How vulnerable is a water system to climate change?

Do you, in your capacity as a water management body, wish to gain insight into the vulnerability of a particular water system to climate change? This knowledge dossier comprises two helpful tools. The guidelines to the tools explain step by step how to use the tools.

Interactive knowledge document

To gain immediate insight into the effects of climate change or of adaptation measures on water quality, view the Urban Water Quality, Climate and Adaptation knowledge document (pdf, 13 MB) (in Dutch). This interactive document shows how climate change and adaptation measures can affect the vulnerability of a water system. It provides quick and clear answers to your questions, as the document allows you to click through to specific topics.

Tool to find limiting values

As a water management body, you can use the tool to find limiting values relating to Urban Water Quality, Climate and Adaptation to provide insight into a water system’s vulnerability to climate change and into the factors contributing to such vulnerability. For each functional use, the tool shows the limiting values for various control variables. The tool produces diagrams based on the data you enter. The diagrams show, at a glance, whether or not the water system is suitable for a particular functional use and which control variables are responsible. The tool offers the following options:

  • In the tool, you can indicate the functions for which a water system is being used, or which functions may be of interest in the future;
  • For each control variable, the tool provides insight into its current value;
  • The tool allows you to indicate whether the value of a control variable will increase, decrease or remain constant as the climate changes;
  • The tool operates with the limiting values based on literature and expert opinions. However, the limiting values can be adjusted to fit your own policy or requirements;
  • If desired, the results of the tool can be exported to a document in graph format.

Guidelines

Do you want to use the above two tools to gain a picture of the water quality in a particular water system? The Guidelines for Exploring Climate Effects on Urban Water (pdf, 3.3 MB) (in Dutch) will help you get started. The Guidelines comprise a step-by-step plan, but you are free to follow your own path. Careful completion of this step-by-step plan takes an average of one to two days.