Project house water: a novel interdisciplinary framework to assess the environmental and socioeconomic consequences of flood-related impacts

Abstract

Protecting our water resources in terms of quality and quantity is considered one of the big challenges of the twenty-first century, which requires global and multidisciplinary solutions. A specific threat to water resources, in particular, is the increased occurrence and frequency of flood events due to climate change which has significant environmental and socioeconomic impacts. In addition to climate change, flooding (or subsequent erosion and run-off) may be exacerbated by, or result from, land use activities, obstruction of waterways, or urbanization of floodplains, as well as mining and other anthropogenic activities that alter natural flow regimes. Climate change and other anthropogenic induced flood events threaten the quantity of water as well as the quality of ecosystems and associated aquatic life. The quality of water can be significantly reduced through the unintentional distribution of pollutants, damage of infrastructure, and distribution of sediments and suspended materials during flood events. To understand and predict how flood events and associated distribution of pollutants may impact ecosystem and human health, as well as infrastructure, large-scale interdisciplinary collaborative efforts are required, which involve ecotoxicologists, hydrologists, chemists, geoscientists, water engineers, and socioeconomists. The research network “project house water” consists of a number of experts from a wide range of disciplines and was established to improve our current understanding of flood events and associated societal and environmental impacts. The concept of project house and similar seed fund and boost fund projects was established by the RWTH Aachen University within the framework of the German excellence initiative with support of the German research foundation (DFG) to promote and fund interdisciplinary research projects and provide a platform for scientists to collaborate on innovative, challenging research. Project house water consists of six proof-of-concept studies in very diverse and interdisciplinary areas of research (ecotoxicology, water, and chemical process engineering, geography, sociology, economy). The goal is to promote and foster high-quality research in the areas of water research and flood-risk assessments that combine and build off-laboratory experiments with modeling, monitoring, and surveys, as well as the use of applied methods and techniques across a variety of disciplines.

Climate finance and green growth: reconsidering climate-related institutions, investments, and priorities in Nepal

“…Direct costs of these events are estimated to be in the range of US$270-360 million for the year 2013 (1.5-2% of Gross Domestic Product-GDP) with an anticipated loss of as much as US$62.384 billion or 2-3% of GDP by the year 2050 [32]. The impact of water-induced disasters, such as flood and droughts, is not limited to basic human activities for living, but includes effect on hydrodynamic and morphodynamic processes in the water, with severe consequences to flora and fauna, water quality, water and sediment structures, soil moisture, irrigation requirements, soil contamination and fertility, geomorphology, and overall ecosystem at large [32,33]. Such disasters often draw socioenvironmental tensions around these topics and add pressure for new and additional resources making the consequences even worse and economically difficult to maintain [32][33][34].…”

“…The impact of water-induced disasters, such as flood and droughts, is not limited to basic human activities for living, but includes effect on hydrodynamic and morphodynamic processes in the water, with severe consequences to flora and fauna, water quality, water and sediment structures, soil moisture, irrigation requirements, soil contamination and fertility, geomorphology, and overall ecosystem at large [32,33]. Such disasters often draw socioenvironmental tensions around these topics and add pressure for new and additional resources making the consequences even worse and economically difficult to maintain [32][33][34]. Therefore, Nepal needs an additional investment of at least US$2.4 billion from now to 2050 to build a sufficient climate resilience [32,35].…”

“…Converted from € to US$ using the historical annual average exchange rate for the year 2010 (€ 1 = US$1 33). and need to reduce GHGs emission[52], it is evident that Nepal has to best utilize mainly renewable energy sources.…”

Environmental observation, social media, and One Health action: A description of the Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network

“…The breakdown of household or community food storage, water, and waste infrastructure can lead to increased transmission of foodborne, waterborne, and zoonotic infectious diseases, as well as ecologic contamination from human waste. Erosion from thawing permafrost or acute weather events can threaten this infrastructure [ 30 , 31 ]. Permafrost thaw can also have far-reaching effects on wildlife through ecosystem disturbance and potential release of pathogens [ 32 , 33 ].…”

Institute of hydraulic engineering and water resources management (RWTH Aachen University): an overview of research focus and training

“…Within its projects, the institute is working in close cooperation with research facilities and administrative boards in Germany and worldwide, such as the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (BAW), the German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), the Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Conservation and Consumer Protection of the State of NRW (MKULNV) or the Israel Institute of Technology. The IWW is further integrated into the Project House Water [ 1 ], a joint venture of six RWTH institutes with a research focus on water. The project house is funded by the Exploratory Research Space (ERS) at RWTH Aachen University and aims to promote interdisciplinary projects under one roof by combining expertise from different faculties.…”