Water is essential for life! The availability of clean water is challenged in an environment shaped by human activities. Climate change will impact the availability of water due to global temperature increases. The consequences are extended droughts, changing precipitation patterns, and declining groundwater tables for which there is plenty of evidence even in Germany now. Extended periods of minimal discharge in our rivers will result in increasing water quality problems for aquatic life but also for drinking water abstraction. These developments are emerging quicker than model predictions have suggested. Thus, we are up against major challenges in the water sector. What we need are not only rapid mitigation strategies but also long-term adaptation strategies which are flexible to be adjusted to constantly changing boundary conditions in order to establish a resilient and sustainable management of water resources for generations to come.
At the Chair of Urban Water Systems Engineering we are developing sustainable and innovative solutions for water (<https://www.bgu.tum.de/fileadmin/w00cbe/sww/_my_direct_uploads/FORUM2020_eng.pdf>). For instance, this month we are launching a new research study funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research with 10 partners from research, regulatory bodies, industry and utilities to explore the use of recycled water for urban and agricultural irrigation in the region of Lower Franconia, Germany.