248
3.1.4 Building a Strategy for National Research and
Development on Water and Aquatic
Environments Targeting Operational
Stakeholders 249
3.1.4.1 Coordination between the National and
Catchment-basin Levels 250
3.1.4.2 A Research and Development Strategy
Interfacing with Stakeholders 251
3.1.5 Conclusion. A European Platform to Share
Information and Experience 254
References 254
Chapter 3.2 Links to Water National or Regional Research, Policies
and Management – IWRM-Net 255
Natacha Amorsi, Peter Allen-Williams, Michiel Blind,
Daniela Hohenwallner, Irene Huber, Xavier Lafon,
Stephen Midgley and Daniela Past
3.2.1 Introduction 255
3.2.2 IWRM-Net Context 256
3.2.2.1 ERA-Net Scheme 257
3.2.2.2 Water Framework Directive and
Integrated Water Resource
Management 258
3.2.3 The Science–Policy Interface and its Water
Speciﬁcities 259
3.2.3.1 Policy Life-cycle and Interface with
Science 259
3.2.3.2 SPI-WFD Water Speciﬁcities 261
3.2.4 IWRM-Net Strategies and Actions Related to
Science–Policy Interface 265
3.2.4.1 Ambition of IWRM.Net 265
xxiContents

3.2.4.2 SPI Focus for IWRM-Net: Topics,
Critical Aspects and Actors 266
3.2.4.3 From Vision to Actions, IWRM-Net’s
Activities 267
3.2.4.4 Research Needs Identiﬁcation 267
3.2.4.5 Joint Calls 273
3.2.4.6 Developing the Network – Liaison and
Communication Activities 275
3.2.5 Our Current Limits and First Lessons Learnt 275
3.2.5.1 Be Desirable to Target Actors 275
3.2.5.2 Content of IWRM-Net Calls –
Identifying Research Priorities 276
3.2.5.3 Implementation of the First IWRM
Transnational Call 277
3.2.5.4 First Lessons Learnt and Corroboration
of our Aims 277
3.2.6 Conclusion 278
Useful Websites 279
References 279
Chapter 3.3 Linking Water Science to Policy: A Canadian
Experience 281
Karl A. Schaefer, Alex T. Bielak and Leah E. Brannen
3.3.1 Introduction 281
3.3.1.1 Canadian Context for Science Policy
Linkages 283
3.3.2 Water Science–Policy Workshops 285
3.3.2.1 Rationale 285
3.3.2.2 Workshop Approach 286
3.3.2.3 Assessing Workshop Eﬀectiveness 287
3.3.3 Recent Developments 288
3.3.4 Conclusions 290
References 291
Chapter 3.4 ECOBAG – A Regional Science/Water Policies Interface 293
Philippe Vervier, Je´roˆme Depasse, Michel Combarnous,
Hugues Ayphassorho, Martine Gaeckler and Marc Jarry
3.4.1 Background of Scientiﬁc Support Needs for
Integrated River Basin Management
Implementation 293
3.4.2 A Regional ‘Science–Water Policy’ Interface:
ECOBAG 295
3.4.3 Examples of Successful ECOBAG Projects 296
xxii Contents

3.4.3.1 Improving Exchanges of Information
and of Knowledge between Researchers,
Socio-Economic Actors, Managers and
Decision Makers of Water Systems 296
3.4.3.2 A Collective and Iterative Process to
Identify the Support Required by
Water Managers and Decision
Makers 297
3.4.3.3 Example of Concert’Eau
(http://concerteau.ecobag.org/) 299
3.4.4 Conclusions 301
References 302
Section 4 Communication and Education Needs
Chapter 4.1 General Introduction on Communication and Education
Needs 305
Philippe Quevauviller
4.1.1 Introduction 305
4.1.2 Communication in the Light of Matching
Agendas 306
4.1.3 Enhancing Dialogue 307
4.1.4 Synthesis Needs 307
4.1.5 Exchange Platforms, Networking 308
4.1.6 Education Needs 308
References 309
Chapter 4.2 WISE-RTD – A Portal for Science & Technology
Transfer to Policy Making & Implementation in
Integrated Water Resources Management 310
Willem J. De Lange, Jurgen Plyson, Patrick Willems,
Thomas Vansteenkiste, Frank Provost, Fred Hatterman,
Guido Vaes and Patrick Swartenbroeckx
4.2.1 Introduction: Historical Perspective, Operation
Environment 310
4.2.2 Strategy and Scope: Towards a Sustainable
Web Portal 311
4.2.3 Background: Context, Science, Techniques 312
4.2.3.1 Context Scope 312
4.2.3.2 Scientiﬁc Background 313
4.2.3.3 Technical Background 316
4.2.3.4 Guided and Non-guided Search Front
End Link 317
xxiiiContents

4.2.4 Operation Process: Aim/Focus Management,
Input/Output Support, QA, Adaptations,
Extensions 318
4.2.4.1 Aim and Focus of Operational
Management 318
4.2.4.2 User Support 1: Upload of Information
into WISE-RTD 318
4.2.4.3 User Support 2: Retrieving Results 321
4.2.5 User Interaction: Evaluation and Adaptation 328
4.2.5.1 First Phase, Before Launch 2003–2007
HCA Period 328
4.2.5.2 Second Phase, After Launch 2006–2008
SPI-Water Workshops 329
4.2.5.3 Evaluation in The Netherlands 330
4.2.5.4 Concluding Remarks 331
4.2.6 Sustainability 331
References 332
Chapter 4.3 EUGRIS – More Than a Database 333
Jo¨rg Frauenstein, Paul Bardos and Antony Chapman
4.3.1 Introduction 333
4.3.2 Initiation of EUGRIS as an EU Funded
Project 334
4.3.3 What Does EUGRIS Oﬀer? 335
4.3.4 Subsequent Development and Expansion
of EUGRIS 336
4.3.5 EUGRIS, AquaTerra and Linking to Other
Portals 341
4.3.5.1 Soil, a Pressing Issue for Information
Exchange 342
4.3.6 Bottlenecks and Options for Future Development 343
4.3.7 Conclusions 346
Chapter 4.4 EuroAquae and its Links to RTD (Research &
Technological Development) & Management 347
Philippe Gourbesville and Jean A. Cunge
4.4.1 Introduction 347
4.4.1.1 Water Sector Industry & Engineering:
Demands & Needs for Hydroinformatics 347
4.4.1.2 EuroAquae Project Description & Joint
Degree 348
4.4.1.3 Erasmus Mundus Framework 349
xxiv Contents

4.4.1.4 Water Sector Educational Environment
in Europe 351
4.4.2 EuroAquae Project History and
Achievements 351
4.4.2.1 Joint Degree Agreement 351
4.4.2.2 Knowledge Skills of Graduates 352
4.4.2.3 Innovation in Education: Virtual
University and HydroEurope 355
4.4.2.4 Internship of 4th Semester and
Employment of Alumni 356
4.4.2.5 Statistics of Four Generations of
Students 356
4.4.2.6 EuroAquae Alumni Association 357
4.4.3 Why is the Proﬁle a Success? 357
4.4.3.1 Hydroinformatics – Links with RTD 357
4.4.3.2 Mobility, Intellectual Proﬁle, Industry
Needs (Research or Industry) 359
4.4.3.3 Link with Management Capacities 362
4.4.4 Developments Thanks to the EuroAquae
Project 363
4.4.4.1 EuroAquae Consortium – Links
between the Partner Universities 363
4.4.4.2 Links between EuroAquae Course and
Industry 363
4.4.5 European Added Value 364
4.4.5.1 Traditional Academia Concept and
EuroAquae Mobility Paradigm 364
4.4.5.2 New Education Paradigm 365
4.4.5.3 Water Sector Industry, Interrelations,
Exportation 366
4.4.5.4 Radiating European Engineering
Approaches and Ethics 367
4.4.6 Future Common Activities: EuroAquae Research
Group 367
References 368
Chapter 4.5 Inserting the Multi-lingual Urban Designer into the
Water Discussion 370
Skye Duncan
4.5.1 Introduction 370
4.5.1.1 Inserting Urban Design into the Science
and Policy Discussion 370
4.5.2 Urban Design, our Pedagogy and our Focus on
Water 371
xxvContents

4.5.2.1 What is Urban Design? 371
4.5.2.2 Urban Design Pedagogy 371
4.5.2.3 Understanding Water and the Multiple
Scales of Urban Design 374
4.5.3 Managing Multiple Languages 376
4.5.3.1 Language of Urban Designers 376
4.5.3.2 Language of Science 378
4.5.3.3 Language of Policy 380
4.5.3.4 Combining the Languages 384
4.5.4 How Science, Policy and Design Interact 384
4.5.5 Future of Hybrid Approaches 386
Acknowledgements 388
Related Reading 389
Section 5 Summary, Way Forward and Conclusions
Chapter 5.1 Concept of Interfacing and Perspectives 393
Philippe Quevauviller, Philippe Vervier and
Marie-Perrine Durot
5.1.1 Introduction 393
5.1.2 Science–Policy Interfacing in the Context of
the WFD 394
5.1.3 Operational Features 395
5.1.3.1 Harmoni-CA Initiative 395
5.1.3.2 WISE-RTD Web Portal 396
5.1.4 General Principles of the Science–Policy
Interface 396
5.1.5 Pilot Initiative: the CIS-SPI Activity 397
References 398
Chapter 5.2 Role of Translators in Science–Policy Interfacing 400
Antony Chapman, Philippe Quevauviller,
Willem J. De Lange and Philippe Vervier
5.2.1 Introduction 400
5.2.2 Rationale behind Translators 401
5.2.3 Role of the Translator 402
5.2.4 Integration of Knowledge 406
5.2.5 Value of Translators 407
5.2.6 Requirements of a Translator 408
5.2.7 Need for Appropriate Relays 408
5.2.8 Conclusions 411
References 412
xxvi Contents

Chapter 5.3 Lessons Learnt and the Way Forward 414
Philippe Quevauviller, Patrick Swartenbroeckx,
Kees J. M. Kramer, Michiel W. Blind and
Marie-Perrine Durot
5.3.1 Introduction 414
5.3.2 Recommendations Expressed within
‘Science-meet-Policy’ Events 415
5.3.3 Successes and Drawbacks 418
5.3.4 The Way Forward – An Operational Science–
Policy Interface 419
5.3.5 Conclusions 421
Acknowledgement 421
References 422
Subject Index 423
xxviiContents

List of Contributors
Peter Allen-WilliamsEnvironment Agency, Waterside House, Waterside
North, Lincoln, LN2 5HA, United Kingdom. E-mail:
[email protected]
Natacha Amorsi Oﬃce International de l’Eau (OIEAU), 15 rue
Edouard Chamberland, 87065 Limoges Cedex,
France. E-mail: [email protected]
Hugues AyphassorhoCEMAGREF, 50 avenue de Verdun, 33612 Cestas,
France. E-mail: Hugues.Ayphassorho@bordeaux.
cemagref.fr
Panagiotis BalabanisEuropean Commission, DG Research, rue de la Loi,
200, 1049 Brussels, Belgium. E-mail: panagiotos.
[email protected]
Paul Bardos r3 Environmental Technology Ltd, Room 120,
Department of Soil Science, The University of Read-
ing, Whiteknights, PO Box 233, Reading RG6 6DW,
United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected].
uk
Alex T. Bielak Environment Canada, Science and Technology
Branch, 867 Lakeshore Road, P.O. Box 5050,
Burlington, Ontario L7R 4A6 Canada. E-mail: alex.
[email protected]
Michiel Blind Deltares, PO Box 85467, 3508 AL Utrecht, The
Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected]
Ilke Borowski University of Osnabrueck, Institute of Environmental
Systems Research, Barbarastrasse 12, 49076 Osnab-
rueck, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]
Leah E. Brannen Environment Canada, Science and Technology
Branch, National Hydrology Research Centre, 11
Water System Science and Policy Interfacing
Edited by Philippe Quevauviller
rRoyal Society of Chemistry 2010
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org
xxviii

