Challenge
Weather conditions vary from place to place and from time to time. However, our climate has never seen such quick and drastic changes in a short period as in the past decades. Our challenge lies in understanding the negative and positive aspects of climate change and how to react and adapt on these changes in the best possible way.
Climate change will likely alter the hydrological cycle in many ways. The temporal and spatial patterns of rainfall will increase with consequences for runoff, surface and groundwater storage, crop water requirements, river flow regimes, erosion and, greater likelihood of extremes – droughts and floods – in different parts of the world. Temperatures will rise so that crop water requirements will increase putting even more pressure on water resources. Irrigation, rainfed agriculture, hydropower, water supplies, and sanitation will all be affected, leading to changes in human health, wealth and security. On the demand side, as populations grow and as their income levels increase, their demand for water resources will change, both spatially and temporally.
The net effect of these supply and demand-side changes will present major challenges to future management of water resources for human and ecosystem development. Demand management, which aims to regulate withdrawals at sustainable levels through such measures as the promotion of sustainable use and water saving crop production techniques, will become increasingly important in areas where relative scarcity and competition between sectors is increasing. Supply side management will become a priority in areas where significant changes in inter-annual resource availability is anticipated and where populations are more vulnerable. Supply side management, in general, involves increasing or augmenting the supply of water resources through increasing storage capacity, abstraction from water courses, rainwater harvesting and recharge activities whilst also introducing incentives for water conservation.
FutureWater approach
FutureWater develops and applies innovative methods and tools to study and provide advisory services on climate change and water resources. One of the key strengths of FutureWater is that for each project specific approaches (either existing or new ones) will be used and if required developed. Especially for climate change in the context of water resources such a fit-for-purpose is essential. The most relevant climate parameters will be determined: e.g. rainfall, temperature, sea level rise, crop water requirements, and for each of those the spatial, temporal dimension and relevance will be evaluated.
FutureWater has access to a wide range of climate data, tools and experts. In-house datasets as well as tools and methods to access other data have been developed by experts from FutureWater. Typical examples are scripting tools to access, deduct and analyze climate data from the various CMIP products (Climate Model Intercomparing Project) and NASA-NEX-GDDP (Nasa Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections).
FutureWater has been involved in a wide range of climate change related projects in the water sector including mitigation and adaptation. FutureWater staff have supported clients in developing GCF (Green Climate Fund) proposal. Many projects consider impacts and potential adaptation strategies relating to climate change on existing and ongoing projects for clients such as World Bank, Asian Development Bank, National and Local Governments, River Basin Organizations, Science Foundations, Universities, and Research Organizations.
