HydroServ

Project description

People rely on the integrity of ecosystems to provide ecosystem services (ES) because they are essential to human existence. Many key economic sectors such as agriculture, hydropower, re-insurance, recreation, and the drinking water sector depend especially on hydrological ecosystem services (HES). It is therefore important to gain deeper understanding of the interrelation between man-made culture and the ecosystem.

Land use and climate change are often considered to significantly impact hydrological attributes. While several authors have focused on understanding the processes of land cover and runoff generation or sediment, the impact of land use change on main HES such as flood and erosion protection has only recently received substantial attention.

The project takes into account the entire water resource supply chain, from the supply in the catchment area all the way to the use in the valley. An integrative simulation model will be developed that combines the hydrological, ecological and economic aspects of water resource development and portrays these in various scenarios and different time steps to close the feedback loop between land use, hydrology and ecosystem services.

Tasks elaborated at PLUS

• Modelling of land use decisions using Bayesian networks as system driver
• Development of innovative policy instruments (focus on Payments for ES)
• Valuation of HES in the downstream area and of competing ES in the upstream area
• Development of an integrative simulation model using Bayesian networks

Duration

April 1 2010 - March 31 2013

Funding

NRP 61 - Sustainable Water Management

Project team

ETH Zürich
Prof. Dr. Adrienne Grêt-Regamey
Prof. Dr. Paolo Burlando
Prof. Dr. Harald Bugmann
Dr. Annett Wolf
Andrea Ryffel
Enrico Celio

University of Bayreuth
Prof. Dr. Thomas Koellner

IDHEAP, Lausanne
Prof. Dr. Peter Knoepfel
Guillaume De Buren

EPFL Lausanne
Prof. Dr. Andrea Rinaldo

Contact

Prof. Dr. Adrienne Grêt-Regamey