Innovation Blvd. Saskatoon, SK. S7N 3H5 Canada.
E-mail: [email protected]
Jos Brils Deltares, Daltonlaan 400, 3584 BK, Utrecht, The
Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected]
Antony Chapman wca environment ltd., Brunel House, Volunteer
Way, Faringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 7YR, United
Kingdom. E-mail: Tony.Chapman@wca-environment.
com
Michel Combarnous ENSAM – LEPT, Esplanade des arts et me´tiers,
33405 Talence cedex, France. E-mail: michel.
[email protected]
Jean A. Cunge 31 Rue Doyen Gosse, 38700 La Tronche, France.
E-mail: [email protected]
Willem J. de LangeDeltares, PO Box 85467, 3508 AL Utrecht, The
Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected]
Je´roˆme Depasse ECOBAG, 15 rue Michel Labrousse, BP 42353, 31 023
Toulouse Cedex 1. E-mail: [email protected]
Skye Duncan Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and
Preservation, Columbia University, 1172 Amsterdam
Avenue, New York, NY 10027. E-mail: skyejduncan
@gmail.com
Marie-Perrine DurotONEMA, the French National Agency for Water and
Aquatic Environments, Hall C, 5 square Felix Nadar,
94300 Vincennes, France. E-mail: marie-perrine.
[email protected]
Erik Fellenius Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, SE-106
48, Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: Erik.Fellenius@
naturvardsverket.se
Patrick FlammarionONEMA, the French National Agency for Water
and Aquatic Environments, Hall C, 5 square Felix
Nadar, 94300 Vincennes, France. E-mail: patrick.
ﬂ[email protected]
Christos Fragakis European Commission, DG Research, rue de
la Loi, 200, 1049 Brussels, Belgium. E-mail: christos.
[email protected]
Jo¨rg Frauenstein Federal Environment Agency, II 2.6, P.O. Box 1406,
D-06813 Dessau-Rosslau, Germany. E-mail: joerg.
[email protected]
Eeva Furman Finnish Environment Institute, Mechelininkatu 34a,
P.O. Box 140, FI-00251 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail:
eeva.furman@ymparisto.ﬁ
Martine Gaeckler Agence de l’Eau Adour-Garonne, 90 rue du Fe´re´tra,
31078 Toulouse Cedex 4, France. E-mail: martine.
[email protected]
Simon Gardner Science Strategy, Environmental Protection Directo-
rate, Environment Agency for England and Wales,
xxixList of Contributors

Block 1, Government Buildings, Burghill Road,
Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, BS10 6BF, United King-
dom. E-mail: simon.gardner@environment-agency.
gov.uk
Philippe GourbesvillePolytech’Nice-Sophia, Universite´de Nice-Sophia
Antipolis, 930, route des Colles, 06903 Sophia Anti-
polis, France. E-mail: [email protected]
Bob Harris Catchment Science Centre, The University of Shef-
ﬁeld, North Campus, Broad Lane, Sheﬃeld S3 7HQ,
United Kingdom. E-mail: r.harris@sheﬃeld.ac.uk
Fred Hattermann Postdam Inst. For Climate Impact Research, Tele-
grafenberg A51, PO Box 60 12 03, 14412 Potsdam,
Germany. E-mail: [email protected]
Darya Hirsch University of Osnabrueck, Institute of Environmen-
tal Systems Research, Barbarastrasse 12, 49076
Osnabrueck, Germany. E-mail: darya.hirsch@usf.
uni-osnabrueck.de
Daniela HohenwallnerUmweltbundesamt, 5 Spittelauer Lande, A-1090
Vienna, Austria. E-mail: Daniela.Hohenwallner@
umweltbundesamt.at
John Holmes University of Oxford, Department of Earth Sciences,
Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PR, United Kingdom.
E-mail: [email protected]
Alison Holt Catchment Science Centre, The University of Shef-
ﬁeld, North Campus, Broad Lane, Sheﬃeld S3 7HQ,
United Kingdom. E-mail: a.holt@sheﬃeld.ac.uk
Irene Huber PTKA, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344
Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany. E-mail: irene.
[email protected]
Eduard Interwies Intersus – Sustainability Services, Chodowieckistr. 2,
10405 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: Interwies@intersus.
eu
Marc Jarry Universite´de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, IBEAS,
Avenue de l’Universite´, BP 1155, 64013 Pau, France.
E-mail: [email protected]
Britta Kastens University of Osnabrueck, Institute of Environmental
Systems Research, Barbarastrasse 12, 49076
Osnabrueck, Germany. E-mail: britta.kastens@usf.
uni-osnabrueck.de
Paula Kivimaa Finnish Environment Institute, Mechelininkatu 34a,
P.O. Box 140, FI-00251 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail:
paula.kivimaa@ymparisto.ﬁ
Pa¨ivi Korpinen Finnish Environment Institute, Mechelininkatu 34a,
P.O. Box 140, FI-00251 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail:
paivi.korpinen@ymparisto.ﬁ
xxx List of Contributors

Kees J. M. Kramer Mermayde, P.O. Box 109, NL-1860 AC Bergen, The
Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected]
Pirjo Kuuppo Finnish Environment Institute, Mechelininkatu 34a,
P.O. Box 140, FI-00251 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail:
pirjo.kuuppo@ymparisto.ﬁ
Xavier Lafon MEEDDAT, 20 avenue de Se ´gur, 75007 Paris,
France. E-mail: Xavier.LAFON@developpement-
durable.gouv.fr
Patrick Lavarde ONEMA-DG, the French National Agency for
Water and Aquatic Environments, Hall C, 5 square
Felix Nadar, 94300 Vincennes, France. E-mail:
[email protected]
Hanna Mela Finnish Environment Institute, Mechelininkatu 34a,
P.O. Box 140, FI-00251 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail:
hanna.mela@ymparisto.ﬁ
Corinne Merly BRGM, Avenue C. Guillemin, 45060 Orle ´ans,
France. E-mail: [email protected]
Stephen Midgley SNIFFER, 25 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA,
Edinburgh, United Kingdom. E-mail: Stephen@
sniﬀer.org.uk
Roger Moore Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Crowmarsh Gif-
ford, Wallingford, Oxon, OX10 6HU, United King-
dom. E-mail: [email protected]
Claudia Pahl-WostlUniversity of Osnabrueck, Institute of Environmental
Systems Research, Barbarastrasse 12, 49076 Osnab-
rueck, Germany. E-mail: [email protected].
de
Daniela Past Umweltbundesamt, 5 Spittelauer Lande, A-1090
Vienna, Austria. E-mail: Daniela.Past@
umweltbundesamt.at
Judy Payne Hemdean Consulting, 308 Kidmore Road, Caver-
sham, Reading RG4 7NG, United Kingdom.
E-mail: [email protected]
Jurgen Plyson 2MPact, Kortrijksesteenweg 1007, 9000 Ghent, Bel-
gium. E-mail: [email protected]
Frank Provost ProvConsulting, Zakstraat 111A, 9112 Sinaai, Bel-
gium. E-mail: [email protected]
Philippe Quevauviller
1
European Commission, DG Research, rue de la Loi
200, 1049 Brussels, Belgium;
2
Vrije Universiteit Brus-
sel (VUB), IUWPARE, Building T, Pleinlaan 2, 1180
Brussels, Belgium. E-mail: philippe.quevauviller@
ec.europa.eu
Jens Christian
Refsgaard
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster
Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark. E-mail:
[email protected]
xxxiList of Contributors

Marc Rijnveld TNO Innovation & Environment, PO Box 49, 2600
AA Delft, The Netherlands. E-mail: marc.rijnveld@
tno.nl
Jennie Savga˚rd Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, SE-106
48, Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: Jennie.Savgard@
naturvardsverket.se
Karl A. Schaeﬀer Environment Canada, Science and Technology
Branch, 867 Lakeshore Road, P.O. Box 5050,
Burlington, Ontario L7R 4A6 Canada. E-mail:
[email protected]
Xenia Schneider XPRO-Consulting Ltd, 7 Nelson Street, CY-2021 Stro-
volos, Lefkosia, Cyprus. E-mail: xenia-schneider@
xpro-consulting.com
Alister Scott SPRU, University of Sussex, Freeman Centre, Fal-
mer, Brighton, BN1 9QE, United Kingdom. E-mail:
[email protected]
Adriaan Slob TNO Innovation and Environment, PO Box 49, 2600
AA Delft, The Netherlands. E-mail: adriaan.slob@
tno.nl
Ben Surridge Catchment Science Centre, The University of Shef-
ﬁeld, North Campus, Broad Lane, Sheﬃeld S3 7HQ,
United Kingdom. E-mail: b.surridge@sheﬃeld.ac.uk
Patrick SwartenbroeckxHydroscan, Tiensevest 26/4, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
E-mail: [email protected]
Guido Vaes Hydroscan, Tiensevest 26/4, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
E-mail: [email protected]
Andre´Van der BekenF. Laurentplein 45, 9000 Gent, Belgium. E-mail:
[email protected]
Thomas VansteenkisteKatholieke Universiteit Leuven, Department of Civil
Engineering-Hydraulics Section, Kasteelpark Aren-
berg 40, 3001 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail: thomas.
[email protected]
Philippe Vervier ECOBAG, 15 rue Michel Labrousse, BP 42353, 31
023 Toulouse Cedex, France. E-mail: directeur@
ecobag.org
Patrick Willems Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Department of Civil
Engineering-Hydraulics Section, Kasteelpark Aren-
berg 40, 3001 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail: Patrick.
[email protected]
xxxii List of Contributors

Section 1: General Introduction

CHAPTER 1.1
Reﬂections on Fundamental and
Policy-oriented Research of
Water System Knowledge over
the Past 25 Years
ANDRE´VAN DER BEKEN
F. Laurentplein 45, 9000 Gent, Belgium
1.1.1 Introduction
In philosophy, reﬂection means thinking in context, by experience and with a
view of evaluation and decision. Since thinking is linked to the language and the
meaning of its words, a correct understanding of the words is essential, especially
in scientiﬁc communication. Hence, it is necessary to start with a few deﬁnitions,
or at least descriptions, of the words and terms used in this reﬂection on water
system science within a perspective of science–policy interfacing.
Scientiﬁc research, policy and management are diﬀerent ﬁelds of human
endeavor, each with their own objectives, methodologies, dynamics, ﬁnality
and evaluation. In this chapter we focus on scientiﬁc research of the water
system. Scientiﬁc research – in short ‘‘research’’ – relates to ‘‘science,’’ deﬁned
as a set of well-established laws or theories and methodologies in a given
domain or discipline. The wording ‘‘investigation’’ is more appropriate for
examining non-scientiﬁc matters. The wording ‘‘water system’’ refers to the
interconnected and complex arrangement of all components of the hydrological
cycle, including its relation to human activities of all kinds. Both system
Water System Science and Policy Interfacing
Edited by Philippe Quevauviller
rRoyal Society of Chemistry 2010
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org
3

