Project

Naar een herstelde waterbalans

Groundwater in the Netherlands is not an infinite supply, nor unlimited extractable for all water users. In some areas this shortage has already manifested during summer periods. In the future it is impossible to maintain all claims to the water system. Therefore, choices have to be made. The results of this study can be considered as useful building blocks for a discussion about these choices. These choices should bring the use of (ground)water into balance with the water system within a region.

In this project an unambiguous definition for a restored water balance is formulated. The formulation has been done in consultation with interested parties like LNV, I&W, BZK, UvW, IPO, VNG, LTO, VEWIN, VBNE, VNO-NCW, VEMW. Subsequently, with this definition in hand, it is investigated how to eliminate or diminish any imbalance.

We will develop a method for making an integral assessment how to bring the water system into balance in the future within a certain region. Besides technical aspects of the water system (geohydrology), this method takes into account the social and economic values of the various parts of the water system.

By investigating the impact of long-term trends (such as climate, population growth, economic development) trends without policy choices, as well as the preferred future (so called normative scenarios), we can weigh potential bottlenecks and opportunities. A water balance tool to be generated helps us to quickly gain insight into water balances for a region and to explore the effects of possible measures on the water balance.

We test the methodology and tools in two sequented pilot areas, projected in the Eastern and/or Southern sandy soils.

Publications