RECREATE: a system-wide look at the water system

“To deal with the consequences of population growth and climate change, and the increasing pressure on the quality and quantity of sources, we need to look at our water system differently,” says Créton. “PWN wants to be flexible and that means working on source diversity. We are trying to make our main source – the IJsselmeer – more robust by establishing a climate buffer while looking at possible alternative sources such as brackish groundwater, underground water storage or other buffers. In that way, we aim to make our water system more robust so that we will no longer have to depend solely on the IJsselmeer. That means you have to look at the system as a whole: everything is interrelated.” So Créton is very pleased with the case study that began recently in the European RECREATE project: experts from PWN, KWR and stakeholders from the area are going to adapt the serious game Aqua Ludens and the underlying system dynamic model to use it in decision-making about new and alternative sources in Noord-Holland.

Adapting Aqua Ludens for Noord-Holland

Aqua Ludens was developed as part of WiCE for Groningen. By replacing the system dynamic model behind Aqua Ludens with a model tailored to Noord-Holland, the game can study the potential effects of using alternative sources at one site on water at other sites and on other water functions. Créton: “In Groningen, groundwater problems are the main issue; here in the delta by the sea, we actually have to work with the variable quality and availability of surface water: that is a very different case, and so it also has added value for the further development of Aqua Ludens. PWN will use the new game inside the organisation to work through the issues relating to our water system but we definitely also want to collaborate with other stakeholders – and Aqua Ludens is ideal for that purpose. We want to tackle questions together, such as what happens if we switch to additional sources for drinking water extraction like brackish water. Alternative sources are of course much smaller than our main source, the IJsselmeer, but an additional source or extra storage in our system could have a huge impact locally. We also want to know what happens when our major industrial water consumers switch to other sources. With a serious game for Noord-Holland, we want to create understanding and support among all stakeholders – because it is only with all stakeholders together that we can develop a robust water system.”

Image 1. The ‘jellyfish’ taking in water in the North Holland dunes between Castricum and Heemskerk (Noord-Holland case study).

RECREATE – towards more resilient water systems with alternative sources

The Horizon Europe RECREATE project kicked off in mid-March with a meeting in Barcelona. Eleven European partners will be teaming up for four years to strengthen the resilience of water supplies by using alternative sources and additional buffers such as underground water storage. This is happening precisely in regions affected by water scarcity or the threat of it due to climate change – in addition to Noord-Holland, they include the Greek island of Syros, the Costa Brava in Spain and the Kalundborg industrial area in Denmark. KWR is leading the work package with the four case studies, one of which is therefore Noord-Holland, but the RECREATE scope is much broader. This Horizon Europe project was established to improve the resilience of water supplies and protect natural water sources by facilitating options for drawing on alternative water sources in regions where water is scarce. The aim of RECREATE is to raise awareness of, and confidence in, alternative water sources as a solution for climate adaptation. An open access database will be established with information about cost efficiency, the environmental and health impacts of different technologies, and alternative forms of water management. RECREATE will deliver a decision-support framework that includes climate impact modules, adaptation strategies and a decision matrix to develop adaptive water management pathways together.

RECREATE case studies

This is being demonstrated in regional case studies showing the integration of the water cycle. In addition to this elaboration of a serious game for Noord-Holland, there are three others.

• In Kalundborg (Denmark), Kalundborg Renseanlaeg A/S (KCR) and Kompetenzzentrum Wasser Berlin (KWB) are developing a digital twin of the current and future water system, including alternative water sources, that is based on the Urban Water Optioneering Tool or UWOT model.
• On Syros (an island in the Aegean Sea), the Greek water utility DEYAS, the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and the National Center for Scientific Research DEMOKRITOS (NCSRD) are designing and installing a second pipeline network to return reclaimed wastewater to underground storage as a source for agricultural irrigation.
• On the Costa Brava, the Spanish water research institute ICRA and the Eurocat Technology Centre EUT are working on the monitoring and digitalisation of water reuse facilities in order to assess the risks of reuse for irrigation, aquifer recharge or urban use.

Dynamic model

Klaasjan Raat is the lead researcher for RECREATE at KWR: “I am very pleased with the subsidy for this project. The driving force behind Aqua Ludens is system dynamic modelling (SDM), which we have developed in WiCE in recent years for application in the water system. I think it is wonderful that we are also setting up this approach at the European level: looking at the entire water system more quickly, loosely and coarsely at the system level rather than using highly detailed models to look at parts of the system only. That helps to make the move from data to strategy – along with other stakeholders. It contributes to a shared understanding of the water system. The resulting interaction with other stakeholders is an important benefit of using Aqua Ludens. The other participants in RECREATE are very interested in this possibility. During the RECREATE meeting this autumn in the Netherlands, we will all be going to work with Aqua Ludens. We also plan to use the game on another case study later in the project. Aqua Ludens was developed on the basis of the Dutch culture of polder consensus. We are all very much looking forward to seeing how Aqua Ludens works in Spain or Greece, for example, and whether it can help to establish a shared system understanding and problem definition there as well.”

Leveraging the potential of European projects

PWN believes it is important to think ahead and tackle strategic issues. Créton: “We are excited about the openings that European research creates for us. We are also participating in another European project, Waterverse, as is KWR. The water data management ecosystem (WDME) developed in that project will later supply the right data and scenarios for the system dynamic model in RECREATE.”

Alternative sources: from new opportunities to strategic asset

For Raat, this extensive European research is an important continuation of what began some fifteen years ago. Back then, with Koen Zuurbier (who was still working for KWR at the time before moving on to his present position at PWN), he was already working on alternative solutions such as aquifer storage and recovery (ASR; underground water storage) and water reuse on a local scale in the Netherlands and in Europe, with examples such as the Horizon Europe Subsol project, water recycling for greenhouse horticulture in Dinteloord and the national research programme COASTAR. Raat: “It’s really cool that we once established and tested alternative sources like this locally with the entire water sector, and that this approach is now included in strategies and strategic decisions to make water supplies on a regional scale future-resilient.”