Challenge

River basins are the natural unit of area in which to manage water resources. With intensifying water use, climate change, and land use changes, achieving sustainable water management on the river basin scale is becoming more and more challenging. Water needs to be allocated between different sectors such as irrigation, industry, drinking water supply, power generation and nature. Basin-scale plans for distribution of water and prioritization of water uses under stressed conditions need to be implemented to achieve this. A range of environmental, social and political issues need to be considered to achieve a sustainable supply of water, of the right quality and quality, to the correct location, at the right time. With water demands already exceeding availability in many regions, changes in climate patterns (often leading to prolonged droughts and more extreme rainfall events) are expected to further enhance complexities faced by decision makers. National governments, (transboundary) river basin management authorities, regional water boards, and NGOs increasingly require decision support tools and advice that address the issues related to water demand vs. water supply discrepancies, in order to ensure adequate supply of fresh water to all water users in a basin, now and in the future.

FutureWater approach

FutureWater is experienced in providing solutions for sustainable water management on a river basin scale. Our projects are managed through cooperation and participation with stakeholders such as governments, water managers and farmers, to ensure the uptake of local knowledge in our decision support systems and consultancy reports. By employing leading international experts in the fields of water resources management and hydrology, FutureWater can support clients in various ways:

Basin-wide water availability under changing conditions

FutureWater makes use of a variety of tools and simulation models designed for quantitative assessment of water availability on different spatial scales. These tools are deployed for baseline assessments as well as scenario analyses, in order to accommodate a range of future projections (climate, demography, land use, water resources development) to allow the decision maker to anticipate on future conditions. Crunching of Big Data associated with elaborate scenario analyses, into understandable and intuitive outputs, is part of the core expertise of FutureWater. Scenarios are typically developed in close collaboration with clients and other relevant stakeholders in the basin.

Optimizing river basin planning and water allocation

For river basin planning purposes, it is essential to relate water availability to water demand in space and time. Optimal water allocation rules need to be defined to achieve water management policies that are resilient to changing patterns in both supply and demand. This relates to both human water use and environmental flow requirements. By working with well-established water allocation optimization tools, FutureWater supports governments and river basin organizations in formulating water allocation policies and identifying opportunities for further, sustainable water resources development. Typically, concept-based decision support models are coupled to physically more advanced water resources availability models (see above), to provide the full, basin-wide picture.

Integrated planning based on the water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus

In the context of complex river basins, looking at water flows alone is not enough to achieve sustainable management of water resources. FutureWater has many years of experience in the development and application of tools for spatiotemporal assessment of crop production, potential for hydropower energy, and a range of water-related ecosystem services. By providing insight into the benefits to be had from basin water resources under different scenarios, FutureWater allows decision makers to account for the full water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus in river basin planning.

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  • 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…

  • OWASIS-UK: Observatory of Water Availability – System of Integrated Services

    The main objective of this study is to explore the potential to combine optical and gravity data from Earth Observation with meteorological data, together with innovative in situ sensors, hydrological modelling and crowd sourcing technologies, and the advanced visualization of the information through situation awareness platforms and decision support tools,…

  • 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…

  • Water and Climate Services for Transboundary Water Management and Disaster Risk Management

    During this pilot project the applicability of the in-house developed Drought Monitoring and Impact Assessment Toolbox (DMIAT) and HiP2P rainfall downscaling methodology were demonstrated for the Red River Basin in Vietnam. Furthermore the first steps in developing an integrated product for transboundary water management in the Red River Basin were…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • The Nairobi Water Fund: hydrologic modelling and economic valuation of investment options

    In 2013 The Nature Conservancy (TNC) started working to launch the first Water Fund in Africa to restore and protect the condition of the Tana River and improve Nairobi’s water security. Key questions that needed to be answered were “Where and in what activities should the fund invest its money?”…

  • 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…

  • Water Planning Tools to Support Water Governance

    ARA-Centro is one of the five regional water management organizations in Mozambique and has to advise on the water availability and the required number of reservoirs that are needed to make the envisioned economic developments possible. For this advisory role, tools are needed like a water allocation model that can…

  • 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…

  • INTOGENER: Integration of EO data and GNSS-R signals for ENERgy applications

    The need for accurate short and mid-term forecasting of the water flow generated from snowmelt in mountain basins is an important component for water management and hydropower activities. Due to the remoteness and difficult access to basins especially in cold weather conditions, where in-situ snow measurements, water level monitoring and…

  • Green Water Credits demonstration project Algeria

    In cooperation with Algerian partners the “La Mina” basin was selected to demonstrate the potential for Green Water Credits (GWC) in Algeria. GWC can be seen as an investment mechanism for upstream farmers to practice soil and water management activities that generate benefits for downstream water users, which are currently…

  • 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.

