Author(s): D. Nickel; R. Barthel; C. Schmid; J. Braun
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Decision support system; Sustainable water supply; Water supply model; Agent-based modelling; Stakeholder involvement
Abstract: The research project GLOWA-Danube, financed by the German Federal Government, investigates long-term changes in the water cycle of the Upper Danube river basin in light of global climatic change. Its concrete aim is to build a fully integrated decision support tool that combines the competence of eleven different institutes in domains covering all major aspects governing the water cycle-from the formation of clouds to groundwater flow patterns to the behaviour of the water consumer. This article delineates the general aims and methods of the GLOWA -- Danube project and, more specifically, the work of the research group “Water Supply” at the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering (IWS), Universitaet Stuttgart, which has the central task of creating an agent-based model of the water supply sector. The Water Supply model will act as a link between the various physical models determining water quality and availability on the one hand and the actors models determining water demand on the other, which together form the tool DANUBIA. The conceptual water supply model has been developed and is now being implemented using Java. At present, the “Water Supply” group is conducting a wide-spread questionnaire addressed to all water supply companies within the model area with the aim of collecting comprehensive data on technical equipment and quality standards, on past and present developments such as technical expansion or changes in the company structures, and on the distribution of competencies influencing decision-making processes in the area of water supply. This data, together with information to be won through active stakeholder involvement in the project in the future, will serve as the basis for simulating the present day water supply system as well as possible future developments in this sector which result from decisions made by the relevant system actors.
Year: 2003