Hello to Team Scotland!

May 7, 2025

At  Envireau Water, all of our locations reflect a hub of innovation and expertise, and we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to reintroduce our friendly team, starting in Scotland!


Having established our Scottish office almost 5 years ago, our team continues to flourish and reflect the growing demand for water resource consultancy throughout Scotland, particularly within the food and drink and minerals sector.


Keep reading to find out more about our water experts!


Chris Woodhouse: Principal Hydrogeologist


Chris joined us in early 2021 and leads our team in Scotland. A Chartered Geologist and Fellow of the Institute of Quarrying, Chris has over 13 years of technical experience across a range of areas, from water supply development and dewatering assessments to effluent discharge and flood risk management. Chris oversees projects primarily in the minerals and quarrying and waste and distilling industries and also provides expertise on projects across the UK, primarily in the minerals and waste sectors.

Shona Symon: Principal Hydrogeologist


Shona joined our Scottish office in Summer 2021 as a Senior Hydrogeologist, and has 8 years of technical experience with a strong focus on water resource management. Shona has vast [CW1] experience across the UK, delivering private and public water supplies for a diverse range of sectors. Shona specialises in borehole design and drilling supervision, particularly for the distilling industry, as well as bottled water and soft drinks clients. She also supports the minerals and landfill sectors with planning applications, licensing, and permitting.


Katy Irving: Senior Hydrogeologist


Katy joined joined in summer 2023 with previous consultancy experience where she primarily worked on contaminant hydrogeology projects, producing contaminant loading models, groundwater monitoring and HRAs. At Envireau Water, Katy primarily works within the distilling and drinks industries, specialising in the management and delivery of water supply projects. Recently, Katy played a key role in redesigning the abstraction system at a major distillery site to enhance sustainability through improving energy efficiency and reducing costs. 


Mairi Teasdale: Hydrologist


Mairi first joined Envireau Water’s North Office in 2022 on a work experience placement whilst completing her MSc in Sustainable Water Environments. In autumn 2022, she joined our Midlands Office as a Hydrologist before transitioning to our Scottish team in October 2024. Her work focuses on Flood Risk and drainage design for quarries and developments in the energy sector, including renewables, solar, and wind projects. Mairi is also experienced in fieldwork across the UK, with expertise in flow gauging and water sampling.[CW1] 


Sophie Penman: Water Resources Consultant


Sophie joined Envireau Water in spring 2024 after completing her MSc in Environmental Technology with Integrated Water Management. As part of the water resources team, Sophie supports a range of water resource projects involving the completion of water supply assessments, environmental permitting and abstraction licensing. She also contributes to effluent discharge assessments including use of modelling and water quality sampling to assess the impact of industrial discharges on the marine environment.



About Envireau Water


Envireau Water is a team of expert water scientists and engineers who provide guidance on the management and regulation of natural water systems across the UK. By working collaboratively with our clients and the regulators, we deliver robust, sustainable solutions that meet the requirements of all stakeholders. With a loyal client base and our ability to work seamlessly throughout the four nations of the UK, many of our clients know us individually and trust us to find resolutions to their water problems for years to come. 

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How do drought conditions affect UK food and drink?

By Rachael Plant • November 6, 2025
You may have seen our recent spotlight on the challenges currently facing UK agriculture. However, these issues are not limited to one sector; they represent a wider, shared challenge for industries across the country. As the countdown continues and the momentum builds to our upcoming conference, Beyond Drought: From Risk to Resilience , we spoke to Principal Hydrogeologist, Shona Symon , regarding the growing pressures facing our food and drink industry. Shona, given the ongoing drought declarations and recurrent warm weather experienced, could you provide us with an overview of the challenges facing those in the food and drink industry? 'Absolutely. Given the rapidly shifting nature of the UK climate, it is easy to focus on the immediate issues this has on our water resources, such as reduced surface flows and impacts to surface environment. However, as you will have noticed, the problems don't stop when the rain returns, and the damage left behind can be significant and increasingly difficult to combat.

Protecting UK agriculture against a changing climate

By Rachael Plant • October 23, 2025
As the threat of climate change continues to increase, the frequency of extreme weather events is rising across the UK. With wetter winters but warmer, drier summers expected to persist, the risk of drought will grow, creating significant challenges nationwide. While the UK climate can be unpredictable, the impact of drought is evident and cannot be ignored. Following several drought declarations and water restrictions enforced throughout 2025, farmers across the UK continue to contend with drained reservoir levels and heightened demand for irrigation, resulting in lower crop yields, fragile water sources, and growing concern about the future of British agriculture. Our team of water resource experts has been working within the agricultural industry for many years, supporting the implementation and management of sustainable water resources. We asked Principal Water Resources Specialist, Tamsin Morey , for her thoughts. Tamsin, what danger is the UK farming industry already experiencing?

