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.

Related projects

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  • Sustainable Water Resources Management in Mongolia

    In Mongolia, the continental semi-arid to arid climate of most of the territory results in low water availability, with the southern region particularly affected by a lack of perennial rivers and reliance on fossil groundwater reservoirs, where recharge is negligible. Climate change and increasing water demand are further threatening future…

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    Groundwater availability is critical to the Umbeluzi Catchment. Currently, there is a need for a simple tool that can asses the availability of resources in the ground. This especially to asses the permits for groundwater extractions. It is expected that a simplified modelling approach can provide a trend analysis sufficient…

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  • WE-ACT: Water Efficient Allocation in a Central Asian Transboundary River Basin

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  • Hydrological Assessment for Hydropower in the Lukhra River

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  • Lower Mekong: Development State of the Basin Report

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  • LAUREL: Land Use Planning for Enhanced Resilience of Landscapes

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  • Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment of Irrigation in Kazakhstan

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  • Climate Resilient Water Supply System for Uzbekistan

    Uzbekistan is upgrading and further developing its domestic water supply system in the western part of the country (Republic of Karakalpakstan). Tthe water supply system must be full climate proof in design and operations. The Green Climate Fund (through the Asian Development Bank) will be asked to finance the climate…

  • Climate Cascades

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  • Capacity Building to Assess Climate Vulnerability and Adaptation Armenia

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  • Impacts of climate change and sustainable land management investments on the Upper Tana

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  • Catchment Study: Water Balance and Allocation Modelling in Rwanda

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  • Training in Water Resources Modelling for ARA-Sul

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  • BRIGAID: BRIdging the GAp for Innovations in Disaster resilience

    BRIGAID (BRIdges the GAp for Innovations in Disaster resilience) aims at developing a new tools to bring climate adaptive innovations to the market. FutureWater contributes in two ways: it coordinates the work package on Droughts which performs and extensive stocktaking, testing, and business development process for a large number of…

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  • Hydropower Development Assessment for the Tamakoshi River Basin

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    Two water allocation models were developed in this project as a tool to support policy evaluation and improve strategic and operational decision making procedures of ARA-Sul. WEAP (Water Evaluation And Planning) was chosen as modelling framework. Different scenarios were implemented in WEAP to show the impacts of possible changes and…

  • System-Risk: A large-scale systems approach to flood risk assessment and management

    System-Risk is a Marie-Skłodowska-Curie European Training Network which aims on developing and implementing a systems approach for large-scale flood risk assessment and management and provides a framework for training and career development of 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs). In collaboration with the Royal Meteorological Institute (KNMI), FutureWater is the hosting…

  • Rainfall input data for hydrological model in the Tana Basin

    The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) carried out hydrological modeling of the Tana Basin and needed improved rainfall datasets for this modeling exercise. FutureWater supported IWMI in preparing improved rainfall forcing based on the CHIRPS dataset.

  • Flying Sensors for Ultra-High Resolution Flood Risk Identification at Local Scales

    The outputs of this project can be summarized as providing real time dike and levee information at local scales (up to 10,000 ha) that is collected, analysed and used at the same local scale. The output is divided into two components. First, the Flying Sensor information will be used for…

  • IMPREX: IMproving PRedictions and management of hydrological EXtremes

    FutureWater leads the coordination of the “Agriculture and Drought” sectoral Work Package of IMPREX. This WP specifically aims to study and evaluate the use of IMPREX weather forecasts and predictions, climate variability, and drought indicators to assess agricultural drought risk and impacts over four case studies and at the pan-European…

  • Feasibility study for a Payment for Watershed Services Scheme

    This project pilots a Payment for Watershed Services (PWS) scheme in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park (RMNP) in Uganda. The goal of the pilot is to study the feasibility of the PWS scheme in the watersheds of the Mubuku and Nyamwamba rivers and supporting nature conservation and a healthy watershed…

  • Hydrological pre-feasibility assessment for the Romuku hydropower plant, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

    Following the successful development of other hydropower facilities in Indonesia, a new project aims to study the potential of the “Romuku” run-of-river power plant in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. A first step is to undertake a pre-Feasibility Study which will result in a go no-go decision for a more detailed Feasibility…

  • Water Resources Model for the Kenate Basin in South-Sudan

    As there is an urgent need for informed decision making in ongoing and upcoming land and water resource development plans, the governments of South Sudan and the Netherlands (GoN) initiated a program for the Water Sector in Eastern Equatoria State (ProWasEES). The overall objective of this program is that “Kenate…

  • Review Climate Change Hindu-Kush-Himalaya

    FutureWater provided a comprehensive review study on climate change and the impacts on cryosphere, hydrological regimes and glacier lakes in the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra river basins. This review study was done in the context of future hydropower development in the region.

