DROUGHT-CH: WP6 - Economic benefit of an early warning system of drought and low flow

News & Media

(07.05.2013): Congratulations to Rene Orth, who successfully defended his PhD thesis!

ETH annual report (2012): Our research cited in the 2012 ETH annual report

ETH Life (07.12.2012): Neue Professoren an der ETH Zürich

ETH Life (07.12.2012): New professors at the ETH Zurich appointed

(23.11.2012): Congratulations to Ruth Lorenz, who successfully defended her PhD thesis!

The Telegraph (14.11.2012): Droughts steady since 1950s

Nature Geoscience, Research highlights (31.08.2012): Dry heat

NZZ (29.08.2012): Die Crux mit den Extremen

NZZ Online (10.08.2012): Permanente Dürre in den USA?

ETH Life (17.07.2012): Bodenfeuchte und Hitzetage global untersucht; Soil moisture and hot days examined globally

Schweizer Bauer (17.07.2012): Forschung: Längere Trockenheit sagt Hitzewellen voraus

Tages Anzeiger (16.07.2012): ETH-Forscherinnen können Hitzewellen voraussagen

Los Angeles Times (16.07.2012): Dry spells may predict heat waves

ScienceDaily (27.05.2012): More Summer Heatwaves Likely in Europe: Predictability of European Summer Heat from Spring and Winter Rainfall

ETH Klimablog (10.05.2012): IPCC Sonderbericht zu Änderungen in Klimaextremen (IPCC SREX in Kürze)

WCRP 4th reanalysis meeting (09.05.2012): Brigitte Mueller makes presentation as EGU young ambassador [EGU ambassadors]

ETH Life (29.03.2012): IPCC-Sonderbericht zu Klimaextremen; IPCC Special Report on Extreme Events and Disasters

ETH Klimablog (29.03.2012): Rigorose Qualitätskontrollen beim neusten IPCC-Sonderbericht

SciNevNet (28.03.2012): IPCC predicts rise in extreme climate events

Aqua & Gas (03/2012): On ne peut pas définir la sécheresse indépendamment du milieu impacté

Environmental Health Perspectives (01.02.2012): Managing the Risks of Extreme Weather: IPCC Special Report

(27.01.2012): Congratulations to Brigitte Mueller, who successfully defended her PhD thesis!

ETH Globe (12/2011): Ab drei Grad wird's kritisch - Trockenheit und Landwirtschaft

Le Temps (26.11.2011): Vivre au sec, mode d'emploi

IPCC SREX Summary for Policymakers (18.11.2011): Release of IPCC SREX Summary for Policymakers; Core writing team; Video

(02.11.2011): Congratulations to Heidi Mittelbach, who successfully defended her PhD thesis!

(12.10.2011): Congratulations to Paulo Oliveira who successfully defended his PhD thesis!

ETH Connect (09/2011): Ein Frühwarnsystem für magere Jahre

NFP61 DROUGHT-CH (08.06.2011): Video on DROUGHT-CH project [French; English sub-titles; German sub-titles]

Le Temps (16.05.2011): Mieux prédire les grandes canicules

SF Einstein (05.05.2011): Ein Frühling wie Sommer

SNF Journal Horizonte/Horizons (03/2011): Wenn die Atmosphäre zum Backofen wird ; Mieux prédire les canicules

NZZ (15.12.2010): Dürren bereiten den Boden für Hitzewellen

ETH Life (13.12.2010): Der Boden ist schuld; Soil responsible for heat waves

Nature Geoscience, News and Views (12.12.2010): Extreme heat rooted in dry soils

ETH Globe (11/2010): Vom Klimamodell zum Klimaservice

ETH Life (06.09.2010): Das Wald-Paradoxon bei Hitzewellen; The forest paradox during heatwaves

ETH Life (22.07.2010): Einfluss der Temperatur auf den «CO₂-Atem»

Le Temps (22.07.2010): La Suisse doit adopter un système d'alertes sécheresse

(18.09.2009): Congratulations to Eric Jäger, who successfully defended his PhD thesis!

3Sat (nano) (15.09.2009): Der Boden schützt uns bald nicht mehr vor Hitze. Die Schweiz durchzieht ihr Land mit Messstationen

ETH Life (22.08.2008): Der Bodenfeuchte auf den Grund gehen

SNF Journal Horizonte/Horizons (12/2008): Ein Klimaschlüssel liegt im Boden; Une clé du climat se cache dans le sol

Overview

This work package is based on the insights of WP1 regarding the identification and needs of Swiss water user groups. WP6 will investigate the type and amplitude of potential impacts of drought and low flow, the needs and benefits regarding early warning systems and the requested attributes of such systems (e.g. lead time). This will help to roughly estimate avoidable damage costs and the contribution of early warning systems to damage mitigation. Furthermore, it provides indications on how to best introduce such systems to practitioners. Finally, we will investigate whether and how the user groups may contribute to financing a warning system in the long term.

Details

This WP will address the following key questions:
(1) What characterises the user groups (number, size, organisational structure, dispersion in Switzerland, economic and other interests, potentially inflicted damages by drought and low flow)?
(2) How have these groups so far coped with drought and low flow, what adaptations do they expect for the future?
(3) What is their attitude towards different measures of damage mitigation and avoidance (insurance, investments in infrastructure, changes in their economic activities, use of warning systems etc.) and how are they coping with other potential natural hazards (e.g. forestry with storms)?
(4) What would be the impacts of different scenarios of drought and low flow and what could be the contribution of a warning system to mitigate the potential damages?
(5) What is the financing modus in countries with early warning systems and what is the willingness of the Swiss user groups to contribute to financing such warning systems?
The methods to be applied are as follows: Regarding key question 1: Based on the WP1 the questionnaire to prepare the planned workshop will be enlarged by questions characterising important user groups. A literature review will complete this characterisation. 4 to 8 user group that are (potentially) most affected will be chosen to investigate more deeply the potential effects of drought and low flow on them, and how they may mitigate the damages. For instance, it may be of importance to investigate whether there is a difference in the economic effects of drought and low flow on small or large farms (diversified versus monoculture), and whether communities with tourist peaks may be differently affected than others. Such differences may be important when it comes to the question of whether the users get engaged in contributing to finance an early warning system and to realise damage prevention and mitigation. Regarding key question 2, the hitherto coping with drought and low flow and the expectations for the future will be investigated by introducing a related question in the questionnaire and by reviewing literature and interviews on climate change already realised in the research unit of I. Seidl. Key question 3 will be answered by a related question in the questionnaire, by visiting and interviewing users and political institutions that have already realised adaptations (watering, construction of reservoirs, adaptation of timetables of boats etc.) and by analysing studies regarding adaptation to other natural hazards (e.g. Holthausen et al. 2004). For key question 4 scenarios will be developed together with the coapplicants of the work packages 2-5, potential impacts to users will be deduced and the potential of early warning systems will be estimated. The likelihood of the scenarios will be verified with literature. Finally, key question 5 will be answered first by investigations on how other early warning systems are financed (documents, emails etc.) and by a questionnaire to the users and their professional organisations in which they are asked about the willingness to participate in the financing of an early warning system. Different modes of financial participation will be proposed and interrogated (yearly, single time, each consultation, by users, by user groups etc.).

Partners

• User groups
• BAFU

Synergies with on-going projects

• Map D-Phase
• "Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in the European Alps: Focus Water Resources"
• "Climate Change Adaptation by Spatial Planning in the Alpine Space"
• EU-FP7 XEROCHORE