HS1.1.2
Role of hydrology in policy, society and interdisciplinary collaborations: across disciplines and beyond scientists

HS1.1.2

EDI
Role of hydrology in policy, society and interdisciplinary collaborations: across disciplines and beyond scientists
Convener: Thomas ThalerECSECS | Co-conveners: Mohammad(Mo) GhoreishiECSECS, Maria-Helena Ramos, Gemma Carr, Britta HöllermannECSECS, Elena Toth
Presentations
| Wed, 25 May, 08:30–11:30 (CEST)
 
Room B

Presentations: Wed, 25 May | Room B

Chairpersons: Maria-Helena Ramos, Elena Toth, Gemma Carr
08:30–08:35
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EGU22-1032
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Highlight
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Virtual presentation
How to convince lawyers? Sweden vs EU for 20 years, claiming scientific evidence of nitrogen removal in lakes
(withdrawn)
Berit Arheimer and Niclas Hjerdt
08:35–08:40
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EGU22-7276
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ECS
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Virtual presentation
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Schuyler Houser, Reza Pramana, and Maurits Ertsen

Effective policy problem structuring – especially for ‘wicked’ environmental problems such as river pollution – involves the abstraction of governable elements of often diffuse ‘problematic situations’ through analysis and deliberation in order to identify tractable policy space. This involves facilitating some convergence around problem conditions, matching said conditions with available solutions, and mediating the diverse priorities and perspectives of large groups of stakeholders.

For large river basins characterized by multi-level governance and high population, industrial, and agricultural density – as in the Brantas River in East Java, Indonesia – the process of structuring water quality problems and formulating management plans is inevitably complex. Three shifts in water resource management, all aimed to improve efficacy, policy legitimacy, and representativeness, also present new challenges for problem structuring and planning. First, the evidence-based policy movement has been tempered by recognition of the political nature of science, driving inclusion of additional kinds of knowledge beyond hydrological, chemical, and biological science. Second, the mainstreaming of IWRM has encouraged a shift towards horizontally-arranged, multilevel governance networks of diverse actors across sectors, who bring their own problem perspectives and strategic preferences. Third, renewed interest in implementation studies has refocused attention on institutional, cultural, and capacity-related design requirements.

This research posits that the effective implementation of river environmental solutions depends largely on their responsiveness to administrative, social, and institutional factors as well as on their sympathetic alignment with stakeholders’ established priorities. Nevertheless, these important design factors often fall to the wayside in the design and selection of interventions, simply because they are not specifically and intentionally included in the processes of problem analysis and policy deliberation.

As part of a multi-stakeholder water quality management project in the Brantas basin, this research gathers and analyzes administrative and political knowledge inputs to complement technical inputs in the design of an Integrated Water Quality Management Plan. It combines two policy enquiries with hydrological science to support problem-structuring, namely perceptions survey research of water managers and systematic review of government agencies’ medium-term strategic plans. The survey research gathers perceptions of water managers across agencies and levels of government in East Java regarding the legal environment of water quality governance (legal basis, allocation of responsibilities, regulatory settings, conflict mediation), policy conditions (planning, coordination, monitoring, finance), and administrative and management arrangements, revealing differing perspectives on institutional opportunities and challenges amongst agency representatives within the same basin. The second identifies areas of strategic commonality centered on hydrological data management, community engagement, integrated solid waste management, industrial wastewater enforcement, and communal wastewater treatment. These findings are set out for consideration in two subsequent processes: the appraisal of feasibility and sustainability of interventions proposed for inclusion in the management plan, and to inform the nomination of implementing bodies for component activities within the plan.

How to cite: Houser, S., Pramana, R., and Ertsen, M.: Getting to the crux(es) of the matter(s): Water quality and problem-setting in the Brantas River basin, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7276, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7276, 2022.

08:40–08:45
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EGU22-7342
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ECS
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Virtual presentation
Rubén Villar-Navascués, Sandra Ricart, Antonio M. Rico-Amorós, and María Hernández-Hernández

Water policy and hydrological planning are critical aspects regarding water supply systems adaptation to water scarcity risk, aggravated by the uncertainties that climate change may pose on water availability. The importance of the science-policy interface is especially relevant in coupled human-nature systems where different water uses and high competition for water resources (urban, agricultural, and tourist) coexist. This situation is particularly challenging in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean, subject to summer water shortages during the consumption peaks motivated by mass-tourism activity. Although national hydrological planning already includes the primary users’ participation in revising the five-year hydrological plans to reduce water conflicts and promote collaborative water management, on numerous occasions the need to improve these processes has been evidenced to propose feasible technical and political solutions in the water sector. Taking the coastal water system of the Marina Baja, located in the province of Alicante in Southeastern Spain, as example, we carried out an iterative participatory process involving the main representatives of the water sector management and both agricultural and tourism water demands to identify which topics should be collaboratively addressed to guarantee water supply in a future climate change scenario. Stakeholders’ perceptions about the main threats and needs to improve the functioning of the water system and their influence capacity, confronted interests, and power relations have been considered. Results determined that some hydrological policies applied at a regional scale, such as protocols for the monthly water discharge of reservoirs, the setting of ecological flows, or the sanitary policies for the management of swimming pool waters, collide with the individual experience and water management protocols applied by local stakeholders. Identifying these management issues through local experiences provides evidence about particular water management and policy challenges that must be addressed to increase the adaptation capacity of water supply systems conditioned by water stress or water confronted demands to the worst forecasts of climate change.

How to cite: Villar-Navascués, R., Ricart, S., Rico-Amorós, A. M., and Hernández-Hernández, M.: Identifying hydrological planning and water management and policy issues through an iterative participatory process: A coastal tourist experience in Benidorm, Spain, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7342, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7342, 2022.

08:45–08:50
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EGU22-8309
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ECS
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Virtual presentation
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Marianna Leone, Francesco Gentile, Antonio Lo Porto, and Anna Maria De Girolamo

The European Commission in 2015, as part of the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS), defined the Ecological Flow (EFlow) in natural surface water bodies as “a hydrological regime consistent with the achievement of the environmental objectives of the WFD in natural surface water bodies as mentioned in Article 4”. These environmental objectives refer to (i) non-deterioration of the existing status, (ii) achievement of good ecological status in natural surface water bodies, and (iii) compliance with standards and objectives for protected areas. The Report does not define a standard protocol for setting an EFlow but it provides some recommendations.