  • Inclusive Development Paths for Healthy Red River Landscapes

    Rapid land use changes in the Red River Basin threaten water resources. This project will be working in the Day River Catchment, a Red River distributary important for Hanoi, where most of these problems are manifest. The project will develop equitable and economically viable pathways for the land and water…

  • Demonstration of Remote Sensing Information for Integrated Reservoir Management in the Red River Basin in Northern Vietnam

    In 2011 the Vietnamese and Dutch government signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of a Government to Government (G2G) program for improved integrated planning and monitoring of water resources for transboundary water management and disaster risk management. This project was formulated as part of the G2G trajectory towards…

  • ThirdEye: Flying Sensors to Support Farmers’ Decision Making

    The ThirdEye project supports farmers in Mozambique and Kenya with their decision making in farm and crop management by setting up a network of flying sensors operators. Our innovation is a major transformation in farmers’ decision making regarding the application of limited resources such as water, seeds, fertilizer and labor.…

  • Water Allocation Model Development to Support Decision Making Procedures

    Two water allocation models were developed in this project as a tool to support policy evaluation and improve strategic and operational decision making procedures of ARA-Sul, which is one of the five water management organizations in Mozambique. WEAP (Water Evaluation And Planning) was chosen as modelling framework. Different scenarios were…

  • Impacts of Climate Change in Uganda on the Water Sector

    Uganda’s 2010–2015 five-year National Development Plan (NDP) recognizes that addressing the challenges of climate change is crucial to enhancing sustainable economic and social development. One of the key aims of the present study is to make an economic and social assessment of climate change impacts on the water sector in…

  • ASSET: Accounting System for the SEgura river and Transfers

    Semiarid coastal regions, as the Southeastern of Spain in which the Segura River Basin is located, are expected to be more affected by climate change and the resulting aggravation of water scarcity, droughts and desertification than other regions. In this project the interactions between the economy and the hydrological system…

  • SWIMM: Soil Water evaluation system based on Integrated Measurements and Modelling

    The main objective of the project was to support policy making, under current and future climate conditions, on optimal water management in nature reserve areas, based on uniform and consistent data collection. The project built upon knowledge developed under the “Klimaat voor Ruimte” framework and refined and demonstrated a method,…

  • HI-AWARE: Himalayan Adaptation, Water and Resilience

    HI-AWARE aims to contribute to enhanced adaptive capacities and climate resilience of the poor and vulnerable women, men, and children living in the mountains and flood plains of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra river basins. Research, including modeling, scoping studies, action research, and randomized control trials, is conducted at 12…

  • Central Asia Regional Risk Assessment for Water Related Energy Sector Impacts

    The objective of this study was to support the “Central Asia Regional Energy Sector Vulnerability Study” led by Industrial Economics (IEc) and funded by the World Bank, by carrying out an expanded risk assessment for water availability and water related energy sector impacts in Central Asia. The work built on…

  • Mapping the Potential for Rainwater Harvesting under Various Scenarios

    Identifying areas where rainwater harvesting is a feasible solution is one of the aims of the RAIN Foundation. In 2010 FutureWater and Deltares were asked by RAIN Foundation to develop maps indicating the potential for rainwater harvesting (RWH) for Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso. FutureWater and Deltares used the same…

  • Gridded Meteorological Datasets and Hydrological Modelling in the Upper Indus Basin

    Understanding of the hydrological regimes in the mountainous Upper Indus basin (UIB) is essential for water resources management in the region. High-resolution gridded meteorological datasets, which capture the spatial variability of precipitation, are critical for modelling the hydrology of high-mountain regions. Improvements to existing gridded datasets using high-elevation station data…

  • Development of Baseline Climate Data Set and Trend Analysis in the Mekong River Basin

    In 2013 the Climate Change and Adaptation Initiative of The Mekong River Commission was developing its first report on the status of climate change in the Lower Mekong Basin. An important component of this report would be to provide information on trends in the past climate. For this a detailed…

  • Food Supply and Demand under Climate Change in the Lower Mekong Basin

    In 2013 the Climate Change and Adaptation Initiative of The Mekong River Commission was developing its first report on the status of climate change in the Lower Mekong Basin. An important component of the Status Report would be the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector and the projected…

  • Climate adaptation Colombia

    The 2011 floods and droughts in the Magdalena river basin triggered the Colombian government and water institutions to enforce the attention given to water security and dike safety. To improve the capacities of Colombia for adaptation of water management to climate change pilot projects were started in one small and…

  • Climate change indicators for Mekong River Commission

    With this study, the Climate Change Adaptation Initiative (CCAI) of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) offers a review of existing monitoring systems and indicators of climate change to improve the understanding of riparian governments, relevant line agencies and others on the status and impacts of climate change. The report should…

  • Water Availability Analysis for the Upper Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra River Basins

    As part of the Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Program (HICAP) ICIMOD has contracted FutureWater to generate climate change and water availability scenarios for the upstream parts of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra river basins based on a high resolution hydrological model that FutureWater has developed.

