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 out 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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Changes to flood risk guidance in Wales

By Rachael Plant • April 30, 2025
Understanding both current and future flood risk in Wales is essential for helping planners, developers and landowners understand how flood risk is assessed within the planning process, ensuring that new developments are resilient and sustainable. Originally published in 2004, the Welsh Government recently published a significantly revised Technical Advice Note (TAN) 15 on 31st March, detailing critical changes to flood risk guidance. What are the key updates? Development types: The classification of development types has been updated and expanded. Categories now include Highly Vulnerable, Less Vulnerable, and Water-Compatible developments. Examples of Highly Vulnerable uses include all residential buildings, hospitals, schools, and emergency services infrastructure. This classification determines where development may be acceptable depending on the level of flood risk.

Published in Rail Professional: Compliance in the Rail Sector

By Michael Underwood • April 28, 2025
Recently, we were thrilled to team up with Rail Professional to share our insights and expertise on this trade effluent compliance in the Rail Industry, featuring our very own, Michael Underwood! Michael is a Senior Hydrologist at Envireau Water, a specialist water management consultancy. As a Chartered Water and Environmental Manager (C.WEM), Michael has 10 years’ experience in flood risk management and drainage, surface water hydrology, drainage design and river management. He also serves on the committee of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Management (CIWEM) East Midlands Branch.

Recent Environment Agency Updates

By Rachael Plant • April 8, 2025
Since December 2024, the Environment Agency (EA) have released a series of flood and coastal erosion risk assessment updates, offering a clearer, more comprehensive picture of both current and future flood risk across England. What makes these updates so important? With approximately 6.3 million properties in England at risk of flooding and 3,500 properties at risk of coastal erosion by 2055, these updates are absolutely critical in order for you to protect and enhance your developments against the threat of climate change and extreme weather events. Whether a commercial or residential development, Envireau Water specialise in flood risk management and sustainable drainage solutions across the UK. By leveraging our technical expertise and deep knowledge of the UK regulatory system, we are known for achieving a positive outcome for even the most complex of challenges. Keep reading to find out what these updates mean for you.
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Changes to flood risk guidance in Wales

By Rachael Plant • April 30, 2025
Understanding both current and future flood risk in Wales is essential for helping planners, developers and landowners understand how flood risk is assessed within the planning process, ensuring that new developments are resilient and sustainable. Originally published in 2004, the Welsh Government recently published a significantly revised Technical Advice Note (TAN) 15 on 31st March, detailing critical changes to flood risk guidance. What are the key updates? Development types: The classification of development types has been updated and expanded. Categories now include Highly Vulnerable, Less Vulnerable, and Water-Compatible developments. Examples of Highly Vulnerable uses include all residential buildings, hospitals, schools, and emergency services infrastructure. This classification determines where development may be acceptable depending on the level of flood risk.

Published in Rail Professional: Compliance in the Rail Sector

By Michael Underwood • April 28, 2025
Recently, we were thrilled to team up with Rail Professional to share our insights and expertise on this trade effluent compliance in the Rail Industry, featuring our very own, Michael Underwood! Michael is a Senior Hydrologist at Envireau Water, a specialist water management consultancy. As a Chartered Water and Environmental Manager (C.WEM), Michael has 10 years’ experience in flood risk management and drainage, surface water hydrology, drainage design and river management. He also serves on the committee of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Management (CIWEM) East Midlands Branch.

Recent Environment Agency Updates

By Rachael Plant • April 8, 2025
Since December 2024, the Environment Agency (EA) have released a series of flood and coastal erosion risk assessment updates, offering a clearer, more comprehensive picture of both current and future flood risk across England. What makes these updates so important? With approximately 6.3 million properties in England at risk of flooding and 3,500 properties at risk of coastal erosion by 2055, these updates are absolutely critical in order for you to protect and enhance your developments against the threat of climate change and extreme weather events. Whether a commercial or residential development, Envireau Water specialise in flood risk management and sustainable drainage solutions across the UK. By leveraging our technical expertise and deep knowledge of the UK regulatory system, we are known for achieving a positive outcome for even the most complex of challenges. Keep reading to find out what these updates mean for you.

World Water Day 2025

By Rachael Plant • March 21, 2025
Climate change is an urgent issue we cannot ignore, and requires the collective action of communities across the globe if the worst effects are to be mitigated. From rising sea levels, extreme weather events to a loss of biodiversity, the potential impacts are widespread. However, this world water day, the focus is rightly on glacial preservation - our planet's largest natural freshwater reservoir. Why is it important? At Envireau Water, we recognise the widespread impact that glacial meltwater has across the whole planet, leading to the escalation of more extreme weather events as a result. Not only does this impact the environment with the disruption of ecosystems and water cycles, but also has a profound impact on society and industries reliant on a stable water supply. As a team of water scientists, we have witnessed first-hand the undeniable impact that flooding and drought events have had on the mineral, agricultural, industrial and development sectors, from failing crops and flooded farmland to a halt in distilling operations and delayed development projects, the ripple effects of these events are felt across communities and businesses alike.
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