The approaches for determining the EFlow, which must be defined in the River Basin Management Plans, are grouped into four classes hydrological, hydraulic, habitat, and holistic method. However, few methods have been specifically defined for temporary rivers. Most of these waterways have been poorly monitored in the past. The lack of historical hydrological and biological data in natural conditions ("reference") further complicates the definition of the EF.

This work analyses the implementation EFlow in the European Member States in Southern Europe under Mediterranean climate with specific reference to temporary rivers, which are the most common waterways in Spain, Portugal, France, Greece, and Italy. Through an examination of the case studies reported in the literature, a critical review of the methodologies adopted in these EU Member States for setting an EFlow has been carried out.

Results of this study showed that although all States have integrated into their legislation the EFlow recommendations by the EC, in several cases its implementation is not enforced sufficiently and several difficulties still exist in setting an EFlow. Case studies where the EFlow implementation was specifically designed for temporary rivers are still very few and most of the applications are based on hydrological methods. The paucity of hydrological and water quality data is the most important limit in setting an EFlow.

How to cite: Leone, M., Gentile, F., Lo Porto, A., and De Girolamo, A. M.: Ecological flow in southern Europe: implementation in temporary rivers, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-8309, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8309, 2022.

08:50–08:55
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EGU22-10129
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ECS
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On-site presentation
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Sophia Hildebrandt, Elisabeth Helen Krüger, Katja Westphal, Aki Sebastian Ruhl, and Dietrich Borchardt

River water quality changes have been shown to follow typical trajectories, often characterized by sequential phases of accelerated degradation, environmental recovery, and responsive management. However, the relationships between anthropogenic mitigation measures such as regulatory interventions and their effects on water quality remain rarely studied and poorly understood.

In this study, we evaluate the effectiveness of three types of regulations: source-control, use-related and end-of-pipe regulations. Using phosphorus (P) as a model substance for water quality, we analyse a 50-year trajectory of measured total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in the river Ruhr, Germany, and link this with a comprehensive analysis of water quality related laws and regulations being enforced at the national and European level over the same time period. We categorized the regulations according to the aforementioned types and re-analysed the infrastructure developments and operation modes in a literature review and based on research in the archives of the responsible river basin management authority.

The strong decline of TP concentrations from a maximum of 0.59mg/l TP in 1977 to around 0.05mg/l TP in the early 21st century resulted dominantly from source control by banning of P in detergents, the parallel construction of wastewater treatment plants and their sequential upgrade to treatment stages incorporating P removal. Thus, while point source pollution decreased, the share of agricultural and other diffuse sources of riverine TP concentrations increased to around 50%, making them the focus of attention nowadays. As source control and end-of-pipe measures have reached a level at which a further reduction of TP concentration in the river through those means would be marginal, use-related measures gain importance, especially for agricultural practices.

Our results show that source-control was the most effective and fastest way of reducing TP pollution, whereas end-of-pipe measures were a necessary, complementary way to reduce P related water quality impairment. Given the current dominance of diffuse pollution sources resulting from agricultural inputs, where the effectiveness of regulation is likely to be limited, additional measures such as awareness, economic incentives and support for agricultural best management practices need to be addressed. These findings may provide important insights into understanding the effectiveness of different regulatory measures, in particular with regard to the increasing introduction of (new) pollutants and associated impacts on the environment and human health.

How to cite: Hildebrandt, S., Krüger, E. H., Westphal, K., Ruhl, A. S., and Borchardt, D.: Efficacy of source-control, use-related and end-of-pipe regulations on river water quality in a large German river catchment: a 50-year trajectory, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-10129, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-10129, 2022.

08:55–09:00
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EGU22-9160
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ECS
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Virtual presentation
Britta Höllermann, Mariele Evers, and Georg Johann

The flood events of 13-15 July 2021 in Germany brought the relevance of flood prevention acutely and once again to our attention. As the earth's atmosphere heats up, nature has more and more intense events in store for us, which push our flood protection and management measures to their limits and beyond. For planning purposes, but also in case of an event, it is therefore highly relevant to improve the communication of uncertainties and the assessment of their potential impact, e.g. in the climate or flood forecast, in a target group-oriented manner.

In Germany and in the European Union, the conditions for flood risk management have been improved since 2007 with the implementation of the European Flood Risk Management Directive (FRMD) and the amendments to the Federal Water Act. Many new instruments such as flood hazard and risk maps, building regulations or the category of flood emergence areas were introduced. For example, flood hazard and flood risk maps and corresponding management plans have been prepared on the basis of historical discharge data, water levels and hydrological and hydraulic modelling. However, recent examples have shown that the objective of the FRMD to reduce flood-related risks to human health, the environment, infrastructure and property has only been achieved to a limited extent.

In this paper we discuss why the developed maps and plans do not lead to a sufficient risk perception and why, in case of a flood event, it is often not clear what actions need to be taken when and by whom. For this, we want to highlight three aspects in particular:

1) Data: importance of using measured data and dealing with historical flood events, which are only comparable to a limited extent to today's and future conditions, which are shaped by the influences of climate change.

2) Actors: importance of involving different actors in the flood risk management planning process to strengthen risk perception and responsibility.

3) Communication: Importance of communicating uncertainties target group-specific and visualising uncertainties and their possible impacts context-specific.

For effective and sustainable flood risk management, we therefore believe that we are in need of a communication and dissemination strategy in order to contribute to a transparent description of the roles of the actors and their responsibilities. Consequently, the already developed tools (e.g. flood hazard /risk maps) should be supplemented by involving regional actors, uncertainty information and its effects should be classified and communicated to all decision-making levels in a way that is appropriate for the target group.

How to cite: Höllermann, B., Evers, M., and Johann, G.: The safety paradox in flood protection: the importance of communicating and contextualizing uncertainties, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-9160, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-9160, 2022.

