Developing managed aquifer recharge techniques (MAR) in a rural context

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• farmers have access to water supply from managed aquifer recharge systems and to appropriate business models to cope with longer and more intense periods of water scarcity due to climate change, while preserving the good status of ground water bodies;
• water ecosystems are healthier and more resilient to climate change, and water related ecosystem services are protected and strengthened, while water resilience of farming systems is increased;
• policy makers are provided with improved insights on mechanisms and instruments to improve the water resilience of the agricultural sector to cope with climate change effects.

Scope:

Droughts in the EU are increasing in frequency, magnitude and impact, and the affected area is expanding. Water storage systems can limit abstractions from surface waters and groundwater reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture and food systems, and bring the demand and supply of water better in balance, strengthening the resilience of EU agriculture.

Proposals should:

• extend, improve and customize managed aquifer recharge (MAR) techniques at farm, basin and catchment level, covering most representative EU agricultural contexts in view of climate change;
• develop a methodology to help assessing the most suitable location or situations to implement these MAR techniques and validate with a representative sample of case-study regions, taking into account for the differential impact of climate change;
• develop a user-friendly monitoring, reporting and verification system (MRV) to follow the impact on ground water quality and quantity, as well as associated water ecosystems and dependent terrestrial ecosystems;

Trimmed here, the full scope, expected outcomes and award criteria are on the official topic page ↗.