Project Prof. Dr. Werner Aeschbach-Hertig
Dealing with limited water resources in the context of global change and globalisation
Global change and globalization are closely connected. The globalized economy raises the pressure on water resources, whose limitations become increasingly apparent. Global change will probably exacerbate the problem, as climate models predict changes in the rainfall distribution that tend to amplify existing strong inequalities ini the distribution of water availability. As water is a key resource for both food production and industrial activities, these anticipated trends could seriously affect the economic development particularly of arid regions. In close cooperation with the fellows Ute Mager and Olaf Bubenzer, the goal of this project is to study the problem of water distribution in an integrative approach including physical (quantity and regeneration of water resources), geographical (spatial distribution of water resources) and judicial (equitable regulation of water distribution) aspects.
Although water scarcity is an issue of global importance and connected to global climate change, its direct effects mostly appear on a regional scale. Therefore the project will focus on arid regions, which are particularly sensitive to water scarcity. Physical and economic reasons of water scarcity have to be distinguished and both shall be studied in this interdisciplinary collaboration. The uneven distribution of water resources and their increasing exploitation can lead to regional and international water conflicts. Therefore, understanding reasons for impending water conflicts and finding strategies to solve them, i.e. by international agreements, are other important issues to be studies in this project.
A particular expertise available at the Institute of Environmental Physics concerns the identification and dating of fossil groundwater resources and the quantification of the recharge rates of such aquifers. Often the recharge is so slow that such water reservoirs are essentially non-renewable. Nevertheless, fossil groundwater is frequently used in dry regions to alleviate water shortage. Such water management practices are beneficial in the short term but not sustainable in the long term. One aspect of the project therefore concerns the demonstration of this problem and the search for ways to solve it.