09:00–09:05
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EGU22-11380
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Thomas Thaler, Eva Posch, Sebastian Seebauer, and Claudia Winkler

Recent examples of climate-driven catastrophes both internationally (e.g. US and Australian wildfires in 2020) and nationally in Africa or Europe, as well as climate scenarios highlight that climate change impacts will likely reach dimensions which pose substantive shocks to social, economic and ecological systems in the near future. At some point, this increased number of shocks will overstretch current individual and collective coping capacities. However, on the other side catastrophic shocks may enable the transformation to decarbonisation and resilience of our society, if the rebuilding phase after an event is used for a broad societal transformation process and not only for quickly bouncing back to the pre-shock situation. A rushed return to normality may come at the cost of forgoing lengthy and challenging transformation processes, which may ultimately reorient a system to higher resilience. Fast recovery from shocks typically mobilizes extensive resources but often lacks an integrated perspective on climate change adaptation and mitigation policies (‘adaptigation’) that could leverage synergies and build up for long-term responses to climate impacts. Instead, many policies implemented after shocks act in isolated or even competitive silos, cater to immediate demands by affected citizens and businesses, and have different goals, instruments, financial resources, administrative practices, time perspectives, or lack of imagination how to implement. The aim of the paper is therefore to illustrate how the transformative potential of shocks can be leveraged to lower carbon emissions, higher climate resilience and encompassing adaptigation policy. This contribution presents a conceptual framework that focuses on the interaction between the individual actors affected by a shock, and the policy instruments in place in the aftermath of a shock. We strive to learn from past and current reactions to inform the future with the aim of directing post-shock learning to transformation outcomes and to avoiding maladaptation, backfire or inaction pitfalls. The paper derives guidance how to leverage the transformative potential of shocks by dedicated policy action, in order to promote outcomes congruent with the Sustainable Development Goals and the targets of European and Austrian climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. The conceptual framework can be expected to apply to a wide range of emerging, novel or familiar shocks.

How to cite: Thaler, T., Posch, E., Seebauer, S., and Winkler, C.: Leveraging the transformative potential of shocks: a conceptual framework to reach the adaptigation goal, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11380, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11380, 2022.

09:05–09:10
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EGU22-222
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ECS
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On-site presentation
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Marlies H Barendrecht, Alessia Matanò, Heidi D Mendoza, Ruben V Weesie, and Anne F van Loon

According to future climate projections both droughts and floods are expected to increase in severity and frequency. A lot of research has been done on the adaptation of society and the feedbacks between hazard and society for these individual hazards, while the feedbacks between hazards and society in a system that experiences drought followed by flooding are less well known. In this study we aim to identify common variables and characteristics of different human-water systems that experience drought-to-flood events and use this to inform model development. Through a literature study of a variety of case studies across the world we investigate the hydrological and socio-economic settings and characteristics of each system as well as the underlying processes and adaptation measures that played a role in the events. Drought-to-flood events can have very different drivers and impacts. In some cases the main driver is human adaptation, such as in the case of the Millennium Drought in Australia where flood prevention reservoirs were already full because they were being used to store water to cope with the drought (Van Dijk et al. 2013). In other cases the combination of hydrological drivers plays a more important role, such as in the case of Peru where a drought followed by extreme rainfall resulted in mud-slides (Fraser 2017). The comparison across cases provides an overview of common variables as well as differences between case studies and is used to inform the construction of one socio-hydrological model that fits all or multiple models that capture the specifics of each case. In future work the model(s) will be used for a more in-depth investigation of the behaviour of a selection of human-water systems, using qualitative and quantitative data in combination with the models to investigate possible future pathways and policy interventions.

References

Fraser, B. (2017). Peru’s floods teach tough lessons. Nature, 544(7651), 405-406.

Van Dijk, A. I., Beck, H. E., Crosbie, R. S., de Jeu, R. A., Liu, Y. Y., Podger, G. M., ... & Viney, N. R. (2013). The Millennium Drought in southeast Australia (2001–2009): Natural and human causes and implications for water resources, ecosystems, economy, and society. Water Resources Research, 49(2), 1040-1057.

How to cite: Barendrecht, M. H., Matanò, A., Mendoza, H. D., Weesie, R. V., and van Loon, A. F.: Modelling human-water systems experiencing drought-to-flood events: is there one model that fits all?, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-222, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-222, 2022.

09:10–09:15
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EGU22-3741
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ECS
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Highlight
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Presentation form not yet defined
Elite consumptions trigger water shortages: Modelling heterogeneous interactions between drought and society
(withdrawn)
Elisa Savelli, Maurizio Mazzoleni, Maria Rusca, Hannah Cloke, and Giuliano Di Baldassarre
09:15–09:20
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EGU22-476
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ECS
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Presentation form not yet defined
GEB: Integrating farm-level human decision making in large-scale gridded hydrological models
(withdrawn)
Jens de Bruijn, Mikhail Smilovic, Peter Burek, Luca Guillaumot, Marthe Wens, Anne van Loon, Toon Haer, Yoshihide Wada, and Jeroen Aerts
09:20–09:25
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EGU22-8317
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ECS
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Presentation form not yet defined
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Marco Centanni, Giovanni Francesco Ricci, Anna Maria De Girolamo, and Francesco Gentile

The excessive use of pesticides in agriculture poses a threat to water and environmental quality. Under Horizon Europe, considering the priorities of the European Green Deal (EGD), research activities, technological innovation, and investments are needed to contribute to reducing the use of pesticides, fertilizers, and antimicrobials. In this scenario, there is a need to carry out studies on the short and long-term effects of the use of pesticides in the agro-environment and on the effect of mitigation measures. For this purpose, hydrological models are useful tools for the simulation of the fate and transport of pesticides.

Through a critical review, this study aims to: (i) update the status of the use of the hydrological models to simulate pesticides coming from diffuse pollution, (ii) Analyze the spatial and temporal scale of the model applications, (iii) Investigate possible relationships between models and specific pesticides. The ISI papers were selected based on six keywords were used on Scopus: “pesticides, model, watershed, hydrology, water quality, diffuse pollutant”. After removing articles, not in English and articles not related to modeling applications, 37 papers were found and analyzed by constituting a database containing information about the study areas, the pesticides, the model, and the methodology adopted (I.e. warm-up, calibration, and/or validation). Pesticides were classified into three categories: herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides.

Results showed that most of the study areas were localized in Europe (55.5%) followed by North America (22.3%), Asia (13.9%), and South America (8.3%). Soil and Water Assessment Tool was the most commonly used model with a percentage of 45.95%. Regarding the substances investigated, herbicides were the most modeled (71.4%) followed by insecticides (18.2%) and fungicides (10.4%). In particular, among the most commonly modeled herbicides were atrazine, metolachlor, isoproturon, glyphosate, and acetochlor. Among the insecticides, chlorpyrifos and metaldehyde were the substances most frequently modeled. Finally, chlorothalonil and tebuconazole were the most investigated fungicides.

This work will be useful to create an updated guideline to facilitate the water and the landscape managers in selecting a specific hydrological model to assess the transport and fates of pesticides and to simulate the effect of potential mitigation practices.

How to cite: Centanni, M., Ricci, G. F., De Girolamo, A. M., and Gentile, F.: Modeling pesticides in surface runoff: a review of the current status, progress achieved and desirable improvements., EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-8317, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8317, 2022.

