- Develop, calibrate and apply hydrological, hydrogeological and geological models in coastal areas
- Estimate current water resources and demand, and the corresponding trends, while taking account of various impacts and usage claims
- Establish regional courses of action using multicriteria decision analysis
- Transfer the CAM dialogue platform from northern Germany (where it will be developed) and the underlying methods to international partner regions
Coastal regions present special challenges when it comes to the sustainable use of water resources. These include climate change, changing sea levels, salinization risk, high discharge of nutrients from agriculture, low-lying ground and – not least – high population density and high water demand in industry. Overusing water resources inevitably leads to conflicts over its use. Comprehensive and sustainable governance of water supplies is therefore crucial. A major challenge here is to take account of the relevant factors for modelling the entire system so that a multicriteria decision analysis can be used to establish regional courses of action. Other challenges include preparing the model results for practical use, and achieving acceptance among the user groups.
More information about the joint research project is available here.