  • Spatial and temporal rainfall variability in the Tungurahua province of Ecuador

    Accurate information on spatial rainfall patterns is crucial for many hydrological applications and for water resources planning. For the Water Resources Management Planning Program of the Provincial Government of Tungurahua in Ecuador this information is required to design appropriate and sustainable strategies for agricultural water management in the area and…

  • Towards a Mekong Delta Portal

    Studies have shown that the Mekong Delta is very vulnerable to floods and droughts, which will intensify due to climate change. Currently, these threats are not adequately monitored and information on such threats is inconsistent and only scattered available. Therefore Vietnam is in need of data sharing systems and advanced…

  • Green Water Management and Credits Toolkit for China

    Green Water Management & Credits is a concept developed by ISRIC. It allows quantification of water supply and demand, erosion reduction, yield increase, sedimentation amounts, and hydropower production that is needed to calculate the economic costs and benefits of environmental protection measures. In order run this concept in areas, an…

  • 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…

  • SIRRIMED: Sustainable Use of Irrigation Water in the Mediterranean Region

    SIRRIMED project addressed issues related to sustainable use of water in Mediterranean irrigated agricultural systems, with the overall aim of optimizing irrigation water use. In this project FutureWater was actively involved in the development of a District Information System (DIS) and a Watershed Information System (WIS) for the Campo de…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Hydrological Impact of Green Water Credits Measures in the Sebou Basin in Morocco

    Green Water Credits (GWC) can be seen as an investment mechanism for upstream farmers to practice soil and water management activities that generate benefits for downstream water users, which are currently unrecognized and unrewarded. The GWC methodology was applied to the Sebou river basin. Data was gathered, prepared and verified…

  • Erosion and reservoir sedimentation in Tana basin, Kenya

    In this project an assessment of the soil erosion and sediment loads in Upper Tana Catchment areas was undertaken and the impact of sediment deposition on the reservoir capacities of the principal dams was estimated. A physiographical baseline was established through an intensive monitoring campaign of flow and sediment loads…

  • Bias Correction for Satellite Precipitation Estimation used by the MRC Mekong Flood Forecasting System

    The Regional Flood Management and Mitigation Centre (RFMMC) has been established in Phnom Penh, Cambodia under the umbrella of the Mekong River Commission (MRC). One of the main objectives of the RFMMC is to establish an improved, robust and reliable flood forecasting system for short and especially medium-term forecast periods.…

  • 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…

  • Nile Basin Data Base Development

    The Nile Basin Decision Support System (NBI-DSS) will provide the necessary knowledge base and analytical tools to support the planning of cooperative joint projects and the management of the shared Nile Basin water resources. FutureWater was asked to support this NBI-DSS and to undertake preliminary data collection and compilation. The…

  • Irrigation Potential Lake Victoria, Tanzania

    A study was undertaken to evaluate and rank five potential irrigation schemes in the Tanzania part of the Lake Victoria Basin. The study focused on the following five thematic areas: (i) land suitability, (ii) water resources assessment, (iii) water requirements, (iv) environmental considerations, and (v) institutional aspects.

  • Hydrological seasonal forecasts in mountaineous basins

    This project focused on the hydrology and cryosphere of the Himalayas and dealt with the influence of snow cover of the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau on Asian monsoon dynamics, and the possibility to forecast the strength of the monsoon and the hydrological effects in downstream areas.

  • Groundwater Management and Exploration Package, Northern China

    In northern China, groundwater depletion reached catastrophic levels. Therefore, the Chinese government was looking for improved groundwater assessment and management tools. The GMEP (Groundwater Management and Exploration Package) project demonstrated that better observation and planning tools can assist decision makers. Focus of the project was on the Yellow River Basin…

  • Mekong River Basin Modeling Framework Development

    The Mekong River Commission (MRC) Information and Knowledge Management Programme (IKMP) is developing and expanding its modeling framework. FutureWater was asked to support the process by developing a complete strategy and to prepare a set of tender documents for implementation of the strategy. The project resulted in six specific Program…

  • Controllable weir in the Olstertocht River

    This study investigated if the possibility for upstream water retention would increase significantly with the construction of a controllable weir in the Olstertoch river. The input data and results of a previous water retention suitability analysis were evaluated and compared to expert knowledge. The methodology of the previous suitability analysis…

  • Determination of surface water evaporation

    In this project the suitability of five methods for calculating surface water evaporation was evaluated for the province of Friesland.

  • Green Water Credits Mechanism to support sustainable water use in Africa

    Green Water Credits can be seen as an investment mechanism for upstream farmers to practice soil and water management activities that generate benefits for downstream water users, which are currently unrecognized and unrewarded. FutureWater coordinated and carried out the biophysical assessment that quantified the impact of Green Water Credits practices…

  • Remote Sensing and Hydrological Modelling of the Rio Bravo, Aguascalientes and Central Northern Valleys

    The project has shown how modern analytical tools such Remote Sensing, GIS and simulation models can help to swiftly obtain data to support the water management decision making process. A diagnosis of the Rio Bravo and Northern Central Aquifers has been made to demonstrate management options as well as how…