09:25–09:30
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EGU22-7785
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ECS
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On-site presentation
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Borjana Bogatinoska, Angelique Lansu, Dave Huitema, Jean Hugé, and Stefan Dekker

Participatory processes provide opportunities for stakeholders such as: scientists, policy makers and citizens to meet, exchange information, deliberate and share values. The artefacts through which the water professionals (scientists and policy makers) and the other stakeholders can enable these participatory processes are defined as tools. There is a diversity of rapidly evolving tools for supporting the process of designing nature-based solutions (NbS) together with the stakeholders (participatory designing). This, however, requires a systematic and informed selection to facilitate the adequate choice of tool, aligned to the requirements and context of the water professionals but also the stakeholders. Despite this, there is still little progress and knowledge accumulation over preferred tools. Moreover, while tailored participatory tools could facilitate and accelerate the design process of NbS, a comprehensive mapping of their availability and capacity to respond to the values, requirements and needs of the stakeholders is still missing.

Consequently, in this research, we propose a stepwise framework for the use of tools as support in three interconnected processes: i) tools used for co-designing NbS with stakeholders - co-creation tools, ii) tools used for defining the hydro-meteorological hazards (HMH) and its effects with stakeholders – knowledge tools and iii) tools used for co-implementing the transition towards NbS – transition tools. We then test this stepwise framework in six brook catchments spread in four countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. The stepwise framework is designed in the following order: tool collection and selection; classification; grading and mapping. We are content that this stepwise framework could show how the water professionals, could make an informed selection and decision on the most suitable tool, based on the usability index of the tool for the specific stakeholder groups and the following criteria: tool category, objective of the tool, the required decision making process stage, the type of stakeholders, and the practical requirements (time, budget, number of participants).

Therefore we designed and tested a framework that allows the water professionals to make a decision on which tool/s could be best used based on their usability but also in terms of their characteristics analysed and described from the water professionals/practitioners themselves. What further discussion on this framework might entail is regarding the trends that we notice in the Co-Adapt project, the limitations and what happens after the tool or suite of tools is applied based on actual field experiences.

 

How to cite: Bogatinoska, B., Lansu, A., Huitema, D., Hugé, J., and Dekker, S.: Designing Nature-based Solutions in a Participatory Way: Usability of Tools for Water Professionals, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7785, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7785, 2022.

09:30–09:35
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EGU22-11789
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ECS
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On-site presentation
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Subin Kang, Sumiya Uranchimeg, Hemie Cho, and Hyun-Han Kwon

Over several years, flood management was concentrated on a physical solution such as building flood control structures like levees or dikes. However, with the increasing term of  “socio-hydrology” within the scientific community, the importance of analyzing the feedback between socio and hydrological systems is drawing attention for effective flood management. Many studies(Di Baldassarre, G et al., 2013; Green, C et al., 2011) have warned about the levee effect, which means increasing vulnerability due to non-occurrence of frequent flooding as a result of flood control structure system. Research to understand such interactions from a sociohydrology perspective is mostly conceptual and limited to qualitative analysis. In this study, we quantitively evaluate the dynamic behavior of a system composed of flood-economy-infrastructure. Sociohydrology model based on the differential equation for dynamic analysis system was used to interpret the Yangjae river flood plain numerically. The results confirmed that excessively built flood control structure systems increased flood risk and hindered economic growth.

How to cite: Kang, S., Uranchimeg, S., Cho, H., and Kwon, H.-H.: An Interaction between flood and economy of Yangjae River in socio-hydrology perspective, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11789, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11789, 2022.

Coffee break
Chairpersons: Mohammad(Mo) Ghoreishi, Britta Höllermann, Thomas Thaler
10:20–10:25
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EGU22-11837
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On-site presentation
Maria-Helena Ramos, Christophe Cudennec, Johannes Cullmann, Nilay Dogulu, Jürg Luterbacher, Ilias Pechlivanidis, and Aaron Salzberg

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) supports the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in their mission to deliver operational hydrology services for achieving water security and the water-dependent/water-related Sustainable Development Goals. Operational hydrology is defined as “the real time and regular measurement, collection, processing, archiving and distribution of hydrological, hydrometeorological and cryospheric data, and the generation of analyses, models, forecasts and warnings which inform water resources management and support water-related decisions, across a spectrum of temporal and spatial scales”. The WMO ‘Vision and Strategy for Hydrology and its associated Plan of Action*’, approved by the Extraordinary Congress in October 2021, identifies eight long-term ambitions for operational hydrology in support of the global water agenda: (1) No one is surprised by a flood, (2) Everyone is prepared for drought, (3) Hydro-climate and meteorological data support the food security agenda, (4) High-quality data supports science, (5) Science provides a sound basis for operational hydrology, (6) We have a thorough knowledge of the water resources of our world, (7) Sustainable development is supported by hydrological information, and (8) Water quality is known. The WMO initiatives aim at improving operational hydrology applications by communicating the needs and benefits of hydrological research in support of operational hydrology, and enabling new research partnerships and collaborations with academia and practice communities. In this presentation, we focus on science priorities and knowledge gaps necessary to improve the delivery and the use of hydrologic data, information, and services in operational hydrology. We discuss the WMO Hydrological Research Strategy and how we can strengthen Hydrology/Water topics under the umbrella of the WMO Research Board. We will also report on the main achievements of an expert team, brought together at the end of 2021 to identify complementary and new research areas to strengthen the linkages between water, weather, climate and environment within the existing WMO related programmes, including the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Programme, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), and the World Weather Research Programme (WWRP).

* The process was led by the WMO Research Board (RB) with inputs from the WMO Hydrological Coordination Panel (HCP), the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), and the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP)

How to cite: Ramos, M.-H., Cudennec, C., Cullmann, J., Dogulu, N., Luterbacher, J., Pechlivanidis, I., and Salzberg, A.: WMO Hydrological Research Strategy 2022‑2030: Operational Hydrology and Water Research Priorities, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11837, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11837, 2022.

10:25–10:30
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EGU22-2504
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Virtual presentation
Duncan Faulkner

In the words of David Sellars, engineering hydrologists ply their craft in the twilight, always looking for a shaft of illumination to enhance their understanding. Many decisions on flood risk management around the world are made using techniques that hydrological scientists would barely recognise. The Rational method, first formulated in 1850, is still widely used for design of structures, despite the availability of more scientifically justified alternatives. Software packages used by practitioners offer a variety of modelling techniques, sometimes without any guidance on their validity. It is common to see uncritical application of infiltration equations at a catchment scale with no acknowledgement that they ignore preferential pathway flow. There is a responsibility on both practitioners and software developers to improve scientific understanding.

