How can our drinking water supply in Twente be secured?
ITC team develops interactive dashboard on sustainable drinking water management for Vitens
The Twente region is one of several regions in the Netherlands where immediate action is needed to ensure sufficient drinking water in the face of rising demand and more frequent droughts. To facilitate the planning of measures to address this challenge, the water supply company Vitens is working with the UT Climate Centre and a team of researchers from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Geo-Information Management (PGM / ITC) to help out. The team is currently developing Vitalens 1.0, an interactive dashboard tool for sustainable drinking water management for Vitens. The goal of the tool is to support a dialogue on strategies to balance drinking water supply and demand by 2035, by calculating the impacts of various potential measures. The tool visualizes the current and potential future drinking water supply and demand in the Twente Region.
For instance, users can compare different scenarios of water demand based on population growth and small business needs and explore the potential effects of different measures. They can also modify the amount of water extracted at certain wells and the water imported into the region or introduce smart meters to encourage reduced drinking water consumption by residents. The tool (see image below) calculates effects of the chosen measures on the security of water supplies, investment and operational costs, and environmental impacts such as CO2 emissions and drought effects, and displays restrictions access to supplies in areas that are especially vulnerable to the effects of drought such as nature reserves. Users can explore detailed information about areas where extraction of water is permitted and other spatial data to further inform their choices.
The main target audience of the Vitalens tool is Vitens staff and potentially key stakeholders.
Image: Vitalens 1.0 Dashboard for water demand and supply (Source: UTwente ITC-PGM)
PGM / ITC Team: Johannes Flacke, Ivan Cardenas Leon, Nina Schwarz, Pirouz Nourian, Cheryl de Boer
For more information contact: Johannes Flacke (j.flacke@utwente.nl)