Improved monitoring, forecasting and control of water availability

Climate change and higher pressures to water resources are some of the main causes of increased water use, which has resulted in competition for water, overexploited (ground) water resources, degraded land and reduced ecosystem quality. To meet the demands of a changing world in the 21st century, and to save lives, water and money, the water management processes need to be improved significantly. An obstacle for improved water management is the lack of data on water availability. Water resources management can only be effective with good quality and appropriate data available. Therefore the consortium, led by HydroLogic BV from Amersfoort took the challenge to investigate and define services for improved monitoring, forecasting and control of water availability under the project acronym OWASIS-NL. During the study, two services were identified that help water managers to get the right information in the right time to the right person to support the right water management decisions: -Soil Water Storage Capacity Monitoring and Forecasting Service: provides water managers with historic, current and forecasted information on the soil water storage capacity. Based on this information the risk of drought and flooding can be reduced and decisions can be taken on the distribution of water. -Water Auditing Service: This service provides the end user with an overview that shows the water use from irrigation and compares this to the water allocation. Based on this information the user can monitor water use in large areas and can take measures to prevent excessive water use by farmers.