Meanwhile, research projects and programmes, even with an operational focus, can produce reports, papers and even new techniques that never influence any engineering design, planning decision or operational forecast. In the UK, research into national flood frequency estimation by continuous simulation was completed in 2005 but has seen little implementation. One barrier was the decision to generalise rainfall-runoff model parameters using catchment properties which were not readily available to practitioners. Other UK initiatives have been more successfully adopted by practitioners, including recent development of guidance and tools for non-stationary flood frequency estimation. This produced a software tool that could be applied with a basic knowledge of the R language, along with practitioner-focused guidance, all freely available to download.

As an alternative to regulators trying to impose new approaches, a more promising avenue for implementation of research could be to create an environment in which the practitioner community is encouraged and incentivized to innovate, seeking out shafts of illumination from academia.

How to cite: Faulkner, D.: How to illuminate the twilight world of engineering hydrology, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-2504, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-2504, 2022.

10:30–10:35
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EGU22-5977
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Mara Meggiorin, Elena Cristiano, Martina Siena, Marco Peli, and Giulia Zuecco

Hydrological sciences can contribute to society in numerous impactful ways: thus, it is crucial that we make an effort to enhance the opportunities for collaboration between academia and society, such as industry and territorial authorities. With the support of the Italian Hydrological Society (‘Società Idrologica Italiana'), in 2021, the Italian Young Hydrologic Society (YHS-Italy) organized a series of webinars to reduce the gap between academic researchers and practitioners, belonging to both private and public sectors.

The webinar ‘Beyond Academic Research Talks’ (BAR Talks) hosted a total of 24 guests during five online public meetings discussing three overarching topics: i) the professional careers of Italian researchers, ii) the research in the private sector, particularly at consulting and manufacturing firms of any size, iii) the hydrological and hydrogeological research in the public sector.

The goal was to document heterogeneous experiences and promote a discussion on potential practical applications of academic research. The meetings also served as an opportunity to understand similarities and differences between the role of a hydrological researcher across different institutions. All webinars have been organized online with live sessions, where the audience could interact with the speakers and ask questions. Each meeting was also recorded and made available on YouTube for asynchronous attendances (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjDrMpQvRQrp3lxtZTr7Trg).

The initiative has been positively welcomed, particularly by young researchers, and many new interesting topics have been raised. The BAR Talks presented a comprehensive selection of professional paths available to researchers interested in working outside academia, and looking for a more immediate impact on society. The guests talked about the challenges of doing hydrological innovation and research outside academia, and highlighted some of the skills that become particularly handy in the private sector (e.g., open-source software, programming languages, digital water, project management, soft skills). 

Finally, one issue that came out strongly from the BAR Talks series was the need, especially for the private sector, to close the gap between academic research and its real-world applications in order to improve the positive impact that academic research can have on society. Indeed, real-world applications often encounter constraining challenges that are sometimes missing from academic research. Overall, we observed that there is a widespread desire for a closer collaboration between hydrological academic researchers and practitioners, which may take the form of joint research projects aimed at producing impactful knowledge. 

How to cite: Meggiorin, M., Cristiano, E., Siena, M., Peli, M., and Zuecco, G.: BAR Talks: a YHS-Italy webinar series to bring hydrological researchers and practitioners close together, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5977, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5977, 2022.

10:35–10:40
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EGU22-8748
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Highlight
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Virtual presentation
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Nilay Dogulu, Giovanny M. Mosquera, and Maria-Helena Ramos

The constantly expanding research literature in hydrological sciences underlines the necessity of knowledge integration and synthesis. Review papers aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the published literature with focus on research gaps and priorities on a specific topic and/or region. While the hydrological science community has responded well to address the needs for knowledge integration and synthesis through publishing many review papers, it is not clear if and how these review papers can be helpful beyond academia. This is particularly important for tackling water-related issues in collaboration with water practitioners and stakeholders working towards providing operational hydrology services (e.g., data collection and management, modelling, prediction, hydroinformatics, decision support). Despite the societal relevance of applied hydrology research in the context of global development agenda, the potential of review papers for achieving the research-practice interface remains unexplored or largely ignored. Hereby, we discuss how review papers in hydrology could contribute to this dialogue and remove barriers around the translation of research into practice. With this objective in mind, we reflect on several principles of writing and communicating review papers, including: 1) effective writing (e.g., language and format), 2) purposeful content design and development (e.g., review context, research synthesis, main findings and implications), 3) high accessibility (e.g., open access publishing), and 4) efficient visibility and dissemination (e.g., meetings with stakeholders and/or users,  social media, artistic material). For each principle, we explore strategies, resources and tools to improve the benefit of review papers to  hydrology practitioners.

How to cite: Dogulu, N., M. Mosquera, G., and Ramos, M.-H.: Review papers in hydrology for linking research to practice: a reflection on the why’s and how’s, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-8748, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8748, 2022.

10:40–10:45
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EGU22-7178
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Montserrat Llasat-Botija, Maria Carmen Llasat, and Isabel Caballero-Leiva

Extreme weather events are increasing and will follow this trend due to climate change. In this scenario, adaptation, and mitigation in the face of them becomes essential both through technological innovations and through behavioural changes. In recent years, progress has been made in scientific knowledge on extreme hydrometeorological phenomena and climate change, and more funding is available for adaptation to climate change, both from European funds (e.g. Next Generation funds), country-level or regional funding. However, there are difficulties for to become this into a change in behaviors and actions to be more resilient to extreme phenomena both at the level of the general population and the public and private sector. This leads us to wonder if the knowledge and tools that are being generated are adjusted to the needs of these audiences in relation to adaptation and what are the facilities and barriers to carry out these changes towards more resilient patterns.

In order to analyze this aspect, a study has been carried out in which the viability and fitting of products and tools to improve the resilience of different type of end-users have been tested. For this, the first step was to conceptualize the tools and define hypotheses associated with them. The next step was to design the interviews to validate these hypotheses. Forty interviews were conducted with representatives of local administration, flood management companies, individuals, and so on. The interviews were customized to suit these different sectors and audiences. The answers served to validate or invalidate the starting hypotheses. In addition to the interviews, sources of expert information were consulted to identify similar strategies or tools and their level of success in their execution.

