STURDI-Water stands for Storage, Upgrade, Reuse and Distribution of Water in regional collaborative networks, and this NWO-funded project runs from 2024-2029.
Project overview
This project aims to develop and demonstrate regional water-banking for the Province of Zeeland, the Netherlands. Such a water bank should arrange storage of fresh water in times of excess of water and matching the water supply of different end-users from agriculture, industry, nature conservation, and the tourist sector. Water banking is needed to safeguard freshwater provision in the Zeeland Delta region, which is increasingly pressured by climate change driven droughts in spring and summer, increased water demands by industry and the energy sector, including the planned hydrogen production in the Zeeland region, and summer peaks in water needs of agriculture, nature conservation and tourism. Besides legal, economic and governance aspects, it will involve the design of add-on water infrastructure between the water bank locations and the water users.
EWUU–I4CS contribution
Most of the knowledge on technology and infrastructure needed for designing such a water bank is available, partly also delivered by AQUACONNECT another large project contributing to establish water circularity in society. That project has put forward the concept of smart water grids with water banking as crucial element, now further developed in STURDI-water towards implementation. The contribution of the partners of EWUU-I4CS to STURDI-water is twofold. The first is done by research of a PhD supervised by Shahab Torbaghan of Wageningen University and Research (WUR) in collaboration with Hans Cappon of the University of Applied Sciences HZ (UAS-HZ). This study is generating new knowledge on harvesting flexibilities in both Water and Energy provision through advanced Data driven and Advanced Machine Learning optimization. The second is a PhD study oriented on the design of governance frameworks for water banking. This work is led by Herman Kasper Gilissen of University of Utrecht also in collaboration with UAS-HZ. Both PhD studies are integrated in the wider concept and piloting of water banks in Zeeland.
Collaboration and wider programme context
WUR, UU and UAS-HZ are also partners in the Delta Climate Centre (DCC) in Vlissingen, Zeeland. Following the positive experiences of AQUACONNECT and STURDI, DCC and EWUU-i4CS are now exploring further collaborations in science-stakeholder interactions and new projects on circular society solutions. Both STURDI and AQUACONNECT contribute to the development of circular solutions within the Circular Regions program of EWUU-i4CS, coordinated by Sacha Tensen and Willem Janssen. That program focusses on circularity in water, biobased materials and food, where social sciences and humanity disciplines are combined with technological orientations. In this way, and with an Impact focus, EWUU-I4CS enables together with societal stakeholders and academic partners, science-to-implementation pathways that lead to a sustainable and circular society.