Groundwater management and climate change [articol]

Abstract

The aim of this research project was to clarify to what extent a sustainable groundwater management is affected by climate change and in how far adaptation strategies have to be developed for the compensation of climate effects. This problem has been processed exemplarily for the area of the 'Hessisches Ried' and the 'Odenwald'. Using regionalised time series data from the IPCC scenario simulation A1B, the changes in the groundwater regime until the year 2100 have been determined. A range of essential topics such as changes in water demand, future serviceable groundwater resources, potential extend of groundwater related conflicts of interest and alternatives to a controlled ground water management for the compensation of climate effects have been examined. As the demand for drinking water basically depends on the demographic development, the demand for make-up water in agriculture will increase considerably due to climate change while the water yield will stay comparatively stable for the northern Oberrheingraben. With dryer summers and more precipitation in the wintertime, the dynamics of groundwater levels will increase as well as the requirements for groundwater management.