The interviews have made it possible to identify barriers to the implementation of changes both in individual habits (such as less interest than expected in attending participatory processes), and in organizations: budgetary limitations, political calendar or little knowledge/interest in knowing historical events. Motivations and interests were also identified, such as having a platform with centralized information on extreme phenomena or the prestige of collaborating with the academy to find optimal solutions to this problem.

This research has been done in the framework of the C3-Riskmed project (FEDER/MICINN-AEI/ PID2020-113638RB-C22) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and EU Horizon 2020 project I-CHANGE (grant agreement 101037193).

How to cite: Llasat-Botija, M., Llasat, M. C., and Caballero-Leiva, I.: Study of end-user needs regarding behavior change to be more resilient to extreme weather events, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7178, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7178, 2022.

10:45–10:50
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EGU22-13392
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On-site presentation
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Jullian Sone, Gabriela Gesualdo, Dimaghi Schwamback, Edson Wendland, and Roy Brouwer

The increase in water demand and droughts have exacerbated water inequalities and weakened the economy worldwide. Nonetheless, droughts alone do not justify the severity of water scarcity events, leading to public water rationing and restrictions. It is of paramount importance to obtain a better understanding of how public perceptions of and attitudes towards drought adaptation strategies influence the severity and extent of impacts on water consumption. Furthermore, studies on the general public’s willingness to pay for mitigation and adaptation measures are key for the design and implementation of efficient and effective water management policies. This study aims to inform policy and decision-making by investigating people’s experiences, perceptions, and assessments of past water scarcity events to understand how these past events may have changed their attitudes and behaviour towards water availability and saving. Data were collected by surveying a sample of 800 residents in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP) in South-eastern Brazil, and in Campo Grande in Midwestern Brazil. The MASP faced a severe drought from 2014 until and including 2015 due to a decrease in rainfall and human factors, including water resource mismanagement. This vulnerability frame is also observed in Campo Grande, where residents faced serious water rationing in 2016 and 2019. Our results show that more than 80% of the respondents think the frequency of drought periods increased over the last 10 years and will continue to increase in the next 10 years, and 95% of the respondents believe climate change is real. These results also corroborate the fact that 80% of the sample have faced water restrictions or rationing in the past, of which most lasted more than one day. The study provides policy and decision-makers with important information about the future design of payments for watershed services (PWS) to improve water security. However, one in every fifth respondent does not believe that a possible payment for water saving measures in the surrounding watersheds supplying the cities with drinking water would be invested by the responsible authorities to reduce future water restrictions and rationing and, therefore, improve water security. This reveals a considerable mistrust in the local, regional, and state governments responsible for water supply. Our findings provide important insights into relevant feedbacks between hydrological events such as droughts and societal vulnerability and response inserted into the present-day Brazilian cultural, socioeconomic, and political context, and the effectiveness of economic policy instruments like PWS.

How to cite: Sone, J., Gesualdo, G., Schwamback, D., Wendland, E., and Brouwer, R.: Public perception of droughts and water shortages and metropolitan willingness to pay for water saving measures to improve water security, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-13392, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-13392, 2022.

10:50–10:55
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EGU22-10351
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ECS
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Virtual presentation
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Brianna Tomko, Audrey H. Sawyer, Xavier Sánchez-Vila, and Christine Nittrouer

The Winter Storm of February 2021 left millions of Americans in Gulf Coast states without access to reliable, clean domestic water during the COVID19 pandemic. In the state of Texas, over 17 million people served by public drinking water systems were placed under boil water advisories for periods ranging from one day to more than one month. We combine public boil water advisory data with demographic information from the 2010 United States Census to understand the affected populations. Additionally, we are conducting a survey of over 350 households in Texas to portray the impact of demographics and family considerations on Texans personal experiences with water access during the Winter Storm of 2021. Statistical analysis shows that the duration of boil water advisories depended partly on the size of the public water system. Large, predominantly urban systems (serving more than 10,000 individuals) tended to issue shorter advisories (median of 6 days and a maximum of 12 days). Smaller systems (serving less than 10,000 individuals) experienced a wide range of advisory lengths with a median of 8 days and a maximum of 36 days. Principal component analysis shows two main dimensions of variability among public water systems based on weather and demographics. Some of the longest boil water advisories exhibit clustering consistent with smaller, more rural systems (which also tend to serve predominantly white communities). Though these communities' benefit from public water service, the systems that serve them may have fewer resources to address problems that arise in extreme weather events. Small, rural or ex-urban communities with a greater portion of non-white residents have historically been excluded from public water service in the US (a problem known as underbounding). Some of these communities lack access to clean drinking water year-round and are more likely to experience more significant barriers to access in extreme weather events such as the Winter Storm of 2021. More studies are needed to understand and address disparities in clean water access throughout the US.  

How to cite: Tomko, B., Sawyer, A. H., Sánchez-Vila, X., and Nittrouer, C.: Public Drinking Water Access in Texas (United States) Communities During The Winter Storm 2021, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-10351, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-10351, 2022.

10:55–11:00
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EGU22-13024
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ECS
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Highlight
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Virtual presentation
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Mashrekur Rahman, Jonathan Frame, Jimmy Lin, and Grey Nearing

We used Natural Language Processing (NLP) to assess topic diversity in the abstracts of all research articles (75,000) from eighteen water science and hydrology journals published between 1991 and 2019 -- these are all water science journals with an SCI h-index > 0.9. We found that individual water science and hydrology research articles are becoming increasingly interdisciplinary in the sense that, on average, the number of sub-topics that are represented in individual articles is increasing. This is true even though the body of water science and hydrology literature as a whole is not becoming more topically diverse. These findings suggest that the National Research Council's (1991) recommendation to increase multidisciplinarity of hydrological research has been followed in the sense that individual researchers are working to make their work more interdisciplinary. Topics with the largest increases in popularity were ‘Forecasting’ and ‘Climate Change Impacts’, and topics with the largest decreases in popularity were ‘Hydraulics’, ‘Solute Transport’, and ‘Aquifers and Abstraction’. Out of the eighteen journals that we tested, Hydrological Processes, Journal of Hydrology, and Water Resources Research are the three most topically diverse journals in the discipline. We also identified topics that are becoming increasingly isolated, and could potentially benefit from integrating more with the wider hydrology discipline.

How to cite: Rahman, M., Frame, J., Lin, J., and Nearing, G.: Hydrology Research Articles Are Becoming More Interdisciplinary, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-13024, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-13024, 2022.

