Lumbricus Closing Symposium: How can we make raised sandy soils climate-robust?

If you want to work seriously on climate-robust soil and water management in the raised sandy soils, where do you start? How do you ensure that there is enough water of good quality? Water for agriculture, but also for nature and recreation? How do you prevent flooding and reduce the likelihood of drought? What combinations of measures can you take, and how do they relate to each other? What impact do your measures have on agricultural crop yields and on nature values? And how do you ensure effective collaboration with residents and land users?

Under the direction of the Foundation for Applied Water Research STOWA and the Aa en Maas and Vechtstromen Water Authorities, numerous partners worked from 2016 to 2020 with the the Lumbricus programme on feasible, affordable and workable solutions to these questions.

Water in de Circular Economy

Researchers, Water Authorities and land users worked together to acquire knowledge and understanding about issues that are very topical, now that lengthy drought periods occur more and more frequently. KWR was one of the knowledge partners in Lumbricus, a participation that was supported in part by the  Water in de Circulaire Economie (WiCE) programme of the drinking water utilities.

Tested measures

The tested measures stemming from Lumbricus range from the introduction of ground worms to enhance the soil structure and water storage, smart weirs that can retain water in the water system’s capillaries, to implementation of the ‘building with nature’ concept in streams and rivers.

Interactive web version

The wealth of knowledge, insights, instruments and working methods stemming from Lumbricus is collected in an accessible reference work (edited by Ruud Bartholomeus, Chief Science Officer at KWR). An interactive web version has also been made.

The Lumbricus results are organised under three themes that provide a roadmap to a robust water system, in which the landscape plays a central role. The three themes are:

• Configuring and managing: Which measures can you take?
• Scaling-up and combining: What is the impact?
• Implementing and deploying: How do we manage it?

Governance closing symposium

The reference work will be presented during the online Lumbricus governance closing symposium on 3 March. Managers and researchers will look back on four years’ collaboration and joint learning, and look ahead to applications in practice.

Would you also like to know about the instruments and working methods produced by Lumbricus for the climate-robust configuration and management of river basin areas in raised sandy soils? Then please register to participate in the closing symposium.

Web version, provided for the climate-proof configuration and management of river basin areas in the raised sandy soil areas.