Competing Demands for Water Usage in Agriculture and Water Management under the Pressure of Climate Change

Abstract

The dynaklim project is focused on the analyses of climate change effects and the influence of specific adaption strategies on water resources used for drinking water supply within the “Emscher-Lippe” region. In this work reactive transport modelling has been applied to calculate the water and nutrient budged in the unsaturated zone below farmland under the pressure of climate change. Model projections show a growing demand for farmland irrigation as a result of a re-distribution of precipitation. The impact of this development on groundwater resources and its usability for drinking water supply has been analysed with respect to available water quantity and quality.