11:00–11:05
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EGU22-10886
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Woi Sok Oh, Rachata Muneepeerakul, Daniel Rubenstein, Mehran Homayounfar, and Simon Levin

Recent decades have witnessed an increasing trend of displacement—forced movements of people, e.g., refugee, internal displacement, asylum. The greatest portion of global displaced populations are internally displaced persons (IDP) who travel within a country's boundary. IDPs are relocated due to varying reasons such as conflict, drought, flood, etc. Somalia is particularly renowned for protracted internal displacement due to long-lasting conflicts, extreme droughts, and flooding events. Despite the severity and continuity of the problem, we still lack an understanding of how water (here, droughts and floods) and conflict build IDP networks respectively. This research answers the following questions to solve the gap: (1) What are the underlying push and pull mechanisms in water-induced and conflict-induced IDP networks?; (2) How are water-induced and conflict-induced IDP networks structured and characterized?; (3) How do geographical locations cluster differently in two IDP networks? The analysis was conducted on the yearly IDP flow data at the district level in Somalia. We compared water-induced and conflict-induced IDP networks in Somalia using multiple network metrics, motif analysis, and community detection algorithms. From the analysis, conflict-induced IDP networks followed a power law for both indegree and outdegree. Though the in-degree networks of water-induced IDPs were weakly scale-free, the out-degree case was a random network. Both water-induced and conflict-induced IDP networks shared a similar mesoscopic network structure through the motif analysis. Closed triads were more frequently observed, supporting the importance of social linkages such as social homophily or information/knowledge sharing. Through the community detection, we found that water drove IDPs to move to nearby locations and led neighboring locations to clustered. Conflict, however, facilitated IDP flows between remote locations, building geographically-dispersed clusters. These findings offer an in-depth insight into commonalities and differences between water-induced and conflict-induced IDP networks in Somalia.

How to cite: Oh, W. S., Muneepeerakul, R., Rubenstein, D., Homayounfar, M., and Levin, S.: Water and conflict on internal displacement: network analysis of Somalia case, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-10886, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-10886, 2022.

11:05–11:10
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EGU22-13166
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On-site presentation
Mame Diarra Bousso Dieng, Joël Arnault, Adrian Tompkins, Alie Sié, Stephan Munga, Jonas Franke, and Harald Kunstmann

Malaria remains a major health problem predominantly in tropical countries and is still being one of the biggest causes of mortality worldwide. It is an ancient vector borne infectious disease caused by parasitic protozoans of the genus Plasmodium and is transmitted by female mosquitos of the Anopheles species. The spatiotemporal distribution of this vector is sensitive to climate conditions and the distribution of hydrometeorological variables, particularly temperature, precipitation, and humidity. We present first results of a joint high resolution hydrometeorological- and subsequent dynamical vector transmission modelling. Our approach uses the couple atmospheric- and terrestrial model system WRF-Hydro, with a 1km grid spacing for the atmospheric part and a 100m grid spacing for the hydrological part. Besides traditional hydrometeorological variables, WRF-Hydro further resolves the surface water, which is potentially a crucial step forward for the grid cell distributed dynamical vector transmission model VECTRI. Our study addresses two Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS) site regions at Nouna in Burkina Faso and Kisumu in Kenya. We present an analysis of the performance of the hydrometeorological model system and first results of the VECTRI modeling.

Preliminary results of the WRF-Hydro -VECTRI model system capture the Malaria seasonal variations correctly and show reasonable reproduction of the year-to-year variability of HDSS observed total Malaria cases.

How to cite: Bousso Dieng, M. D., Arnault, J., Tompkins, A., Sié, A., Munga, S., Franke, J., and Kunstmann, H.: High resolution coupled climate-hydrology-dynamical Malaria transmission modeling for regional Malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-13166, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-13166, 2022.

11:10–11:15
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EGU22-5738
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ECS
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Virtual presentation
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Dorothea Hug Peter, Tobias Wechsler, Rolf Weingartner, and Massimiliano Zappa

The steadily growing demand for energy and the simultaneous pursuit of decarbonization are increasing interest in the expansion of renewable energies worldwide. Hydropower produces around 60% of Switzerland's electricity and plays a key role in this energy transition strategy. However, habitat and ecosystem protection and climate friendly renewable energy production are sometimes at odds. While the environmental impact is usually addressed at some level, there is a lack of standardization and tools for a global assessment are still scarce. The GIS-based tool HYDROpot_integral allows the consideration of the total hydropower potential as well as the ecological potential of a region. Based on ecological and socio-economic geodata, both the current state of each river reach and the hydropower potential is assigned a rank. To record the suitability, every river reach is ranked according to their ecological, cultural and economic ecosystem services. A low rank means that a river reach is more suitable for hydropower production at low cost in terms of ecological and cultural ecosystem services; a high rank indicates high ecological and cultural ecosystem services and low economic services and is therefore more suitable for protection. As the limit between hydropower use and protection is adjustable, different scenarios can be explored. Results from five mesoscale test catchments in Switzerland show the feasibility of the present method, to provide a comprehensive and meaningful basis that can support the decision-making process. Overall, the assessment method is to be understood as a flexible tool to address tradeoffs between hydropower potential and ecological potential.

How to cite: Hug Peter, D., Wechsler, T., Weingartner, R., and Zappa, M.: Addressing tradeoffs beyond disciplinary borders: HYDROpot_integral as a tool to simultaneously assess hydropower potential and ecological potential, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5738, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5738, 2022.

11:15–11:20
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EGU22-9498
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Virtual presentation
Kristian Förster, Daniel Westerholt, and Gilbert Lösken

While the added value of green roofs for mitigating rainfall extremes in urban drainage systems has been addressed in numerous studies, the microscale spatial redistribution of rainfall by solar panels (photovoltaic modules) mounted on green roofs and its impact on hydrology has hardly been studied so far. However, considering both green roofs and rooftop photovoltaic installations are emerging topics relevant for decision makers, since their combination supports both climate change adaptation (transforming grey to green infrastructure in order to cope with extreme rainfall in urban areas) and climate change mitigation (energy transformation). In the framework of an experimental study, we shed light on the hydrological and hydrodynamic effects of rooftop photovoltaic installations mounted on green roofs and how this contributes to the development of sustainable solutions in an interdisciplinary setting. Since solar panels redirect rainfall to the “green” fraction of the roof not covered by solar panels, the green roof part is in effect subject to higher rainfall and hence intensified surface runoff generation. Promising results were still obtained in a first investigation, where a photovoltaic green roof has been irrigated by a 100 years design storm with 27 mm over 15 minutes: the runoff coefficient (i.e., the percentage of rainfall that becomes runoff) at the end of the rainfall event amounts to only 23%, even though surface runoff occurred after 13 minutes. Based on this first investigation, a systematic measurement campaign has been launched to scrutinize the impact of the microscale spatial rainfall redistribution by solar panels on the runoff coefficient. In this presentation, we show the results of the first investigation along with results achieved in the systematic measurement campaign, which considers different vertical layer structures as well as various flow lengths and slopes of the photovoltaic green roof. In parallel, green roofs without photovoltaic rooftop installations are investigated alongside as a benchmark. In essence, our results suggest to consider both green roofs and photovoltaic rooftop installations to support both climate change mitigation and adaptation, which are important questions that decision makers are simultaneously confronted with. This way, this presentation highlights how experimental hydrology and interdisciplinary collaboration can contribute to address policy-related emerging research. Given that an obligation to install solar panels is expected in numerous countries, this kind of research might endorse new design approaches in future green roof design guidelines relevant for practitioners.