approach and operations research or system design are methodologies com-
monly applied to the water system: the former being a mathematical approach
to the study of the components and how the system will behave under various
conditions and leading to ‘‘integrated water resources management;’’ the latter
being the study of objectives and how to accomplish them most eﬃciently,
leading to so-called ‘‘decision support systems.’’
It must be recognized that water research and water policy and management
are not activities with an end in themselves: water research serves scientiﬁc
progress and thus has an indirect impact on society, while water policy and
management serve society directly.
1.1.2 Policy, Management and Knowledge
It is important to distinguish between policy and management:
ﬀpolicyis legislation (i.e.elaborated and adopted by institutions), regula-
tions, strategy and choices, selections and decisions taken by policy-
makers (i.e.government) within the limits of the legislation.
ﬀmanagementis the preparation of choices (scenario building) for policy
implementation, elaboration of rules, procedures, methods or speciﬁca-
tions that will be put into eﬀect by legislation and regulations at policy
level, implementation of decisions taken at policy level, making decisions
(and their implementation) on the management level, supervision and
monitoring, maintenance and renewal of resources, including human
resources (i.e.continuing education and training, professional develop-
ment of personnel); management also includes operation and maintenance
(O&M) of all infrastructures and the preparatory studies, control and
follow-up of new infrastructures.
This distinction betweenpolicyandmanagement, not always well acknowl-
edged or appreciated, is based on the democratic principles of our society.
Crucial aspects are:
1. clear diﬀerentiation between issues, and related decisions, on a policy level
and on a management level;
2. the presence of a management structure (i.e.the executive body) with
suﬃcient ﬁnancial and human resources;
3. the quality, merit and usefulness of the legislation;
4. last, but not least, wise choices and decisions made by the policy-makers.
The wordingknowledgein the title of this contribution also needs attention
together with its corollariesskill, competencyandexpertise:
ﬀknowledgeis an attribute of the individual person, resulting from processes
of learning, understanding, reﬂecting, comparing, selecting the right
4 Chapter 1.1

information and critical and strategic thinking; it is also ‘‘scholarship’’: the
command of learning;
ﬀskillis the ability to perform mental and/or physical routine tasks, it is
space and time dependent and less universal thanknowledge;
ﬀcompetencyis the right balance betweenknowledgeandskillsto perform a
given job, but it includes other attributes of the individual, such asbehavior,
emotion,intuition,attitude,judgment,ethical perception,imagination...;
ﬀexpertiseis obtained by a competent person through practice in his/her
particular sphere of activity. In a more popular way it has been said: ‘‘An
expert is somebody who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a
narrow ﬁeld’’.
It follows thatinformation, a fully neutral and impersonal set of facts or data,
and its corollaries such asinformation managementorinformation transferare
totally insuﬃcient for any kind of water policy or management activity ifdis-
semination of knowledgeis not guaranteed.
1
All kinds of information on the
water system may be available and are often abundant, but if the knowledge to
understand, compare and select the right information, and especially the critical
and strategic thinking is not at hand, water problems cannot be solved.
Knowledgeacts as a ‘‘sluice’’ to mitigate the ‘‘ﬂood’’ ofinformation.
Furthermore, there are many water issues and problems for which research
can donothing:
ﬀon the policy levelthat takes oﬀ through inadequate legislation and reg-
ulations or unwise decisions;
ﬀon the management levelthat arises from misunderstanding or unwise use
of existing knowledge, lack of skills, competency and expertise, misuse of
resources or wrong management, bad operation or neglected maintenance;
in all these cases only better education and training and correct application
of appropriate, eﬃcient and eﬀective quality assurance methods can help.
These issues and problems can be alleviated by eﬀective communication
between science, policy and management, or aninterface: the subject of the
present book. Therefore, fundamental and policy-oriented research of the
water system should be understood as the action to extend our knowledge
and/or to apply existing knowledge to new or emerging problems that have
not yet got a full scientiﬁc understanding or a solution for better policy and
management.
1.1.3 Scientiﬁc Research
1.1.3.1 Objectives
The general aim of scientiﬁc research is moving the borders of our knowledge
and thus contributing to the understanding of phenomena of all kind. We try to
5Reﬂections on Fundamental and Policy-oriented Research

get insight into relations, their origin and consequences. For the water system
this means understanding the interaction between all its components. This
general objective can be pursued both from a philosophical point of view of
curiosity and from the utility point of view of problem solving. Both points of
view have implications for what follows and are also reiterated in a well-known
classiﬁcation of scientiﬁc research:
ﬀfundamental researchpursues no speciﬁc application;
ﬀapplied researchaims at applications of existing or new knowledge. For
water it means: to develop methodologies and technologies for better
protection against excess or shortage of water, for eﬃcient use and re-use
of water, for protection and improvement of water quality.
Other much used terms for this classiﬁcation are: *basic researchand
*targeted research.
Fundamental researchis the basis for anyapplied research: how could one
expect to ﬁnd correct, long-lasting or ‘‘sustainable’’ applications if the phe-
nomena, which are at the origin of the problems to be solved, are not well
understood or consequences are uncertain? Sometimes applied research may be
initiated too early to obtain reasonable or highly-expected results, because
fundamental research of the phenomena lags behind: an issue that creates
frustration with both end-users and researchers.
Policy-oriented researchbelongs to the second category where the expected
results will be employed in the ﬁeld of policy. Given the essential distinction
between policy and management, one should not call all types of applied water
research by this name.Management-orientedresearch is for many research
topics a more correct name.Both types of research will have their speciﬁc
result-expectations.
An example:research towards a new methodology for detecting a given
contaminant is – in its development phase – not policy-oriented, but rather
management-oriented: a better monitoring may be expected. But once the
methodology has been tested, validated and veriﬁed – a process that may take
years – a procedure with related cost–beneﬁt analysis may be then prepared to
incorporate the new methodology into regulations. However, it may be that
doubt exists about the relevance of the given contaminant in matters of health:
now a policy-oriented research on risk assessment might be needed to prepare
for a wise decision.
Many similar examples could be found in, for instance, ﬂood protection
research: if the methodologies for computing/predicting/forecasting ﬂoods –
typicallymanagement-orientedresearch – are not ﬁrst tested, validated and
veriﬁed,policy-orientedresearch for decision support systems is premature or,
in the worst case, dangerous.
Policy-orientedresearch should also not forget about the management issues:
it is not the researcher who will execute the policy-decision but the manager or
practitioner. Therefore, scenarios for policy-makers should in the ﬁrst place
be prepared and elaborated by the practitioners and not by the researchers.
6 Chapter 1.1

Of course, scenarios should be prepared with the latest knowledge about the
compounds of the water system and their management issues and if the
knowledge is not yet available or insuﬃcient at management level,manage-
ment-orientedresearch should help. When it comes to ﬁnding the best or most
eﬃcient or most ‘‘plausible’’ scenario, systems analysis or a system design
approach can be used inpolicy-orientedresearch. In other words:management-
orientedandpolicy-orientedresearch should always go hand in hand. Each
research project should have its clear speciﬁc objectives. It goes without saying
that water policy and management should also rely on contributions of
disciplines that are counted traditionally as human sciences, also called ‘‘soft’’
sciences: history, sociology and psychology, jurisprudence and economic
sciences. Bothpolicy-orientedandmanagement-orientedresearch may need this
‘‘soft’’ support, which is often forgotten or underestimated.
1.1.3.2 Methodology
Scientiﬁc research applies a proven methodology ofobservation, measurement,
analysis, hypothesis and synthesis. Because of this methodology science distin-
guishes itself from the speculative approach. Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), a
pivotal ﬁgure in intellectual and scientiﬁc history, is quoted: ‘‘Measure what is
measurable, and make measurable what is not so.’’ Research is also empirical,
where the experiment with reproducible measurements forms an essential test
for the value of the research. Feynman,
2
winner of the 1958 Nobel Prize in
Physics and famous teacher, wrote:
The principle of science, the deﬁnition almost, is the following: the test of knowledge
is experiment.
If this reproducibility is not possible by the nature of the phenomena (like for
example rainfall), then the number of measurements must be such that valuable
statistical interpretations become possible.
i
Measurements must also be repre-
sentative for the phenomena observed in diﬀerent conditions or locations
and should not disturb the phenomena. Uncertainties about the measurements
should be recognized and not hidden.
Measurements must be analyzed with the help of known basic laws of physics
(in the broadest sense) and theories/hypotheses that must be tested against the
results of the measurements. The quality, precision and representative character
of the measurements play a primordial role. This is mostly already research in
itself: it includes the selection and kind of measurements, locations, duration
and frequency of the measurements, the choice of measuring equipment and the
treatment and handling of the data. Good scientiﬁc research also takes into
account the data and results of the past if these are available: hence the utmost
i
Earth sciences in general (climatology, geology, hydrology, meteorology, vulcanology) share this
limitation of experimental methodology. Incidentally, astronomy, also a science with clear
limitations for experiments, has avoided any connotation with the speculative approach (astrology)
through its word-ending.
7Reﬂections on Fundamental and Policy-oriented Research

importance of a permanent inventory of past measurements and data derived
from these measurements.
The analysis leads to hypothesis and synthesis: in the past the hypothesis/
synthesis following careful experiments had been necessarily limited either to
empirical formulas, graphical or tabular solutions, or to verbal conclusions;
now the hypothesis/synthesis will appeal especially to mathematical or other
models that, by use of the computer, can generate simulations under diﬀerent
scenarios, or even forecast results in ‘‘real-time.’’ However, the hypothetical
character of many results obtained in this manner is often concealed.
Validation, veriﬁcation and interpretation of thus-obtained results are
always essential and must lead to a return to observation, monitoring design,
analysis and models to introduce improvements in the methodology. A parti-
cularly diﬃcult problem today concerns computer models that are not available
in the public ﬁeld and are also not accessible for modiﬁcations.
Research methodology also consists of the ‘‘management’’ of resources
allocated to the research project, of the milestones and deliverables described in
the research contract.
1.1.3.3 Dynamics
The methodology of research requires speciﬁc knowledge, skills, competency
and expertise of the researcher. Seldom will one researcher combine all the
necessary attributes and for this reason team-work is practically always
essential and cooperation with teams of other disciplines will often be appro-
priate. It is not enough to bring together researchers from several disciplines
(pluri-ormulti-disciplinarity
ii
) to study the same subject: there should beinter-
disciplinarity
iii
and possibly alsotrans-disciplinarity,
iv
which could create, under
good circumstances, new research methodologies and even a new discipline.
New disciplines are very important for the progress of research and, for solving
new problems, are sometimes the only possibility. But the creation ofinter-
disciplinarityortrans-disciplinaritydemands much time; likewise, acquiring the
necessary knowledge, skills, competency and expertise of the individual
researcher requires time: serious scientiﬁc research will be always a long-term
activity and never an activity that starts and ﬁnishes with a research contract.
In addition, research occurs on an international scale and cooperation with
teams outside the local borders is obviously a must: research networks oﬀer
many advantages, especially when they operate in the long term with a suitable
structure and code of conduct for the members of the network.
3
Training of
young researchers, continuing education and professional development are also
essential components in the entire dynamics of the scientiﬁc research process.
4
ii
multi-disciplinarityrelates to several disciplines that need to help each other and co-operate,e.g.in
some regions of physics and chemistry, where the same phenomenon is studied but where the
disciplines themselves remain as they are.
iii
inter-disciplinarityis present where unifying theories exist of fundamental problems within
diﬀerent disciplines.
iv
trans-disciplinarityis often used when a problem is looked at in such a holistic way that there is no
longer room any for speciﬁc narrow view of existing disciplines: a new discipline may emerge.
8 Chapter 1.1