  • Water2Invest: Climate Investment Support Portal

    In this project a web-based service was built from which it is possible to select a country or region on a global map, calculate the current water availability from surface water and groundwater as well as current water demands from the three sectors (agriculture, industry, domestic) and to assess from…

  • Addressing Climate Vulnerability of Africa’s Infrastructure

    Climate change is expected to have important implications of the cost, design standards and location of Africa's infrastructure projects. Since what climate will actually occur will remain largely uncertain in the foreseeable future, the challenge is to develop decision making frameworks capable of leading to investment decisions that are “desirable”…

  • Mainstream Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Into Agriculture in the Southern Caucasus

    This study contributes to the agriculture sector climate change impact assessment and adaptation and mitigation strategy identification and evaluation. The study encompasses the three countries of the Southern Caucasus region: Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The project also includes components for capacity building among in-country staff, and support of the World…

  • DMIAT: Drought Monitoring and Impact Assessment Toolbox for Vietnam

    In this project a Drought Monitoring and Impact Assessment Toolbox (DMIAT) was developed for Vietnam in order to support their drought policy. A DMIAT is a combination of remote sensing, models, and decision trees. The DMIAT will help Vietnam to better understand past and current droughts, and how to act…

  • Monitoring of Glacier, Climate and Runoff in the Hindu – Kush Himalayan Mountains

    For this project a review was conducted of current state of knowledge in (i) climate change datasets and downscaling used for glacier and high mountain modelling, (ii) glacier and snow contribution to river runoff in the Hindu – Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, (iii) hydrological modelling studies used for glacier and…

  • Climate Adaptive Drainage

    The concept of Climate Adaptive Drainage is such that regional-scale water managers and local-scale farmers co-operate on the drainage system, in order to use the farm-scale soil system as an optimal water storage system. By using the local-scale soil as a water storage reservoir during rainfall events, current peak discharges…

  • Water and Adaptation Interventions in Central and West Asia

    To assess the water resources availability in the Central Asia region under climate change hydrological models were developed for the two major rivers in the region, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya. Capacity building activities were undertaken to develop the capacity in each of the participating countries to use the…

  • The Middle East and North Africa Regional Water Outlook

    The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is considered the most water-scarce region of the world. Water investments absorb large amounts of public funds, which could often be used more efficiently elsewhere. The need for alternative and improved water management options is therefore urgently needed, but a clear overview…

  • Vulnerability to Climate Change in Agricultural Systems in Europe and Central Asia

    To estimate the potential physical impacts of climate change on the agricultural sector of Albania and Uzbekistan a quantitative analysis at the agro-ecological zone level was carried out. Combined with an assessment of the country’s existing adaptive capacity, this provided a baseline estimate of vulnerability to climate change in the…

  • Impacts of Global Climate Change on the Water Resources of the Bunyala plains, Kenya

    In this project an Integrated Water Resource Management Planning Tool for improved planning and management of sustainable food and sustainable livelihoods for the Bunyala flood plains of western Kenya was developed together with training materials for technical support in the maintenance and implementation of the planning tool and the facilitation…

  • Climate Change and Hydropower, Impact and Adaptation Costs: Case Study Kenya

    A rapid assessment on the impact of climate change on hydropower generation in the Tana basin in Kenya using the WEAP (Water Evaluation And Planning tool) approach was performed. The approach applied here to use a minimum and maximum climate change projection, provided decision makers with a range of options…

  • Q Fever and Physical Environmental Factors

    There are strong indications that the risk of infection in humans with Q fever depends on physical environmental factors such as warm weather with dry soils and a certain wind. In this study, the influence of these factors, soil type and, in particular, usage and humidity are examined, taking into…

  • Scenario Based Water Resources Model to Support Policy Making

    Appropriate planning in water resources, and more specifically in irrigation, is becoming increasingly important. However, policy makers and planners are often constrained by insufficient knowledge and tools to evaluate the consequences of alternative interventions. To illuminate these issues, a scenario-based policy oriented demonstration model was developed. The model focuses on…

  • CEOP-AEGIS: Hydrology and meteorology of the Tibetan Plateau

    This project delivered a prototype Water Balance Monitoring System (WBMS) and a three-year data set including observations of the water balance terms of the Tibetan Plateau on weekly and monthly basis. These observations contributed to clarifying the role of Plateau hydrology in the onset and intensity of the Asian Monsoon…

  • Needs Assessment of Future ESA Satellites for Water Management in Southern Europe

    At the beginning of the 21st century various tools based on Remote Sensing (RS) techniques from satellites to assist land management were developed. Yet, there were no real products dedicated for water management applications. However, around 2005 an increasing number of Remotely Sensed datasets and algorithms relevant to water managers…

  • Climate change and water quality

    In discussions on the various effects of climate change, effects on water quality often get little attention. This study contributed to an increased awareness on the water quality aspects of climate change by giving an overview of the current knowledge on the relation between climate change and water quality and…

  • Adaptation to Climate Change for Agriculture in The Gambia

    Methodology Development of adaptation benefit-cost framework: The framework was developed in a manner to make it possible to isolate development- and climate-related benefits and costs of individual projects and to assess the sensitivity of adaptation benefits and costs to the uncertainty inherent in regional climate change scenarios. Development of analytical tools and procedures: The project...