Prima strategic Research and Innovation Agenda Version February 22, 2017 Foreword

Expected outputs

A broad range of outputs is expected to be obtained by the present pillar in relation to the areas of research.

Water resources availability and integrated water management:

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  Development of innovative tools/DSSs for planning and adaptation to global changes including public and private stakeholders’ involvement;
  
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  Development of new modelling routines for determining the basic components of the water cycle, including economic, social and technical aspects (e.g. groundwater accumulation and storage);
  
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  Improvement of remote sensing technologies and use of new technological devices for determining soil moisture conditions and evapotranspiration by surface energy balance, in order to assess water and energy budget;
  
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  Implementation of monitoring and forecasting systems to support the water management under scarce condition, also taking into account any anthropogenic effect on the integrated water cycle;
  
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  Assessment and identification of appropriate wastewater management systems in different contexts, and promotion of decentralized approach in peri-urban areas in order to allow long-term sustainability;
  
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  Development of new methodological approaches to enhance public, stakeholders involvement and empowerment of civil society in water resources management;
  
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  Protection of water resources quality for agriculture, livestock and aquaculture and the ecosystem functioning;
  
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  Ensuring the water sanitation and detoxification from food production systems;
  

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  Improvement of consistency between local farmers’ and entrepreneurs’ innovation process and national and public water saving programs;
  

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  Implementation of monitoring and forecasting systems to anticipate droughts supporting DSSs water management during drought events;
  
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  Improvement of knowledge about pollution sources and processes naturally attenuating in order to better assess water management policies and the impact of anthropogenic activities.
  

Irrigation technologies and practices:

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  Development of irrigation technologies able to optimize the balance between soil evaporation and plant transpiration and to improve plant water status and productivity;
  
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  Development of cost-effective and tested technological devices and sensors to support farmers in irrigation scheduling for increasing water use efficiency at farm level;
  
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  Development of decision support systems for irrigation scheduling under different levels of water constraints and salinity;
  
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  Development of new technologies and water allocation models and tools for optimizing the water-energy use efficiency at different water distribution complexity levels;
  
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  Identification of appropriate water treatment technologies in order to comply with the specific irrigation requirements and to ensure the appropriate food security;
  
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  Reduction of farmers’ resistance to the adoption of innovative technologies such as the application of regulated deficit irrigation precision irrigation.
  

Use of alternative water resources, technologies, and governance models:

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  Improvement of the energy efficiency for wastewater and seawater treatment for unconventional water resource production;
  
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  Identification of the best available technologies to be applied for the implementation of wastewater reuse practices for agriculture and aquifer recharge, better suited to the current legislation and able to ensure long-term economic and environmental sustainability;
  
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  Integration of new resources production (desalination and treated wastewater) into water management system, providing specific economic and environmental impact assessment;
  
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  Improvement of the knowledge on the evolution of the water quality in aquifers recharged with reclaimed water;
  
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  Promotion of water governance framework and policies ensuring the adoption of sustainable water reuse practices in target countries;
  
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  Raising awareness on the potential of wastewater reuse to enhance water management efficiency, support local economic growth, reduce water vulnerability and social welfare, and capacity building of local stakeholders with special focus on entrepreneurs in order to facilitate further market uptake of water treatment technologies and reuse products;
  
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  Mitigation of the environmental impacts of seawater and wastewater treatment with special reference to brine management.
  

Main Actions

Priority topic	Main actions
Understanding groundwater processes and link with surface water for catchment/basin balance	Research and innovation actions Scientific networks Training and mobility actions
Specific examples or recommendations
Research and innovation activities linked to specific water catchments under extreme water scarcity conditions and water quality constraints Development of decision support systems for remediation strategies against groundwater contamination Research and innovation activities to improve hydro-meteorological forecasting and monitoring of drought events Modelling and meta-analysis of existing historical data linked with PhD student and young researchers exchange programmes
Characterisation of hydrological regime and morphological status of ephemeral rivers and floods	Research actions Research and innovation actions Training and mobility actions Research infrastructures
Specific examples or recommendations
Research actions for developing quantitative models for characterizing the hydrological regime and morphological status of ephemeral rivers Development of strategies for improving the efficiency of specific management strategies for alluvial aquifers Development of experiences on artificial recharge of alluvial aquifers Training courses for young researchers on hydrology models for ephemeral-river water flows, flooding dynamics and aquifers recharging
Setting the limits for water use. Water accounting, Water use efficiency and Water governance	Innovation actions Scientific network Coordination and support actions Training and mobility actions
Specific examples or recommendations
Pilot-demo studies in water catchments under different social and environmental constraints Landscape management actions including the showcase of local existing technologies to be exported to other areas with similar environmental constraints Network for remote sensing studies. Sharing models and image analysis Monitoring tools, model developments and attenuation technologies against saline intrusion in coastal areas Training courses on remote sensing for determinations of evapotranspiration and water accounting assessment Networking and training activities for further defining common water use efficiency and productivity indicators able to support achieving sustainable development goals related to water use and its quality Coordination and support actions for supporting climate open data, making climate information more accessible to farmers, agricultural advisers and enterprises
Water-energy-food nexus. Technology and governance models	Innovation actions Awareness raising and knowledge dissemination actions SMEs actions
Specific examples or recommendations
Multidisciplinary approach research projects linking energy and water use, including pilot-demo showing good water and wastewater management and treatment practices Pilot projects for showcasing water-energy efficient tools and ICT platforms Workshops and seminars grouping relevant stakeholders, energy providers companies and irrigators
Technical and social aspects of water saving, on-farm water use efficiency and water management in agriculture	Research and innovation actions Innovation actions Training and mobility actions SMEs actions
Specific examples or recommendations
Research projects devoted to determine on-farm evapotranspiration Long-term demonstration of effectiveness of irrigation practices Pilot studies where to show case irrigation scheduling technologies as well as appropriate water treatment technologies Network of agro-meteorological observatories and data. Standardizing data collections and storage for developing a Mediterranean platform for agro-meteorological data and irrigation recommendations Pilot projects on strategies to improve efficient water management in animal production systems
Water reuse and water desalination for use in agriculture	Research and innovation actions Innovation actions Awareness raising and knowledge dissemination actions Training and mobility actions
Specific examples or recommendations
Supporting a circular economy approach in wastewater treatment and seawater desalination, aimed at resource and energy recovery, including the beneficial use of renewable energy sources. Technologies for optimizing waste water treatment and desalination at urban and peri-urban level Demonstrative pilot for mid-long term use of waste water in agriculture, assessing social, economic and environmental sustainability Demonstrative pilot of natural and induced processes to improve the quality of reclaimed water Promotion of decentralized water management approach in order to improve sustainability Workshops for training waste-water managers and users Meta-analysis of data and results for technical legislations and for accomplishing the sustainable development goal # 6 for clean water and sanitation.