1.1.3.4 Finalization
The obtained results of the research must be reported in an understandable
manner – diﬀering according to the target group and following the milestones
and deliverables deﬁned in the contract – and presented with a complete
description of the entire methodology. Where appropriate, measurements and
other data must be reported or, at least, made available to the research com-
munity if requested for testing hypotheses, theories or models. Especially, the
quality of the data must be critically presented. According to the objective of
the research the report will describe and comment on both positive and negative
results: negative results can be very important for the continuation of the
research so that a recurrence of the same wrong or inappropriate methodology
can be avoided. Unfortunately, often successes only are reported or the applied
methodology is not entirely described so that the results cannot be fully assessed
or compared to the results of other researchers. The worst case is where scientiﬁc
communication ‘‘has become accustomed to an ‘‘oﬀ-the-peg’’ writing style,
stringing together pre-digested commonplaces and ersatz for real argument,
debate and controversy’’.
5
A correct code of conduct of the researcher must be
observed and ‘‘responsible scientiﬁc behavior’’ must be requested.
A vital point forms the applicability of the results when the objective of the
research is solving problems,i.e.in applied or targeted research. The manner
of reporting and presentation of the results should be laid down in advance
in the research contract with a view to the applicability of the results. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain the best possible results, but the
commissioner – manager or policy-maker – is responsible for the application/
exploitation of the results:research/management/policyeach have their own
characteristics, responsibilities and ﬁnalization and these should not be fused.
Also, the commissioner must be aware that research will not always produce
useful results: the outcome is, by deﬁnition of research, not predictable. If one
expects prompt solutions for problems, then one should not look for research,
but forconsultancyaccording to agreed codes or rules of practice. The
applicability of the results has to do also with the training of the end-users:
eﬃcient dissemination of knowledge and use of results is more than stream-
lining information or transfer of information from the research community to
the policy-maker or to the practitioner. How and by whom dissemination of the
results will occur and who ensures the training also belongs to the ﬁnalization
of the research and should be described in the research contract. Beside the
immediate reporting to the commissioner or supporting agency, communica-
tion of the results of the research in scientiﬁc journals is an obligation to which
absolutely no researcher can withdraw him/herself. Whether the results of the
research will be public domain or should remain conﬁdential must be deﬁned in
the contract, as well as who is the owner of the results and of the measurements/
data or models that led to the results. The dissemination of knowledge and of
new or renewed understanding on a broader scale – popularization – is as
important, but can best be delivered by those who have skills and talent for this
activity, not necessarily by the researcher him/herself.
9Reﬂections on Fundamental and Policy-oriented Research

1.1.3.5 Evaluation
Like any activity, research must also be evaluated. Firstly, one may compare
the speciﬁc objectives of a given research activity with the general objectives of
the research mission or programme of the research institute, organization or
funding agency. Those general objectives may be derived from a ‘‘foresight’’
study, in itself a diﬃcult activity, which could also be evaluated many years
later. At research project level, result-evaluation is a comprehensive term that
includes both the evaluation of the research methodology, the practicality of
the results and the impact of the research and its results on the socio-economic
development (‘‘impact assessment’’). Result-evaluation is done both by the
researcher and by the end-user. The former will, anyhow, be evaluated by the
research community through the scientiﬁc publications.
v
The latter will test the
results in practice. However, it is often very diﬃcult, sometimes impossible, to
evaluate if the application –or non-application – of the results of the research
will be positive or negative, now or in the future. Evaluation of results in
practice goes paired with the correct ‘‘translation’’ of scientiﬁc results into
practical use and thus with the training of the end-users. A participatory model
and interaction with the researcher must be pursued and with this aim in mind
the principle of networking between researchers and end-users is an important
tool for evaluation. Cost–beneﬁt analysis of research, taking into account the
dynamics of the research, is seldom possible. In contrast, an evaluation of the
research policy is very well possible: comparing the objectives, dynamics,
ﬁnalization and contract conditions of the research projects, implemented in a
given period, could oﬀer interesting elements for an improved research policy in
the future.
1.1.4 Water Research Progress and Problems
1.1.4.1 Progress in General Research based on Technological
Developments
Huge progress has been achieved in the ﬁeld of monitoring thanks to several
technological developments that increasingly pervade research in general but
also the whole society:digitalization, information techniquesandcommunica-
tion.Telemetric systems together with new types of sensors, including remote
sensing techniques of all types, and tele-transmission through radio and
satellite communication allow for wider and more intensive monitoring activ-
ities, including data handling. The advent of the PC (personal computer) in the
early 1980s has changed profoundly not only the methodology of research but
v
Good quality scientiﬁc publications are more important than the number of publications:
unfortunately, the present trend in research-evaluation is to count the numbers. In many cases this
has a negative eﬀect on the quality of the research itself, because the researcher has less time to
’think’ about new experiments while writing yet another scientiﬁc paper about the same results of
his former experiments.
10 Chapter 1.1

also the dynamics of the researcher, his/her relation with both the research team
and community and with the end-user of the research results. Ten years later an
even bigger change took place with the increasing use of the Internet and the
availability of user-friendly software programs for both scientiﬁc analysis and
reporting of results. Geographical Information Systems (now called Geospatial
Information Systems-GIS) were introduced under this name as early as 1962 in
Canada, but the ﬁrst GIS-software in the public domain was released 20 years
later, and it was the PC that made GIS widely accessible in the 1990s. Software,
both in the public domain and in the commercial domain, and digital elevation
models became very popular and are nowadays essential tools for both the
researcher and the manager of the water system.
1.1.4.2 Problems in Water Research
With respect to the development ofinformation technologytwo aspects applied
to water research and management are considered here.
1.Quality and uncertainty of data. All sensors need calibration and, in the
case of remote sensing techniques, this means ‘‘ground truth:’’ this is
especially crucial for rainfall measurements derived from microwave
detection methods, for evaporation, evapotranspiration and soil moisture
data, for certain water quality variables and for sediment suspension in
rivers and other water bodies. Another typical example is the monitoring
of ﬂow rates in rivers and canals, which is essential information for any
water management issue: sophisticated measuring equipment based on
advanced electronics, combined with tele-transmission techniques, oﬀer
unprecedented possibilities for real-time information. However, the
uncertainty of the ﬂow data remains and is fully related to the ﬂow rating
curve in the control section of the river/canal. The establishment and
maintenance of such a rating curve in a well chosen, often constructed,
control section is a diﬃcult and costly procedure. Knowledge about this
lengthy process and the uncertainty of the data isnotonly a matter for
researchers but should be recognized also by managers and policy-makers.
Enhancement of skills and competency and an appropriate organizational
structure are needed to guarantee the quality of measurements and the
monitoring activities as a whole.
2.Safeguarding of data. Digitalization means hardware support and software
to store, retrieve and handle the data; the speed of development of these
tools is such that special attention must be given to the permanent safe-
guarding of measurement data and related handling/analysis of these data
to avoiddigital cemeteries.Once again, managers must recognize fully this
great danger and create depositories with permanent maintenance and easy
access for researchers; policy-makers must decree regulations for making
depositories compulsory to all actors in the ﬁeld of water measurements
and observations, including the very important geological and geophysical
observations derived from drilling or construction activities.
11Reﬂections on Fundamental and Policy-oriented Research

Mathematical modelsof the water systems, using more and more sophisti-
cated modeling techniques made possible through the computer software
developments, found their ﬁrst applications inmanagement-orientedwater
research since the early 1960s,e.g.the Stanford model of 1964 introduced a full
hydrological model at catchment scale, which was the example till today for
such ‘‘lumped’’ models. But the real breakthrough was in the 1980s when
distributed models at catchment scale like the SHE model of 1981 and water
quality models for river networks like QUAL2 of 1984 were ﬁrst introduced.
The former was a commercial product with restricted access to the source
codes, the latter a typical product in the public domain where users are able to
adjust or modify the components of the programme: a distinction that con-
tinues to characterize software development in general and software for water
systems in particular.
vi
Sophisticated models using ‘‘real-time’’ measurements
of rainfall or even forecasting rainfall, for predicting future high river ﬂows and
controlling ﬂood reservoirs, were top-notch in the early 1980s. Similar models
were developed for urban water systems consisting of storm drains, combined
sewer overﬂow structures and retention basins. Integrating water quality in
those models is still a headache for the simple reason that water quantity is well
deﬁned, but water quality is undeﬁned unless a very limited number of com-
pounds governing the water quality are selected.
vii
Moreover, water quality
interacts with biological processes, which are much more diﬃcult to describe in
mathematical terms. Processes such as soil erosion and sediment transport add
greatly to the complexity of the water system. Soil- and groundwater, the
hidden source, were also the target for impressive software development, even
more than was the case for surface water. Since the end of the nineteenth
century the mathematical description of soil- and groundwater ﬂow had been a
beautiful and successful domain for mathematicians while simplifying the
endless diversities of the soil, in which the rain inﬁltrates, and the largely
unknown geological layers, in which the water is stored. GIS ﬁnally oﬀered a
tool to describe in digital format the spatial variability in three dimensions
(3D), provided correct observations and measurements of the characteristics of
the soil and the underground are available.
Operations research or system design also found its way intopolicy-oriented
water research as early as the late-1950s (the Harvard Water Program). But
again, it was in the 1980s that further developments were made when multi-
criteria methods became fashionable and were applied in water policy.
Nowadays they are often called ‘‘decision-support’’ models: they need huge
amounts of data whenever several scenarios are involved since water man-
agement has an impact on many aspects of society.
viii
Hence the term
vi
‘‘Open source’’ describes the practice that gives production and development of computer pro-
grams free entrance into the source material (the source) of the end product. Some people see it as
a philosophy, others consider it as a pragmatic methodology.
vii
The French philosopher Michel Tournier expresses the diﬀerence between quantity and quality as
follows: ‘Sur la qualite ´, on peut discuter a`l’inﬁni, tandis que la quantite´, elle est indiscutable’ (one
can discuss quality endlessly, while quantity is not to be discussed).
6
viii
Many so-called ‘‘decision support models’’ are tools that can be used for simulations in scenario
development, but do not include multi-criteria algorithms.
12 Chapter 1.1

‘‘integrated water management’’ emerged. However, more conspicuous is the
fact that multi-criteria methods need a weighing of criteria or values expressing
the interest of the diﬀerent stakeholders of the water system: the selection of
these weights is the bottleneck, and hence decision support models can oﬀer any
policy proposal until an agreement is reached on the weights of the criteria.
Mathematical models have been called ‘‘the language of the gods,’’ but we
must recognize that models can never represent the real processes fully in all
their details and thus are never ﬂawless. Modeling is always a trade-oﬀ between
complexity, describing all processes as best we can, and simplicity with
unknown processes represented by parameters to be found (or guessed). There
is deﬁnitely an element of imagination or art in modeling, hence the modeler
must be competent and have expertise. The great danger exists that sophisti-
cated models are sometimes used by people who know little about rivers and its
hydraulics, about soils and geology, about water quality and biological pro-
cesses or were never in the ﬁeld observing nature’s mysteries, and nevertheless
take the results of the models for granted and present them to policy-makers as
reliable ‘‘decision support tools.’’
1.1.5 By Way of Conclusion
The above reﬂections do not represent an exhaustive review on issues of the
water system knowledge, research needs and the much needed science–policy
interface. They are certainly biased by the author’s personal experience.
Notwithstanding this limitation, the following statement may summarize the
exercise: ‘‘We must reemphasize the value and importance of observational and
experimental skills’’.
7
Or in a more popular wording: ‘‘Too many models, not
enough experiments’’, a claim that should be examined very seriously in water
research. Fundamental research is needed to understand better the nonlinear
behavior of most processes and the scales at which laws or equations can be
applied. Turbulence, boundary layer dynamics, diﬀusion and dispersion are
basic phenomena in all water processes and still rely on unknown parameters
that can only be found by careful and painstaking research in laboratory
experiments or with many ﬁeld studies. The interaction of water quality with
the biological processes is another ﬁeld where basic research is continuously
needed because new compounds are steadily added or detected in the water
bodies: progress in ecotoxicology and the search for optimality criteria depend
on experiments and the same holds for any improvement of water treatment or
puriﬁcation methods. If our basic knowledge of these processes is not increased,
applied research or targeted research of any kind of the water system is doomed
to be endlessly repetitive and its results at worst unreliable or, at best, of limited
and local value. An eﬃcient and operational ‘‘science–policy interface’’ should
not only play its role in dissemination and communication but has also a
critical role in the balance between fundamental research and applied research.
No doubt water problems and related management issues need targeted
research for solutions or decisions in the short term, and for transferring
13Reﬂections on Fundamental and Policy-oriented Research

knowledge into innovation on the market. But it is also a ‘‘wise’’ policy to
transfer money into new knowledge through fundamental research because
without new knowledge there will soon no longer be any innovation.
References
1. A. Van der Beken,Dissemination of Knowledge and Experience: the Heart of
the Matter, Keynote address at the TRANSCAT Conference ‘‘Integrated
Water Management of Transboundary Catchments’’, Venice, 24–26 March
2004.
2. R. P. Feynman,Six Easy Pieces – Essentials of Physics, Perseus Books,
Cambridge, MA, 1963.
3. J. Bogardiet al., Networking in the Water Sector: Suggestions and Examples
for Good Practice, UNESCO, International Hydrological Programme
IHP-VI, Technical Documents N163. Paris, 2004.
4. A. Van der Beken, Water-related education, training and technology
transfer, inKnowledge for Sustainable Development, Vol. II, Encyclopedia
of Life Support Systems Publ., Oxford, ISBN:0 9542989 0 X; http://
www.eols.net (2002).
5. M.-Cl. Roland, Communication practice and responsible behaviour in
scientiﬁc research,Research’EU,N153, 2007.
6. M. Tournier,Le Miroir des ide´es- Traite´, Mercure de France, Paris, 1995.
7. National Research Council,Opportunities in the Hydrologic Sciences,
Commission on Geosciences, Environment and Resources, National
Academy Press, Washington D.C., 1991.
14 Chapter 1.1

