Nature-based solutions for mountain water security

Globally, around 1.5 billion people depend on mountain water resources. This is especially the case for the tropical Andes, where the natural "water towers" of the high Andes are critical for local and regional water security. Climate change is threatening this water security, affecting the livelihoods of millions of people. The poorer segments of society are most at risk,

posing fundamental challenges to the sustainable development of mountain regions . To design adequate and equitable climate change adaptation strategies, a much better quantitative understanding of mountain hydrology is urgently needed, and especially the impact of climate change on key processes and systems such as glaciers, wetlands, and

groundwater storage.

This project will build on recent advances in state-of-the-art, physics-based ecohydrological modelling, in combination with innovative hydrological monitoring using in situ and remote

sensing data to achieve this goal. This new knowledge will be then integrated into local water resources planning and management focusing on the optimal deployment of nature-based solutions, such as wetland restoration, using the extensive network of policy contacts of the research group.

In more detail, during the project we will perform the first hyper-resolution simulation of the coupled water, energy, and carbon dynamics for the Andes. We will use a physics based ecohydrological model that simulates the transport of water on the land surface, in the soils, the dynamic evolution of glaciers and the response of vegetation to changes in the water cycle.

We will set up continental scale simulations using available data from in-situ stations established during previous research projects in the area, and satellite remote sensing data.

Using the latest projections of the IPCC we will then provide a detailed understanding of the fate of the water and carbon cycle in the area under a changing climate. Finally, the results of the model will be translated into Engineering action as they will be used to inform the design of nature-based solutions in the area.