Interreg project WATERWISE: Sustainable management concepts for resilient Alpine headwater areas

The effects of climate change are affecting the Alps. Researchers from the University of Passau are participating in the WATERWISE project, which is part of the EU Interreg Alpine Space programme. The project is investigating the effects of climate change on water vulnerability and aims to develop sustainable management strategies.

Alpine headwaters are particularly at risk from climate change. Among other things, the ongoing degradation of glaciers is leading to considerable fluctuations in water levels and, thus, also has a major impact on the ecosystem services for local people.

The EU WATERWISE project, which will run for three years from September 2024 to August 2027, aims to provide solutions for communities and protected area managers to assess the vulnerability of headwaters and develop sustainable management and adaptation strategies.

 The project of 12 partners from six Alpine countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Slovenia) is coordinated by the University of Neuchâtel and the Fondazione Edmund Mach. The University of Passau is providing the necessary socio-economic data for the diverse stakeholders in the Alpine region in a sub project. ‘In particular, we are looking at the social and economic effects of changing vulnerability of springs, rivers, streams and glaciers,’ says Dr Terese Venus, head of the sub-project and the BMBF research group ‘Bioeconomy Economics’. In addition to Dr Venus, Professor Christine Schmitt, holder of the Chair of Physical Geography with a focus on human-environment research, and doctoral student Leon Bögel are also part of the team.

The Passau researchers are collecting socio-economic data such as population density and tourism in the regions. Various stakeholders, such as members of the DAV, the German Alpine Club, the WWF , the Bavarian State Office for the Environment, the Water Management Office at Weilheim and the Schneefernerhaus Environmental Research Station, are providing information on the state of the water. “This includes the flow velocity, water quality, local climate data, or chemical components in the water,” says Bögel.

Using these data as a basis, models of the effects of climate change on Alpine headwaters and the water supply for different sectors are generated. The project partners and stakeholders will then use this to develop management scenarios and strategies for their respective areas in a series of follow-up workshops. “This participatory approach is extremely important to incorporate local stakeholders, raise their awareness, and to consider their individual requirements”, explains Professor Schmitt. The process is being carried out in cooperation with various universities and non-governmental organisations and associations from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France and Slovenia.

The project is co-funded by the European Union through the EU Interreg Alpine Space programme and addresses the priority of a climate resilient and green Alpine region, specifically to promote climate change adaptation, disaster risk prevention and resilience by taking into account ecosystem based approaches. 

This text was machine-translated from German.