 

How to cite: Förster, K., Westerholt, D., and Lösken, G.: Photovoltaic green roofs – On the role of experimental hydrology to feature the acceptance of interdisciplinary and sustainable solutions for both climate change mitigation and adaptation, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-9498, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-9498, 2022.

11:20–11:25
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EGU22-3559
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ECS
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Virtual presentation
Bhargabnanda Dass and Sumit Sen

A decline in spring flows has been observed in the Indian Himalayas due to changes in landuse and rainfall variability (Matheswaran et al., 2019). Consequently, the Himalayan communities face water scarcity issues, as springs remain a significant source of drinking and agriculture. To ensure water and livelihood security, management of these springs through landscape interventions and source protection is critical. But lack of fundamental understanding of factors influencing its flow regime limits the impact of management approaches (Vashisht and Bam, 2013) in hydrologically complex and ungauged Himalayan watersheds. To increase the flows, aquifer recharge is aided through interventions. Aquifers recharge is a function of hydrogeology, landuse and rainfall, and conventional hands-on management approaches (conceptual mapping, digging contour trenches, recharge area protection, vegetative measures) for improving spring flows are partially effective (Tarafdar et al., 2019). As the mitigating measures don’t incorporate aquifer recharge functions. Hence, understanding the flow behavior is a prerequisite for instituting a best-suited management practice.

In this study, four springs (A1, P1, P2, P3) were instrumented for high-resolution monitoring in two pilot watersheds in Almora and Pauri region, Uttarakhand, India. Hydrograph analysis, including Recession and Flow durations curves (FDC), facilitated the assessment of spring hydrodynamics. In addition, autocorrelation and cross-correlation functions (ACF and CCF) aided in understanding the memory of the system and the interdependence of rainfall and spring discharge. Results showed that spring A1 in Almora has intricate flow networks and slow flow velocities while P1, P2, P3 spring clusters in Pauri show characteristics of transmissive fractures. This is Indicative of better storage capacity and homogeneity of underlying geology for A1 compared to P1, P2, P3. Recession coefficient ‘α’ for A1, P1, P2, P3 was calculated as 0.038, 0.109, 0.088 and 0.081 respectively. The low value of α for A1 depicts diffused fracture system compared to P1, P2, P3, which indicate rapid emptying of the aquifer, the shallow spatial extent of the recharge area and a well-interconnected flow network. Steep FDC for P1, P2, P3 indicates high variability in springflows, while A1 has a gradually flattening curve attributed to the presence of storage. ACF for A1 shows a steady decline of rxx(k) value till 0.4, a high memory for more than 120 lag days, while P1, P2, P3 have rxx(k) value rapidly declining below 0.2 (significance threshold) in 50, 60 and 70 lag days exhibiting shorter system memory and poor drainage of the extensive flow network.

Such a multi-approach analysis of spring flow systems aids in spring flow characterization, assessment of response lags and flow regimes. The combined usage of such techniques permits detailed process understanding and limits erroneous interpretations (Torresan et al., 2020). Policymakers can extend the results across the Indian Himalayas to design site-specific management frameworks.

Keywords : Springshed management, memory effect, high-resolution dataset, spring aquifer, Himalayas

How to cite: Dass, B. and Sen, S.: Investigating spring flow dynamics towards solving water management issues in the Indian Himalayan region., EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-3559, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-3559, 2022.

11:25–11:30
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EGU22-13135
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Virtual presentation
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Jeremy Diem, Luke Pangle, Richard Milligan, and Ellis Adams

Human activities can have substantial impacts on watersheds, and a dominant, yet understudied, impact on urban watersheds is the inflow and infiltration (I&I) of water into sewage infrastructure. This study uses a water-budget approach to quantify the magnitude of I&I and its effects on streamflow. The analysis is performed over the 2013-2020 period on 90 watersheds in the Atlanta, Georgia USA metropolitan statistical area (MSA), which has a humid subtropical climate. The following annual totals are determined for each watershed: precipitation, water leakage from municipal sources, actual evapotranspiration (AET), water withdrawals, and observed stream discharge. AET is the most difficult component to estimate, therefore, multiple models are used to estimate AET totals, and reference watersheds are used to adjust the totals. Predicted discharge is estimated by subtracting known water outputs from the water inputs, and I&I was the difference between predicted discharge and observed discharge. The most I&I-impacted watersheds are those with the largest I&I to stream discharge ratios. Mean annual totals for precipitation and supply-pipe loss for those watersheds are 1,498 mm and 39 mm, respectively. Mean annual totals for AET, stream discharge, and I&I, are 737 mm, 534 mm, and 267 mm. Therefore, the mean I&I to streamflow ratio for the ten most I&I-impacted watersheds is 0.51 (i.e., I&I is 51% of streamflow). Mean population densities, percent developed, and percent imperviousness for the ten watersheds are as follows: 1,308 people per km2, 60%, and 37%, respectively. I&I is strongly positively correlated with the above three urbanization variables. Regression analyses show that population density explains approximately 50% of the variation in I&I and is the best predictor of I&I. The most urbanized watersheds in the Atlanta MSA have relatively low population densities compared to typical urban watersheds globally, so it remains to be seen if the regression model can be used in locales with much higher population densities. Nevertheless, these results are supported by previous findings in the eastern United States and the results should be transferrable to most urban watersheds there, while the general approach for quantifying I&I should be applicable globally.

How to cite: Diem, J., Pangle, L., Milligan, R., and Adams, E.: Using a Water Budget Approach to Quantify Inflow and Infiltration Impacts on Urban Streamflow, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-13135, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-13135, 2022.