CHAPTER 1.2
Bridging the Gaps between
Science and Policy: A Review of
the Evidence and some Principles
for Eﬀective Action
JOHN HOLMES
a
AND ALISTER SCOTT
b
a
University of Oxford, Department of Earth Sciences, Parks Road, Oxford
OX1 3PR, United Kingdom;
b
SPRU, University of Sussex, Freeman Centre,
Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QE, United Kingdom
1.2.1 Introduction
An understanding of the relevant natural and social systems, appropriately
reﬂected in environmental management decisions, is more likely to result in the
desired outcomes than decisions made in the absence of such understanding.
This proposition lies behind the substantial investment made annually by the
European Commission and European Union Member States in research to
improve our understanding of the natural and social systems that determine the
state of the environment, and to support environmental policy-making and
regulation.
However, the two worlds of science and policy/regulation do not always get
on as well as they might. Concerns are frequently expressed that there is a gap
between them that can lead to several kinds of problems, including:
ﬃpolicies can be developed that are not suﬃciently evidence-based;
ﬃpolicy processes can fail to address problems being highlighted by science;
Water System Science and Policy Interfacing
Edited by Philippe Quevauviller
rRoyal Society of Chemistry 2010
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org
15

ﬃscience can fail to take account of, and respond to, urgent policy needs;
ﬃscience can be conducted in ways that do not produce policy-relevant
results; and
ﬃinadequate communication can fail to bridge these worlds of science and
policy.
At the same time, the context for environmental policy-making and regula-
tion is one of increasing challenge from the private sector, citizens’ groups
and trading partners. Pressures are increasing for more accountability and
for the evidence base on which policies are based to be clearer. This is driving
a more evidence-based approach and requiring the more sophisticated use of
science.
Consequently, a series of oﬃcial European ‘Science Meets Policy’ workshops
and ‘Bridging the Gap’ conferences have been held since 1998, which have
sought to address the relationship between science and policy in the environ-
mental domain in Europe (http://www.sciencemeetspolicy.eu/site/11.asp).
These workshops and conferences have brought together people working at
the science–policy/regulatory interface in the European Commission and the
environmental ministries and regulators of the European member states, and
have been driven by the concern that the relationship between science and
policy has not always been as eﬀective as it should.
This chapter draws on the authors’ work on the boundaries of science and
policy over the last ten years and more. In particular, it summarizes research
carried out over a nine month period in 2005, as a continuation of the Science
Meets Policy initiative, to take stock of the relationship between science and
environmental policy making in Europe and to consider how that relationship
could be improved. The work was sponsored by the UK’s Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Aﬀairs (Defra) as the main input into the
London Science Meets Policy workshop that was held as part of the UK’s
presidency of the European Union.
A ﬁrst stage of the study was to review recent developments in the use of
science in environmental policy making and regulation in Europe. At the same
time, the authors reviewed and brought together the outcomes of the previous
workshops and conferences in the Science Meets Policy and Bridging the Gap
series. A central second stage consisted of interviews with around 100 policy
makers, science advisers and scientists in European member states and the
European Commission. These interviews focused on two main issues:
1. the ‘front end’, the planning and management of research programmes; and
2. the ‘back end’, the dissemination and uptake of science.
In conducting these interviews, the authors were aware that it is hard to make
clean distinctions between the front end and back end of both research and
policy – both roll forward with their own logic and timescales, and are rarely
able to be neatly boxed in cleanly deﬁned stages. Equally, the authors were
16 Chapter 1.2

aware of the work of Gieryn
1
and Wynne
2
amongst others, who challenge the
idea that there is a clear boundary between science and policy, but instead
contend that the boundaries between the two worlds – for there are many – are
constantly created and hotly contested. Players in both worlds want to inﬂu-
ence each other while needing to appear to remain separate:
ﬃPolicy-makers need researchers to provide evidence, advice and legitimacy
for policy decisions. They also often control research funds, and will seek
to obtain ‘relevant’ research by inﬂuencing research agendas and even
methods. At the same time, the more sophisticated policy-makers involved
in science policy realise that they need the science they procure to appear to
be independent of such inﬂuences, so invoke such terms as ‘basic’ science
to describe the research they are supporting.
3,4
ﬃFor their part, researchers need the resources that policy organisations,
such as the European Commission, can provide, while wanting to maintain
their appearance of ‘objectivity’ and independence. They need to do these
things partly to enhance their authoritativeness in the world of policy that
they are seeking to inﬂuence, and partly to establish and expand their
credibility among their scientiﬁc peers. In this respect, ‘basic’ science is
overwhelmingly seen as higher grade – and more easily publishable in top
scientiﬁc journals – and such publishing isthe sine qua nonfor progression
in scientiﬁc careers, along with the ability to raise funds.
5
Nevertheless, the previous discussions in the Science-Meets-Policy and the
Bridging-the-Gap series seemed to categorise themselves under the convenient
headings of ‘front end’ and ‘back end’, and we found these to be points in the
research and policy cycles that respondents found useful as handles on what
can be a complex and confusing area to discuss.
Taking a report of these interviews as its starting point, the third stage of the
study consisted of a ‘Science Meets Policy’ workshop held over three days in
November 2005 and involving 80 policy makers, science advisors and scientists.
The workshop considered the most eﬀective ways forward for the science policy
interface in respect of these two issues. The workshop developed several
recommendations for action by the European Commission and by environ-
mental ministries, regulators and other bodies in European Union member
states.
The work on the front-end and back-end issues is summarized in Sections
1.2.3 and 1.2.4, respectively. Several cross-cutting issues also emerged, which
are discussed in Section 1.2.5. By way of context setting, developments in
Europe over the last ten years in respect of the use of science in environmental
policy making and regulation are summarized in the next section. Section 1.2.6
reﬂects on the ﬁndings of the study in relation to the literature and brieﬂy
considers developments since 2005. Finally, Section 1.2.7 presents principles of
eﬀective science into policy practices.
17Bridging the Gaps between Science and Policy

Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics

differences; some tanners prefer to split after two days, others after
two weeks in tan. Much depends upon the nature of the tan and the
strength of the liquors.
For this class of work, flat, spready and evenly grown cowhides are
obviously the most suitable material, and are invariably used. It is
important, however, that the grain be good, and free from scratches
and similar defects. The tannage must be sweet and mellow, i.e.
contain no acid and little astringent tan. Hence myrabolans and
gambier have always been the favourite tanning materials. A soft
and mellow tannage is the more important, inasmuch as the leather
is not heavily stuffed with grease in finishing. These types of method
for tanning split hides will now be outlined, and the nature of the
currying then indicated.
Type 1.—In this a long mellow liming of 15-16 days is given, much
like that described for harness leather in Section III., p. 72, Type 3.
Only lime is used, but the liquors are not allowed to get dirty. The
three-pit system is much the best. The hides are trimmed at the
rounding tables, and then bated in hen or pigeon dung for three
days at 75°-85° F. The deliming is commenced by washing in tepid
water before bating, and is completed by a bath of boric acid, using
up to 30 lbs. acid per 100 hides as necessary. In this and other
processes for split hides it is essential to obtain all the lime out, but
to do no plumping with acid. Lactic acid may also be used, but it is
not so convenient to hit the neutral point with it.
The tannage consists of oak bark and myrabs together with gambier.
These may be partly replaced by Natal bark, valonia, and quebracho
respectively. It is sometimes desired to have a smooth finish, but
sometimes to work up a "grain." In the latter case the hides are first
put through colouring pits containing fresh leach liquor. In these
they are constantly handled for a few hours. A little experience
indicates which leach liquor will serve the purpose. The hides then
go through the "green handlers" (8°-20°) in two weeks. The liquor is
the old forward handler liquor made up with gambier. The hides may
be sammed and split up at this stage, but the heavier goods may be

tanned further. These heavies and the grains of the split hides now
go through the "forward handlers" (20°-40°) for four weeks, and the
heaviest goods given two layers (40°) of two weeks each, and
making ten in all.
Type 2.—In this a shorter liming of 8-9 days is given with the help of
sulphide. No dung bate is used, but the goods are washed with
water and bated with ammonium chloride and boric acid. The
tannage is chiefly of myrabs, but some valonia or Natal bark may be
used together with chestnut extract and some quebracho. Gambier
is used in the early liquors. The goods are coloured off in drum or
paddle and tanned in several sets of handlers, viz. green handlers
(15°-35°) three or four days; second handlers (35°-60°) two weeks;
forward handlers (60°-80°) 1½ weeks; and floaters (80°-90°) for
three weeks. The tannage is thus 6½ weeks in all. The arrangement
of pits is a matter of local convenience, and the number of sets of
equal strength is determined by the number of hides being tanned.
The hides are split green or after passing through the green set.
After tanning they are oiled with cod oil and dried out.
Type 3 is illustrated by American methods. The goods are tacked on
laths or racks with copper nails in order to ensure smooth grain.
They are then suspended in tan liquors. The tannage is largely with
gambier and in weak liquors, which also help to give smooth grain.
The tendency is to employ handler rounds involving a rather large
number of pits, and to work these on the press system. Handling is
also saved by plumping the liquors instead of shifting the goods
forward, and by rocking the suspenders instead of handling up and
down. The hides are split after about a month, and the heavier
grains laid away in hemlock liquors.
Type 4.—This is a rapid process throughout. The hides are limed in
6-7 days with the help of sulphide, and "bated" by washing in warm
water and then in cold to which hydrochloric acid is gradually added,
finishing off again in tepid water. The hides are now coloured off in
paddles, put through a small handler round (11°-20°) for half a
week, and then split. The grains are drum tanned in a mixture of

chestnut and quebracho extract, over a period of about three days in
which the liquor is strengthened gradually from 30° to 50°. The
fleshes are drum tanned with the old grain liquors after
strengthening with quebracho.
The split hide grains for bag work, after tanning, are drummed in
sumach, rinsed, drained, and oiled up to dry out, with some setting
out. After wetting back they are shaved if necessary, hand scoured,
and heavily sumached again to get a light even colour. The goods
are slicked out, oiled up to samm, reset and dried out. They are next
stained, sammed, printed by machine, dubbined or tallowed,
"grained" (see Part II., Section I., p. 97), brushed and rubbed with
flannel.
REFERENCE.
Bennett, "Manufacture of Leather," pp. 202, 308.
SECTION X.—PICKING BAND BUTTS
It is the paradox of vegetable tannage that the less the pelt is
tanned the stronger is the leather produced. The manufacture of
butts for picking bands affords a good illustration. What is required is
a leather of maximum toughness, pliability and durability. Any factor
reducing the tensile strength of the leather is fatal. Hence, compared
with most other tannages, picking band butts are under-tanned. To
ensure the desired softness and pliability, moreover, it is necessary

to have a mellow liming, rather heavy bating, and a soft mellow
tannage in sweet and weak liquors. The required durability and the
necessity for weak liquors both point to oak bark as the most
suitable tanning material, assisted by some gambier in the early
stages.
A good quality hide is chosen, and given a long and mellow liming of
about 15-16 days. The one-pit system may be used, and the hides
are put into an old lime for about five days with frequent handling
and then placed in a new lime which is made up in a pit containing
about a foot depth of the old liquor. After about twelve days another
⅓ cwt. of lime may be added.
After unhairing and fleshing the goods are bated in pigeon dung for
four days at a temperature of about 78° F., handling twice on the
first and last days. The bating is stopped and the deliming
completed by paddling with boric acid (15 lbs. per 100 butts).
The tannage is commenced by paddling in a spent handler liquor
(4°) to which a little gambier has been added. The butts then go
through the first handlers (5°-15°), which are rounds of ten pits in
which the goods are handled every day in the first week, and
alternate days in the second week, and are shifted forward twice a
week in the next pit. The goods are therefore in this set for five
weeks. Gambier is added to these liquors as needed. The butts next
pass to duster rounds of four pits, in which they are dusted down in
a liquor of 20° for four weeks with 1-2 cwt. of oak bark. The liquor is
obtained from the leaches, and afterwards run alternately to the
leaches and to the first handlers. As many as six layers are now
given of 20°-25° strength, in which the butts are dusted down with
2-3 cwt. oak bark for three weeks. The layer liquors are received
from and returned to the leaches, which are made from the
"fishings" from the layers. The tannage lasts, therefore, 27 weeks, of
which 18 weeks (two-thirds) are in layers.
Shorter tannages are now often given, using stronger liquors, much
as in ordinary dressing leather.

