MaRIUS is part of NERC’s UK Droughts and Water Scarcity Programme.
The Programme aims to deliver evidence to inform adaptation and management decisions before, during and after drought events, and in the context of increasing concerns about water security. It has the following goals:
Characterise the drivers and nature of droughts and water scarcity. Examine the multiple and inter-linked impacts of UK droughts and water scarcity on the environment, agriculture, infrastructure, society and culture and the trade-offs between them. Develop methods to support decision making for drought and water scarcity planning and management.
4 projects were funded under the UK Droughts & Water Scarcity Programme, including MaRIUS:
- Historic Droughts: Understanding past drought episodes to develop improved tools for the future
- IMPETUS: IMproving PrEdictions of Drought To inform USer decisions
- DRY: Drought risk and you
Another project that MaRIUS will be building upon includes the Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (ITRC), which is developing a new generation of infrastructure system simulation models and tools to inform the analysis, planning and design of National Infrastructure covering energy, transport, water, waste, and information and communication technologies.