76
SUCCESS STORIES
WASSERMed - Water Availability and Security in Southern EuRope and the Mediterranean
Funding Agency EC Period: ( 2010-2013 )
Partners
EU: Italy, United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, Spain, Germany, France,
Mediterranean Partner Countries: Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan
Objectives of the action
The WASSERMed project will analyse, in a multi-disciplinary way, ongoing and future climate induced changes in
hydrological budgets and extremes in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East under the frame of threats
to national and human security. A climatic and hydrological component directly addresses the reduction of
uncertainty and quantification of risk. This component will provide an interface to other climatologic projects and
models, producing climate change scenarios for the Mediterranean and Southern Europe, with special emphasis on
precipitation. Five case studies will be considered: 1) Syros Island (Greece), 2) Sardinia Island (Italy), 3) Merguellil
watershed (Tunisia), 4) Jordan river basin, and 5) the Nile River system (Egypt). The case studies are illustrative and
represent situations which deserve special attention, due to their relevance to national and human security.
Furthermore, impacts on key strategic sectors, such as agriculture and tourism, will be considered, as well as
macroeconomic implications of water availability in terms of regional income, consumption, investment, trade flows,
industrial structure and competitiveness. WASSERMed is an interdisciplinary project, which overall aims at all three
targets of the call, through the integration of climate change scenarios, holistic water system modelling and
interdisciplinary impact assessment, with three main contributions: a) Integration of climate change scenarios, holistic
water system modelling. This provides results for reduction of uncertainties of climate change impacts on hydrology
in the identified regions; b) Interdisciplinary approach, coupling macroeconomic implications and technical indicators.
This provides a better assessment of climate effects to water resources, water uses and expected security risks; c)
Proposal of specific adaptation measures for key sectors of the Mediterranean economy. This provides better basis
for achieving
water security
Results and impacts
The project objectives over the first reporting period are related to the establishment of an organisational structure
for management, and to the identification, collection, building of data, tools and models. A detailed description of
deliverables provided by each Workpackage is provided in the following.Among the various objectives achieved, the
most relevant ones for the project as a whole are:
Establishment of a research cluster (CLICO), and continuous collaboration with other projects (in particular, CLIMB);
- Realisation of a series of five Case Study workshops, with involvement of local stakeholders;
- Dissemination activities at both the project and cluster level, including participation to several Science/Policy
meetings.
WASSERMED was launched on January 1st 2010 and spans a 3 year-period. The project is disseminating its progress
and findings through its web site (http://www.wassermed.eu), scientific publications, application-oriented material
and policy briefs. Stakeholder involvement is fostered through dedicated workshops and targeted dissemination
events.
During the first 18 months, the project has carried out most of the activities as planned in the Description of Work,
with only minor deviations in a few cases (mostly due to delays in data collection). Two general assemblies and cluster
meeting have taken place (in Cairo, January 2010, and Cagliari, February 2011). The series of five case study workshop
has been completed in June 2011.
Potential impact:
WASSERMED forms part of a cluster of independent EU projects, together with CLIMB and CLICO, which also address
environmental and social aspects of climate-induced changes as threats to security.
77
Project title
SIRIUS - Sustainable Irrigation water management and River-basin governance: Implementing User-
driven Services
Funding Agency EC Period: ( 2010-2013 )
Partners
EU: Italy, United Kingdom, Greece, France, Spain, Romania,
Portugal, Sweden, Malta, Cyprus,
Mediterranean Partner Countries: Egypt, Turkey
Other: Mexico, India,
Brazil
Objectives of the action
SIRIUS addresses efficient water resource management in water-scarce environments. It focuses in particular on
water for food production with the perspective of a sustainable agriculture in the context of integrated river-
basin management, including drought management. It aims at developing innovative and new GMES service
capacities for the user community of irrigation water management and sustainable food production, in
accordance with the vision of bridging and integrating sustainable development and economic competitiveness.
SIRIUS merges two previously separate strands of activities, those under the umbrella of GMES, related to land
products and services (which address water to some extent), and those conducted under FP5/6-Environment
and national programs, related to EO-assisted user-driven products and services for the water and irrigation
community. As such, it will draw on existing GMES Core Services as much as possible, by integrating these
products into some of the required input for the new water management services. It also makes direct use of
the EO-assisted systems and services developed in the FP6 project PLEIADeS and its precursor EU or national
projects, like DEMETER, IRRIMED, ERMOT, MONIDRI, AGRASER, all addressing the irrigation water and food
production sectors, some of which have resulted in sustainable system implementation since 2005.
SIRIUS addresses users (water managers and food producers) at scales ranging from farm, over irrigation scheme
or aquifer, to river-basins. It will provide them with maps of irrigation water requirements, crop water
consumption and a range of further products for sustainable irrigation water use and management under
conditions of water scarcity and drought, integrated in leading-edge participatory spatial online Decision-
support systems. The SIRIUS service concept considers the economic, environmental, technical, social, and
political dimensions in an integrated way
Results and impacts
Earth observation aids water management
Researchers have developed satellite-assisted services to support adequate water resource management. These
services are particularly useful in water-scarce regions where good management is essential for food production.
Earth observation aids water management © Thinkstock
In non-industrialized countries, a lack of water for farming can cause conflicts that destabilize entire regions,
both economically and socially. Periodic droughts and floods, as well as growing populations, exacerbate the
problem.
The EU-funded SIRIUS project drew on satellite imagery and other data and media to create tools that help
communities manage water resources effectively. The tools include maps of irrigation water requirements and
crop water consumption, as well as integrated river basin and drought management advice to facilitate
sustainable agriculture.
All three SIRIUS services (drought, irrigation and farm management tools) are powered by an easy-to-use online
system known as SPIDER. This platform encourages stakeholder participation, collaboration, and transparent
governance due to its non-academic and non-technical interface.
The services have been piloted in water-scarce regions in Brazil, Egypt, India, Italy, Mexico, Romania, Spain and
Turkey, during at least one growing season. In parallel, researchers assessed key aspects of sustainable water
management within these regions.
Furthermore, SIRIUS developed a roadmap for ongoing implementation of the services in all of the pilot areas.
Ultimately, these new tools will help reduce conflict caused by water shortages.