Water and Sustainability

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The climate storyline approach is inspired by a drought event in West Africa in 1983, which resulted in cocoa production losses of up to 60% in the region. Consequently, cocoa prices spiked and there was a shortage of supply which affected prices for both chocolate producers and consumers in Europe. The storyline approach includes a modeling chain of these events, i.e., the impacts of the drought on cacao yields and cocoa production in the exporting region; consequent changes to the trade volume between the region and Europe, and to cocoa prices; and the cascading economic impacts of these changes on the wider chocolate industry. Furthermore, drought impacts on cacao yields and cocoa production under future climatic conditions are determined for the periods 2021-2040, 2041-2060 and 2081-2100 under RCP 2.6, 7.0 and 8.5 scenarios. Next, the storyline modeling chain is applied to the future climatic conditions to reveal how climate change in West Africa could impact European society and its economy, with a particular focus on chocolate manufacturing.

Quantifying the river discharges and their variability at surface water sites managed by the Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarrillados (AyA) is vital to properly plan the supply of drinking water and avoid water shortages in Costa Rica. There are gauging stations and flow records at certain sites, however, measurements may be sporadic or non-existent, with short recording periods and inadequate temporal resolution to accurately assess the risk of water scarcity. In addition, climate change may have an impact on future river discharges, so it is necessary to apply methodologies and tools that allow scenario analysis to support decision making.

The applied methodology allowed the calibration of a distributed hydrological model, the daily simulation of the flow during a long period of record (1981-2019) and the duration and statistical curves of the derived flow to evaluate water availability. Monthly and annual flow rates were derived for the 25 surface development sites to evaluate drinking water variability. In addition, the change in river flow was evaluated for the expected change in temperature and precipitation for the following decades.

  Geospatial monitoring can be applied to any land surface around the planet using state-of-the-art satellite images and numerical models. Clients receive access to a dashboard where they can visualize the daily change of their area of interest to support their operational and planning decisions. Aresti, a wine company in Chile needed a monitoring tool for their irrigated grape production areas. Water in Chile is scarce; thus every drop needs to be used in the most productive way possible. Thanks to our service the operation of their irrigated areas improved, as better decisions were taken on when, where and how much irrigated water needed to be applied.

  Study on oil palm irrigation efficiency in Colombia funded by the Dutch government agency RVO. Evaluation of irrigation water availability and requirements for different irrigation technologies and climate change scenarios. Recommendations on how to achieve real water savings. 

  MavoDiamiproject in Angola, funded by the Dutch government agency NSO. Development of a messaging service for farmers to provide real-time advice on activities related to land, water, and crop management based on processed data and information from weather forecasts, soil observations, and crop growth models. 

  Real Water Savings Project, funded by FAO, Asia. Development of a numerical tool, technical document, and training manual to rapidly determine real water savings in watersheds and agricultural systems. Trainings conducted for government entities in Vietnam, Malaysia and Kenya. 

  Projects to improve water productivity and yields in agricultural areas, funded by the Dutch Goverment. Growth modeling of several crops using as input the folllowing information: global data, field data and drone measurements, to assess the change in water productivity and yields for different interventions.  

  Hydrological assessment in the Lukhra river basin, Georgia for hydropower plant development. Modeling of river flows and impact of climate change. Client: EKOHYDROPLIUSI.

  Glacio-hydrological assessment in the Nakhra river basin, Georgia for hydropower plant development. Modeling of river flows and impact of climate change in glacier and snow dynamics. Client: LTD AquaHydro.