Richmond Bike Park Success

By Rachael Plant • September 25, 2025
Envireau Water are thrilled to have contributed to the recent successful planning application for the construction of a community bike park in Richmond, North Yorkshire. Louise Raine, a local to the area, first set up the campaign after realising there were no 'safe and purpose-built spaces' for her children and other families. In collaboration with the local community and town council, Envireau Water volunteered to provide high-level technical support on flood risk and drainage solutions, following concerns raised by a lead regulatory authority. Hydrologists, Mairi , Lee , and Michael conducted a review of flood risk, drainage pathways and soil infiltration potential. Upon developing the drainage strategy and producing pre- and post-development 2D runoff modelling, it was discovered that the proposed location had no significant risk. By investigating the soil types and overland flow pathways, it was also noted that the suggested drainage strategy would have both a flood risk benefit and an environmental benefit of enhancing the ecology and biodiversity of the land.
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How do drought conditions affect UK food and drink?

By Rachael Plant • November 6, 2025
You may have seen our recent spotlight on the challenges currently facing UK agriculture. However, these issues are not limited to one sector; they represent a wider, shared challenge for industries across the country. As the countdown continues and the momentum builds to our upcoming conference, Beyond Drought: From Risk to Resilience , we spoke to Principal Hydrogeologist, Shona Symon , regarding the growing pressures facing our food and drink industry. Shona, given the ongoing drought declarations and recurrent warm weather experienced, could you provide us with an overview of the challenges facing those in the food and drink industry? 'Absolutely. Given the rapidly shifting nature of the UK climate, it is easy to focus on the immediate issues this has on our water resources, such as reduced surface flows and impacts to surface environment. However, as you will have noticed, the problems don't stop when the rain returns, and the damage left behind can be significant and increasingly difficult to combat.

Protecting UK agriculture against a changing climate

By Rachael Plant • October 23, 2025
As the threat of climate change continues to increase, the frequency of extreme weather events is rising across the UK. With wetter winters but warmer, drier summers expected to persist, the risk of drought will grow, creating significant challenges nationwide. While the UK climate can be unpredictable, the impact of drought is evident and cannot be ignored. Following several drought declarations and water restrictions enforced throughout 2025, farmers across the UK continue to contend with drained reservoir levels and heightened demand for irrigation, resulting in lower crop yields, fragile water sources, and growing concern about the future of British agriculture. Our team of water resource experts has been working within the agricultural industry for many years, supporting the implementation and management of sustainable water resources. We asked Principal Water Resources Specialist, Tamsin Morey , for her thoughts. Tamsin, what danger is the UK farming industry already experiencing?

Richmond Bike Park Success

By Rachael Plant • September 25, 2025
Envireau Water are thrilled to have contributed to the recent successful planning application for the construction of a community bike park in Richmond, North Yorkshire. Louise Raine, a local to the area, first set up the campaign after realising there were no 'safe and purpose-built spaces' for her children and other families. In collaboration with the local community and town council, Envireau Water volunteered to provide high-level technical support on flood risk and drainage solutions, following concerns raised by a lead regulatory authority. Hydrologists, Mairi , Lee , and Michael conducted a review of flood risk, drainage pathways and soil infiltration potential. Upon developing the drainage strategy and producing pre- and post-development 2D runoff modelling, it was discovered that the proposed location had no significant risk. By investigating the soil types and overland flow pathways, it was also noted that the suggested drainage strategy would have both a flood risk benefit and an environmental benefit of enhancing the ecology and biodiversity of the land.

Anna Hitchmough joins Envireau Water

By Rachael Plant • July 22, 2025
We are excited to welcome Dr Anna Hitchmough to our growing team, who recently joined Envireau Water as a Principal Technical Specialist. With over 25 years of consultancy experience in hydrogeology, Anna brings a wealth of expertise to our team. Anna joins us from Carbon Zero Consulting/RSK Geosciences, where her career has centred around ground-source heat pump systems. In her most recent role, Anna chaired RSK's Heat Decarbonisation Working Group and Hydrogeology Working Group. Anna brings extensive experience in quantitative risk assessments and NAPL characterisation and has completed significant work on several contaminated land projects, having previously served as Chair of the Geological Society's Contaminated Land Group. Anna's academic background stems from the University of Newcastle where she completed an MSc in Hydrology, followed by a PhD in Hydrogeology at the University of Birmingham. She is also a chartered geologist.
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