The tanned butts are rough dried, and then wet in for shaving. They
are thoroughly scoured, flesh and grain. They are next drummed for
three-quarters of an hour in sumach, struck out and hung up to
samm. Hand stuffing is best, to avoid any tendering owing to high
temperature, but drum stuffing is also used. After setting out and
stoning on the grain they are stuffed with warm cod oil and laid
away in grease for several weeks, re-oiling occasionally. They may
be stained before stuffing.
REFERENCE.
Bennett, "Manufacture of Leather," pp. 203, 310.
PART II.—SKINS FOR LIGHT LEATHERS
SECTION I.—PRINCIPLES AND GENERAL METHODS OF
LIGHT LEATHER MANUFACTURE
The term "skin," like the term "hide," in its widest sense applies to
the natural covering for the body of any animal, but is generally
used with a narrower meaning in which it applies only to the
covering of the smaller animals. Thus we speak of sheep skins, goat
skins, seal skins, pig skins, deer skins, and porpoise skins. It is in
this sense that it will be used in this volume. The treatment of such

skins to fit them for useful purposes comprises the light leather
trade. Whilst this branch of the leather industry is certainly
utilitarian, the artistic element is a great deal more prominent in it
than in the heavy leather branch. Thus the light leathers are often
dyed and artistically finished, and their final purposes (such as fancy
goods, upholstery, bookbinding, slippers, etc.) have rather more of
the element of luxury than of essential utility. The total weight and
value of the skins prepared, and of the materials used in their
preparation, are naturally considerably smaller than those of the
heavy leather trade. In the latter, moreover, one has to consider the
purpose in view from the very commencement of manufacture and
vary the process accordingly, but in light leather manufacture one
aims rather, in the factory, at a type of leather such as morocco
leather, and only after manufacture is it fitted to such purposes as
may be particularly suited to the actual result. These results depend
very largely upon the "grain pattern" which is natural to the skin of
any one species of animals. Hence in Part II. of this volume it has
been found most convenient to deal with the different classes of
skins in different sections. Just as the hides of ox and heifer were
much the most numerous and important of hides, so also naturally
are sheepskins the most prominent section of the raw material of
the light leather trade. This is the more true because the skin is
valued for its wool as well as for its pelt; indeed, the wool is often
considered of primary importance, and receives first consideration in
fellmongering. Unfortunately for the light leather trade, sheepskins,
though most numerous, do not give the best class of light leather,
the quality being easily surpassed in strength, beauty and durability
by the leather from goat or seal skins.
In the wet work for the preparation of skins for tannage much the
same general principles and methods are embodied as in the case of
hides, but with appropriate modifications. As soft leathers are chiefly
wanted, a mellow liming is quite the usual requirement for all skins.
It is also usual to have a long liming, for some skins (like those of
sheep and seal) have much natural fat which needs the saponifying
influence of lime and lipolytic action of the enzymes of the lime

liquors; whilst other skins (like those of goat and calf) are very close
textured and need the plumping action of the lime and a certain
solution of interfibrillar substance. In consequence of the long
mellow liming, sulphides are not usually necessary, and indeed
sodium sulphide is not usually desirable, on account of its tendency
to make the grain harsh. It is used, however, for unwoolling
sheepskins, in such a manner that the grain is not touched. Similarly
caustic soda is seldom required, and the yield of pelt by weight is
usually a small consideration. Systems of liming show some variety.
The one-pit system is very common, and is less objectionable for a
long mellow liming, but rounds of several pits are also used, and in
some cases even more than one round. This is obviously conducive
to regularity of treatment, and as the work involved in shifting the
goods is much less laborious than in the case of heavy ox hides, it
would seem a preferable alternative. The depilation of sheepskins
involves very special methods of treatment (sweating and painting)
on account of the importance and value of the wool, the quality and
value of which would be impaired by putting the skins through
ordinary lime liquors. The pelts, however, are limed after unwoolling.
In deliming light leathers the process of puering is widely used (see
p. 25). This consists in immersing the skins after depilation in a
warm fermenting infusion of dog-dung. In principle this disgusting
process presents a close analogy with bating, and indeed the two
terms are both used somewhat loosely, but there are nevertheless
several points in which the two processes are radically different. The
dog-dung puer is a process carried out at a higher temperature than
the fowl-dung bate; it is also a much quicker process, and the
infusion employed is generally more concentrated. Whilst the fowl-
dung bate is always slightly alkaline to phenolphthalein the dog-
dung puer is always acid to this indicator, and the course of the
puering may be conveniently followed by testing the pelts with it.
The mechanism of the two processes is also probably somewhat
different. The mechanism of the dog-dung puer has been largely
made clear by the researches of Wood and others, and been found
due partly to a deliming action by the amine salts of weak organic

acids and partly to the action of enzymes from a bacillus of the coli
class, which received the name of B. erodiens, and which effects a
solvent action on the interfibrillar substance. As we have noted (Part
I., Section II., p. 24), the fowl-dung bate involves two fermentations,
in each of which (ærobic and anærobic) several species of bacteria
are probably active. Wood found the bacteria of the bate to be
chiefly cocci, and ascribed part of the difference in mechanism by
the nature of the media, which in the bate includes also the urinary
products. In the dog-dung puer, also, a lipolytic action is probably an
essential part of the total effect. The puer gives a much more
complete deliming and a much softer and more relaxed pelt than the
bate, it is therefore particularly suited to the needs of light leather
manufacture. The puering action has been imitated fairly
successfully by artificial methods. "Erodin" (Wood, Popp and Becker)
involves the use of B. erodiens and a suitable culture medium
including organic deliming salts: "Oropon," "Pancreol" and others
involve the use of ammonium chloride and trypsin, together with
some inert matter.
Light-leather goods are usually drenched after puering. They are
also often split green after the wet work. Sheepskins thus yield
"skivers" (the grain split), whilst the flesh split is often given an oil
tannage (see Part IV., Section III.). The greasy nature of sheep and
seal skins necessitates the processes of "degreasing." In the case of
sealskins this is done largely before liming, but with sheepskins
either after being struck through with tan, or after tannage is
complete. Sheepskins are often preserved in the pelt by pickling with
sulphuric acid and salt, which process forms a temporary leather.
The fibres of the pelt are dried in a separate condition, but the
adsorption is easily reversible and the pelts may be "depickled" by
weak alkalies and afterwards given an ordinary vegetable tannage.
In the vegetable tannage of skins for light leathers, the same
theoretical considerations have force as in the heavy-leather section,
but the former has its own rather special requirements and aims.
Generally speaking, a softer and more flexible leather is required,

but these qualities must not be imparted by stuffing with grease as
in the currying of dressing leather, because a bright and grease-free
result is usually required. Hence it is important that a sweet mellow
tannage be given. The durability of the leather is also a primary
consideration for goods intended for bookbinding, upholstery, etc.,
and the tannage must be arranged to impart this quality and avoid
anything tending to cause the perishing of the fibre. Thus oak bark
is a popular tanning material, and sulphuric acid very definitely
avoided. The tannage must be fast, and take the dyestuffs well, and
for the production of light shades of colour in dyeing must be a light-
coloured tannage. All these qualities are imparted by sumach, which
also fits in excellently with the other general requirements, such as
softness, brightness and durability. Hence sumach is the principal
light-leather tanning material, but the tendency is to employ other
materials—oak bark, myrabs, and chestnut extract—to do much of
the intermediate tanning, so that the expensive and useful sumach
may be used for setting the colour and grain at the commencement,
and for brightening, bleaching and mordanting the leather at the
end of the tanning process. Weight is generally no consideration, but
area is often a definite aim, partly because some goods are sold by
area and partly because the striking out, setting out and similar
operations improve the quality of the leather by giving evenness of
finish. Leather well struck out, moreover, is less liable to go out of
shape. As the grain pattern is so important in the finished leather,
appropriate care must be taken during tannage. If a smooth or a
fine grain finish is wanted, for example, the goods must not be
allowed to get wrinkled, creased, doubled or unduly bent to and fro
during the tanning. For such goods, suspension, careful handling
and even the "bag tannage" may be desirable, whilst for coarser and
larger grains paddles or drums may be more extensively used.
Amongst the finishing processes dyeing holds an important position.
The nature of the process has many points of similarity with that of
tanning. The great specific surface of pelt is probably more
enhanced than otherwise during tannage, at any rate with light
leathers, owing to the isolation of fibres, and consequently leather is

as liable as pelt to exhibit adsorption. The dyestuffs, on the other
hand, are substances very easily adsorbed. Some (like eosin and
methylene blue) are crystalloids, some (like fuchsin and methyl
violet) are semi-colloids, whilst others (like Congo red and night
blue) are undoubted colloids forming sols (usually emulsoid) with
water as dispersion medium. The crystalloids and semi-colloids may
also be obtained in colloidal solution, sometimes being so changed
on the mere addition of salts to the solution. In addition, the pelt
has been mordanted with tannin. If, however, leather has been kept
long in the rough-tanned or "crust" state, this may not be so
effective, owing probably to the secondary changes in tanning (Part
I., Section III., p. 46), but such leathers are usually "retanned" or
prepared for dyeing by sumaching (which process also incidentally
bleaches). The tannin mordant assists materially in the fixation of
the dyes. In the case of basic dyestuffs, lakes also are formed, i.e.
there is a mutual precipitation of oppositely charged colloids (+dye,-
tannin). The dyeing of leather is thus a case of colloid reactions even
more complicated than that of tanning.
Another finishing operation typical of the light leathers is "graining"
or "boarding." In this the skins after dyeing and drying are worked
by a board which is covered by cork, rubber, perforated tin or other
material, and so grips or "bites" the leather. The object of "graining"
is to work up the grain pattern by pushing or pulling a fold on the
skin with the board. The nature of the grain varies with the thickness
and the hardness of the skin, with the amount of pressure applied,
with the nature of the board, with the direction of the boarding and
with the total number of directions boarded. There is thus infinite
scope for variety of finish, and hence arise bold grain, fine grain,
hard grain, straight grain, cross grain, long grain, etc. The operation
requires considerable skill and experience. In the case of skins with
little natural grain (such as sheepskin) embossing and printing
machines impress the desired pattern.
In seasoning, a dressing is applied containing essentially albumins
and emulsified fats, e.g. egg albumin and milk. Colouring matters

