Project leadership
Prof. Dr.
Reinhard Hüttl
President of acatech
Chairman and speaker of the Executive Board
acatech - Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften
Project leadership
Prof. Dr.
Rolf Emmermann
Vorsitzender
Member of the Executive Board
Landeshochschurat Brandenburg
Coordination (GFZ)
PD Dr.
Knut Kaiser
Projekt-Koordinator
c/o Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ
T: +49(0)331/288 2830
F: +49 (0)331/288-1938
kaiser@acatech.de
Coordination
Dr.
Ulrich Glotzbach
stellv. Bereichsleiter/Leiter strateg. Projektentwicklung
Hauptstadtbüro Berlin
T: +49 (0)30/ 20 63 09 6-14
F: +49 (0)30/ 20 63 09 6-11
glotzbach@acatech.de
Water as a geo-resource – The challenge of global change
Project status: | Current | |
Laufzeit: | 12/2008 to 11/2011 | |
Project type: |
Energy, Construction, Infrastructure and Environment
Background
As a food, a means of production and transport, and as a medium for many environmental processes, water is an important geo-resource. While the regionally unbalanced distribution and use of water resources is largely due to natural causes, economic and political factors also play a role. In addition, the predicted climate change will have a negative impact on the water supply in Central Europe. Higher temperatures, more frequent hydrological extremes and greater soil erosion can lead to a deterioration in water quality. Quantitatively, regions with a water surplus (such as the low mountain range in western Germany) can be contrasted to regions with a water shortage (such as northeastern Germany), in which ground water collection and water discharge are reduced. In general, it can be assumed that there will be an impact on water supply reliability and cost. Efforts to replace fossil fuels by increasing the cultivation of renewable resources confront an agricultural water supply scenario that is already "under stress". Changes in demographics result in additional strain on the water sector.
Objective, approach and recommendations
Against this backdrop, acatech has initiated a project that will examine the effects of global change on water as a geo-resource. The overarching objective of the project group is the development of a strategy for sustained water resource management under the conditions of global change. Primarily this involves creating a synthesis of existing research results and holding a discourse on these. "Primary" research in terms of basic data collection and interpretation is not an aim of this project. From a scientific point of view, gaps in knowledge relating to water resource management for future needs are to be uncovered and suitable interdisciplinary investigative approaches and research methods are to be evaluated and advanced, if necessary. From a scientific-political point of view, the project group will provide impulses for development opportunities in the water-related sciences. From a socio-political point of view, recommendations for action for the corresponding target groups (policy makers, administration, industry) will be developed on the basis of the findings.
Key topical areas
The work of the project group – organised into three workgroups – focuses on the following topics:
- "Climate change and water supply": This group deals with questions regarding the influence of climate change on regional water supplies and the consequences for water resources;
- "Water use and water efficiency in landscapes": This group deals with questions surrounding efficiency improvements in regional water supplies to protect global resources;
- "Water management": This group deals with questions regarding the influence of global change on the quality (grade) of ground water.
The geographic focus of the project is on sensitive regions in Germany, but also on the intertwining of Germany with the global arena. The project is seated in the areas of water resource research and engineering-oriented research relating to water management. Special emphasis is given to innovative approaches to regional water management and to water use and preparation. A project team of the acatech project centre coordinates the endeavour in cooperation with the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam.