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Impacts of the Built Environment on the Water Cycle

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Impacts of the Built Environment on the Water Cycle

The built environment, and new development in particular, can have a significant impact upon water cycle process both at the immediate site level and the larger, regional scale.

These impacts can be grouped into four interrelated areas: flood risk; water abstraction and treatment; climate change; and water quality. This section summarises the impacts in these four areas. Click on the links below for information on each impact area.