are also often added to intensify or modify the shade. After
seasoning the goods are usually "glazed" by a machine which rubs
the seasoned grain with considerable pressure, by a glass or
hardwood tool, and so produces a high gloss, for which the
seasoning is very largely a preparation. Light leathers are very lightly
oiled with linseed or mineral oil.
REFERENCES.
Procter, "Principles of Leather Manufacture," pp. 220, 394.
Bennett, "Manufacture of Leather," pp. 36-41, 55, 85-90, 92-112,
312, 332.
Wood, "Puering, Bating and Drenching of Skins."
Lamb, "Leather Dyeing and Finishing."
SECTION II.—GOATSKINS
Goatskins are amongst the most valued raw material for the
manufacture of light leather. The leather obtained from them is of
the very finest quality in respect to durability and adaptability to the
principal purposes in view. The texture of the fibres in goatskin is
exceedingly compact and very strong, whilst the grain exhibits
naturally a characteristic pattern which renders it most suitable for a
grained finish. Hence for purposes like upholstery, bookbinding,
slippers, it forms almost an ideal material. The tanning and finishing

of goatskins into "morocco leather" may indeed be taken as a quite
typical example of light leather manufacture.
The skins are obtained from all quarters of the globe where goats
exist, and the excellent quality of the leather produced has created a
demand which is greater than the supply. This is due not only to the
demand for morocco leather, but also to the popularity of the
goatskin chrome upper leathers such as "glacé kid" (see Part III.,
Section IV.). The large American trade in the latter has produced the
saying that wherever there is a goat there is an American waiting for
it to die! The European supply of skins is somewhat limited. They
are obtained from the Balkans and Bavaria, in which case they are
small, fine-grained and plump skins. The Swiss goatskins are larger,
and have also a fine grain; they are well grown and well flayed.
Scandinavian skins have a poor reputation, being very flat. The
African supply is important; Abyssinian skins are exceedingly
compact and tough, and are very suitable for "bold grain" finishes.
The Cape skins are particularly large, strong and thick, but their
quality is often impaired by the cure, the skins being flint-dry, and,
like hides so cured, prone to unsoundness. Large quantities of
goatskins also come from the East. Many of these are imported in a
tanned state (E.I. Goat). These skins are tanned with turwar bark,
which contains a catechol tannin. They are also heavily oiled with
sesame oil, and need degreasing. The tannage is also stripped as far
as practicable, and the skins retanned with sumach before finishing.
They make good morocco leathers for many purposes, but the
primary catechol tannage renders them ineligible for finishing under
the specifications of the Committee of the Society of Arts. The skins
have a Persian or Indian origin. India also supplies a large number of
raw dried goatskins which are small and of variable quality. These,
however, are more extensively used for chrome uppers.
Goatskins are imported in either a salted or a dried condition. The
great aim of soaking is to obtain the skins in a thoroughly soft
condition. Hence the soaking is prolonged, and some mechanical
treatment is desirable in addition to various steepings in water. To be

certain of softness it is desirable to avoid the use of alkalies in the
soak waters, for although they cause hydration of the fibres by
imbibition, they also have a plumping effect which is not wanted at
this stage. Salted goatskins are first immersed in water and left until
the following day. This dissolves the salt. They are then stretched
and given a fresh soak liquor of water only to soften further, clean,
and remove the rest of the salt. This second water lasts only a few
hours, and the goods are then drummed well in running water. This
not only cleans quickly, but has an excellent softening effect. They
are again returned to a soak liquor, then softened mechanically by
working them over a beam. This treatment must be repeated,
drumming again if necessary, until the skins are perfectly relaxed
and thoroughly softened. If the treatment be very prolonged it
becomes advisable to use antiseptics in the soak waters after the
first drumming. Solubilized (or emulsified) cresols of the "Jeyes fluid"
type are the most suitable antiseptics, but too much must not be
used or the sterilization affects the liming, in which bacterial action is
needed. Flint-dry skins are left longer in the first soak, which should
be of water only. They are then given a fresh soak liquor containing
0.2 per cent. of sodium sulphide. Sometimes a 1.0 per cent. solution
of borax is used instead; it softens excellently, is antiseptic, and
avoids the plumping effect, but is rather expensive. The goods are
next drummed well, and resoaked and worked as for salted skins. In
either case the soaking takes about a week.
The liming of goatskins presents some points of contrast with the
methods used for other skins. These differences are due to the
exceedingly tight and compact nature of the skin fibres. This
compactness of texture makes it quite necessary to dissolve the
interfibrillar substance to a greater extent than usual, and also to
plump the fibres and split them into the constituent fibrils. These
effects are essential to obtain a rapid and complete tannage and a
soft leather. Too much bacterial action should be avoided, however,
or the brightness and soundness of the grain may be impaired,
which would be a fatal defect in such a leather. Hence the liming is
long rather than mellow, and sharp limes rather similar to those

required for sole leather are often used. Another result of the tight
texture of goatskin is that depilation is not easily effected. This
feature is rather intensified by the deepness of the hair-root. Hence
it is usual to employ sulphides to assist the depilation. In one
method two rounds of five pits are used. The skins are given about
two days in each pit, so that the liming lasts approximately three
weeks. In the first round, which consists of rather mellow limes,
arsenic sulphide is used to assist depilation. Up to 6 per cent. on the
weight of lime is added during slaking. This is a comparatively large
amount of arsenic sulphide, and the depilation is considerably
hastened; the skins indeed are unhaired after passing through this
round, i.e. after about 10 days' liming. In the next round the object
is plumping, and caustic soda (or carbonate) is added to the lime
liquors in quantities comparable to those suggested for sole leather
(Part I., Section V., pp. 55, 56). In this round the goods stay also for
about 10 days. An alternative to the above process is to hasten the
earlier part of the liming by employing sodium sulphide instead of
realgar. More sulphydrate may be obtained in solution in this way,
and the unhairing may be in about half the time. The sulphide of
soda also commences the plumping action which follows in the next
round, but this alternative has the disadvantage that the skins are
unhaired whilst the pelt is swollen with sulphide, which renders the
grain both harsh and tender and consequently more liable to
damage by the unhairer's knife.
Deliming is by puering and drenching, and is often associated with a
further mechanical working of the goods. The skins are inserted into
a puer liquor at 85° F. and thoroughly pulled down. The caustic
alkalies should be completely neutralized. A slight cut into a thick
part at the butt end should develop no pink colour with
phenolphthalein. The skins should be thoroughly relaxed, and the
swelling so much eliminated that they are quite soft, weak and
"fallen." The resilience and elasticity of the plumped skins should
have quite disappeared, and the impressions of hand or thumb
should be readily retained by the pelt. The grain should appear white
and possess a soft and silky feel. In this condition they are again

worked over the beam to soften further if possible. They are then
rinsed and again worked over the beam. Drenching follows with 10
per cent. of bran on the pelt weight, the operation commencing at
85° to 95° F., and lasting till next morning. The skins are next
scudded thoroughly to remove all dirt, but carefully so as not to
damage the grain.
In tanning, sumach and oak bark are the staple materials. Sumach
gives a much lighter colour, and hence it is used alone for goods that
are to be dyed the lighter shades, but oak bark is a "faster" tannage
and more preferable for dyeing in those cases where blacks and very
dark shades are wanted. For ordinary purposes a blend is usually
employed. A feature of oak bark, also, is that it tends to make a
firmer leather, so that the proportion used must be adjusted with
this fact in mind as well as the question of colour. For firmer
moroccos the skins may pass through a handler round of oak-bark
liquors (10°-20°) in which a certain amount of sumach is added to
the liquors. The sumach is leached and assists both in tanning and
bleaching as the liquor works through the round. The old liquor is
run to a paddle, and the tannage is commenced by paddling the
drenched skins in this liquor. It is advantageous both for the tannage
and for the efficient "spending" of the sumach if this liquor be
slightly warmed. In the early pit liquors the goods are very
frequently handled. There is, however, the usual tendency of the
times to save labour in this direction, and hence it is common to
have several paddles with liquors of gradually increasing strength,
followed by a shorter round of handlers in which the handling is
more infrequent. Instead of paddles latticed drums may be inserted
into pits containing liquors. These, however, are not quite so
convenient. In some tanneries, especially where sumach only is
employed, the tannage is in paddles throughout. A new liquor is
made up with fresh sumach and is used repeatedly until exhausted.
A three-paddle system sometimes obtains, in which case the
operation closely resembles the three-pit system of liming (Part I.,
Section II., p. 19), and the skins pass through an "old" liquor, a
"medium" liquor and a "fresh" liquor. The goods need not be paddled

the whole day through, and indeed in the later stages this is
undesirable. The packs remain several days in each liquor and take
up to 14 days to tan. Two to three bags of sumach are needed for
about 20 dozen goatskins. This method of tanning is efficient and
convenient for bold-grain finishes, on account of the constant
tumbling and bending of the skins which tends to work up a grain.
For very soft leathers and fine-grain finishes, however, the "bag-
tannage" or "bottle tannage" is favoured. In this method the pelt is
stitched up by machine to form a bag, grain outwards, leaving a
"neck" in the hind shank. The bag is nearly filled with a fairly strong
infusion of sumach, inflated with air and tied up at the neck. The
bags are then placed into a vat of warm sumach liquor, in which they
just float. The bags are pushed down and the liquor stirred up, so
that the goods are in constant motion. After a few hours they are
piled on a rack, and the tan liquor of the interior is caused to diffuse
through the skins by the pressure due to the weight of the pile. The
bags are refilled with fresh and stronger sumach liquor and the
process is repeated. The skins are thus lightly but effectively tanned
in about 24 hours, and the leather has very fine grain and soft feel.
However tanned the skins are dried out after tanning, and sorted in
the "crust" according to size and colour. The larger skins are
preferred for upholstery and the smaller for fancy goods and
bookbinding.
To illustrate the course of finishing operations, the case of hard-grain
morocco for bookbinding may be given as typical. The goods are wet
back with warm water and drummed for 1-2 hours in warm sumac
to prepare for dyeing. They are then struck out by machine,
sammed and shaved. Dyeing follows, with acid colours, in a drum.
The goods are run first in a little water and the dyestuff added very
gradually through a hollow axle. The acid required (preferably
formic) is added later to develop the full shade. Warm solutions are
used, and the dye bath is practically exhausted. The goods are next
placed in cold water to wash off superfluous liquor and free the skins
from acid. They are then horsed to drain, struck out and hung up to
samm. They are seasoned with milk and water and piled to temper.

They are "tooth rolled" in the glazing machine two ways: right-hand
shank to left fore shank and vice versâ, and piled again. After
wetting back again they are "wet grained" by hand with a cork board
in four directions: belly to belly, shank to shank, and across as
before, and finally from neck to butt. They are immediately hung up
in a warm shed to dry, and to fix the grain. They are then softened
by "breaking down" with a rubber board, top seasoned, piled to
temper and dry, brushed lightly, piled again, brushed more heavily,
and dried out. They are finally softened by graining in three
directions: shank to shank and across, and neck to butt. They are
then brushed again. If these skins are wanted for upholstery they
are shaved after dyeing, and nailed on boards to samm. They are
also dried out in a cooler shed or "stove," to ensure softness.
REFERENCE.
Bennett, "Manufacture of Leather," pp. 39, 55, 89, 111, 204, 344,
396.
SECTION III.—SEALSKINS
A special class of morocco leather is manufactured from the skins of
seals. This should not be confused with the "sealskin" of popular
parlance, which is manufactured from the skin of a different animal.
All the fin-footed mammals (Pinnipedia), except the walrus, are
termed seals, but they are divided into two families. The Otariidæ

are known by their possession of small but distinct external ears:
into this class fall the fur-seals whose skin is dressed with the fur on,
for women's jackets, muffs and caps. The Phocidæ are that family
without external ears: the skins of many species (Phoce
Greenlandica, Phoco barbata, etc.) of this family are unhaired and
given a vegetable tannage, thus forming the raw material of sealskin
morocco leather. It is with the latter that this section will deal.
As the seal is a marine animal and is partial to the colder seas, its
skin is very oily. The skins are imported in a salted condition from
both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. North Europe, North America
and Newfoundland supply many skins, and the southern material is
supplied chiefly through the Cape. Sealskin shares with goatskin the
properties of compact texture, strength of fibre, and great durability,
all of which fit it for the manufacture of moroccos for upholstery,
bookbinding, etc. It is, however, readily distinguishable from
goatskin by its characteristic grain pattern.
In soaking sealskins the object is not only to soften thoroughly, but
also to effect the recovery of as much seal oil as possible before the
liming commences. This is desired because the oil is in itself a
valuable bye-product, and because its removal is essential to a
satisfactory liming and tannage. The removal of the oil is materially
assisted by raising its temperature, so that the soaking of sealskins
is often done with warm water (85°-88° F.), after which treatment
they are laid over the beam and scraped with a blunt knife on both
flesh and grain. The oil flows away into a special receptacle. This
treatment is repeated until the bulk of loose oil is removed. The
process is known as "blubbering" or "brushing over." After some
soaking the skins are drummed to ensure softness. The skins are
then fleshed. More oil may be obtained from the fleshings.
By fleshing before liming a more regular action of the lime is
obtained. This is necessary to "kill" the grease still remaining in the
skin. A long and mellow liming is given for the same reason. Fully
three weeks are given, and old limes are much preferred, partly to
obtain the maximum lipolytic action and partly to avoid the intense

ribbing of the pelt which new limes so easily impart to the older
animals. These ribs are very difficult to eliminate in the subsequent
work. Some factories find it necessary to finish up in new limes,
however, in order to plump and split the compact fibre bundles into
their component fibrils. The plumped pelt is also easier to split
green. No sulphides are usually employed. Sweating (see Section IV.,
p. 113) is sometimes used for depilation, and in this case the ribbing
of the pelt does not take place.
The puering is unusually thorough with sealskins. This is to obtain
the maximum softness and take full advantage of the lipolytic action.
The puer liquor is fully 95° F., and the skins are paddled for about
three hours, or until fully pulled down and completely delimed.
Scudding follows, now usually by machine. The skins are then well
drenched. The action is intensified by the use of peameal in addition
to the bran. About 10 per cent. of the mixture on the weight of pelt
is used. It is customary, however, to drench at a lower temperature
(68°-70°) than in the case of goatskins (Section II., p. 102), but the
goods are left in the drench overnight only, as is usual in drenching.
It is quite possible that drenches worked differently may have also a
somewhat different fermentation and be due to other organisms
than the symbiotic bacteria discovered by Wood. It is equally
possible that the acids produced are also different, in relative
proportion, if not in nature, and that consequently there is a real
difference in the practical effect. In the Author's opinion, the great
probability is that in the drench are several fermentations, and that if
the action be reduced by lowering the temperature, but intensified
by adding peameal to the bran, some of these fermentations are
encouraged at the expense of others.
The tannage of sealskins depends upon the size of the skins, the
purpose for which they are intended, and whether they have been
split or not in the limed state. The largest and coarsest skins
intended for boot uppers, and those which have been heavily
scratched on the grain and are only suitable for enamels, are given a
tannage which may last about 5 weeks. The liquors are made from

oak bark and mimosa bark, and are made up to 35° with gambier
and possibly myrabolans extract. For fancy work also heavy skins are
used, but a softer tannage is needed. If for blacks the tannage is
with gambier and chestnut extract. Two sets of handlers are given
(10°-15° and 15°-20°), using only gambier in the green sets. They
are well sumached after tanning to bleach and to mordant. If for
colours, only sumach and oak bark are employed. The skins are first
paddled for 3-4 days in sumach liquors, in which they are coloured
through. The liquors may be warmed; this quickens the tannage and
also leaches the sumach. The skins are then split, and the grains
pass through a handler set with liquors made from oak bark
(8°-24°). The skins are in this set for 3 weeks, in the first half of
which they are very frequently handled. They are finished off by
paddling for 1 or 2 days in a fresh liquor containing much sumach,
which mordants the skins and bleaches the bark tannage. The flesh
splits are given a drum tannage in chestnut and quebracho extracts.
If small skins are being tanned for bookbinding purposes, sumach
only is employed, and usually the tannage is entirely in paddles.
In finishing many types of grain may be obtained, in blacks and in
colours. The finishing of "black levant" may, however, be selected as
a typical case. The skins are soaked back, tempered, and either split
or shaved, according to their substance and the size of grain
wanted. The thin skins of course give the fine grains. Mixed
tannages need scouring and possibly sumaching. The skins are then
oiled up with linseed oil, sammed, set out and blacked. In this last
operation the grain is brushed over with a solution of logwood and
ammonia, and afterwards with the iron mordant which often
contains glue. They are next hung up for a while and then "wet
grained" in four directions—belly to belly, shank to shank, across,
and neck to butt. After hanging up in a hot stove to set the grain,
they are cooled, fluffed on the flesh, and seasoned on the grain with
a solution of milk and blood. A little black dyestuff may be added to
the season. The season is well brushed in, the skins dried
somewhat, and then glazed. They are then grained four ways again

as above, dried out in the stove, and lightly oiled with warm linseed
oil on the grain.
REFERENCE.
Bennett, "Manufacture of Leather," 40, 56, 90, 112, 206, 251, 312,
346, 383.
SECTION IV.—SHEEPSKINS
The most numerous class of skins for light leathers is from the
common sheep. These skins have particular value inasmuch as they
include the wool as well as the pelt. This wool, which is actually the
most valuable part of the sheep's skin, is the raw material of our
woollen industries, and is one of the most important of animal
proteids. We have, therefore, in this section to consider this dual
value of sheepskins, the proteid of the epidermis (wool), and the
proteid of the dermis (pelt); one the raw material of the woollen
industry, the other the principal raw material of the light leather
trade. The first problem is to separate the two proteids. With other
skins and hides the ordinary liming processes were sufficient and
appropriate, but in the case of sheepskins the method is unsuitable,
because the exposure of the wool to the action of caustic lime and
possibly other alkalies would seriously impair its quality and reduce
its commercial value. Hence this separation of wool from pelt is
usually quite a separate business, viz. that of the "fellmonger,"

whose occupation it is to collect the sheepskins from butchers and
farmers, to separate the two important constituent proteids, and to
hand the wool in one direction to the "wool stapler," who sorts it
according to quality, and to hand the pelt in another direction to the
light leather tanner, who tans and finishes the pelt to fit it for light
upper work, fancy goods, etc.
In the first instance, therefore, we have to consider the work of the
fellmonger, the separation of wool and pelt. In this work the wool
receives first consideration, and the raw material of the fellmonger is
usually classified accordingly into "long wools," "short wools," and
"mountain breeds." The skins vary very largely in quality of wool and
in quality of pelt, being influenced very strongly by the conditions
under which the sheep lived, and by the precise breed of animal
from which the skin has been taken. As in the case of hides (Part I.,
Section I., p. 8), animals exposed to extremes of weather develop
the best pelts, whereas those sheep which have been carefully bred
and reared for the sake of their wool yield a thin and poor class of
pelt. In Britain, and more especially in England, are reared the finest
and most valuable sheep. This is evident from the prices paid for
them by foreigners and colonial breeders when seeking new blood
for their flocks and fresh stock for their lands. As much as 1000
guineas have been paid by an Argentine firm for a single Lincoln
ram.
Long wools are obtained from some of the best and most extensively
bred animals. The "Cotswolds" are the largest, and probably the
original breed of England are still found on the Cotswold Hills. They
have long wool, white fleeces, white faces, and white legs, and have
no horns. The wool is fine, but the pelts are particularly greasy,
especially along the back. A later breed originating in the Midlands
was called the "Leicester" long wool. This breed gives a great cut of
wool and much coarse mutton. It is very extensively distributed in
the North of England and has been much crossed, so that many sub-
breeds are now well known, e.g. the "Border Leicester"—the general
utility sheep of Scotland—and the "Yorkshire Leicester" or

"Mashams," much bred in Wensleydale. "Lincolns" are another long
wool found only on the Lincolnshire Wolds. They also have white
faces and shanks and yield a large pelt with fine grain. They give a
big crop of wool. "Devons" are a smaller breed common in
Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. They yield a fairly long wool of great
strength, but not quite white. Romney Marsh sheep ("Kents") are
also long wools. They have white legs, white faces, a tuft of wool on
the head, and no horns. The pelt is large and good. "Roscommons"
are an Irish cross-breed with much Leicester blood. They yield a
long wool and a spready pelt.
Short wools are typified by the "Down" sheep. These sheep are
extensively bred on the chalk lands which comprise a very large
percentage of the southern counties of England. The "South Downs"
are the best and most important, the breed being the general utility
sheep of England. They are small but well-shaped animals with grey
faces, no horns and fine close wool. The pelt is only fair, but the
mutton is excellent and provides the meat sold in our best shops.
This breed has largely stocked New Zealand. The "South Down" is a
somewhat delicate animal, and has therefore been largely crossed
with Cotswolds and other breeds. Many well-known cross-breeds are
found in the eastern and southern counties. The "Suffolks," for
example, are found in the eastern counties. They have black heads,
faces and legs. "Oxfords" and "Hampshires" are similar, but larger.
"Shropshires" are another hardy cross-breed, which yield a heavier
fleece. All the cross-breeds are larger than the South Down and yield
bigger pelts.
Mountain breeds yield wool of varying quality but give the best pelts.
The "Cheviots"—much favoured by the Scotch farmers—have a wool
of medium length but with much hair in it. They have white faces
and legs and no horns, and yield excellent pelts. The "Black-faced
Mountain Sheep" have longer wool but coarse, and yield good pelts.
They are kept in the hilly parts of North England and in the Scottish
Highlands. "Lonks" yield a large and good pelt, but very coarse wool.
The mutton is good. They are a very large breed with much curved

horns and black faces. There are also some small breeds, "soft
wools," "Shetlands," and "Welsh Mountain Sheep." The wool of the
last two is poor, but the Welsh pelts are valued for their fine grain.
There are large numbers of sheepskins also imported, from South
and Central America, and from Australia, New Zealand and the Cape.
The colonies, however, have often done their own fellmongering,
and we have imported pickled pelts. They now tan the skins also,
and many tanned sheepskins are now imported. There are also
many Indian skins imported after tannage with turwash bark (cp.
E.I. Goat, Section II., p. 100).
The depilation is brought about by "sweating" (or "staling") and by
"painting." The immediate object of both these types of method is to
avoid using any thing which will affect the wool. The sweating
process is the most ancient method of unhairing and is used in
America for hides as well as sheepskins. It consists of a more or less
regulated putrefaction. The loosening of hair or wool has long been
accepted as evidence that putrefaction had commenced in a hide or
skin, and it is the aim of the sweating process to stop the action at
that stage, before any damage has been done to the pelt. This aim
is achieved rather imperfectly by suspending the goods in closed
chambers and regulating the temperature and humidity by means of
steam and water. Such chambers are known as "sweat pits" or
"tainting stoves". In the case of sheepskins the "warm-sweat"
system is generally used, and the operation is carried out at 75°-80°
F. A satisfactory yield of wool is obtained in good condition, but the
pelt is very liable to suffer bacterial damage and show "weak grain."
The skins are first cleaned by a few "soaks" in clean fresh water,
with intermediate help from a "burring machine" which presents a
rapidly revolving set of spiral blades to the wool, and in the presence
of a good stream of water quickly removes all dirt from the wool.
The skins then enter the tainting stove, and the operation is
commenced by a slight injection of live steam. In summer, about a
week is sufficient to loosen the hair, but in winter up to two weeks
may be necessary. Little control of the process is possible, and all
that can be done is to watch the goods carefully near the end of the

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Water System Science And Policy Interfacing Andre Van Der Bekenmichiel Blindilke Borowskijos Brilsanthony Chapman Et Alall Authors

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Water System Science And Policy Interfacing Andre Van Der Bekenmichiel Blindilke Borowskijos Brilsanthony Chapman Et Alall Authors

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