Developing Adaptive Capacity to Extreme events in the Rhinebasin (ACER)

The overall aim of ACER is to investigate the impact of climate change and to explore adaptation strategies for the Rhine basin under climate change, for both basin wide as well as regional water managers. The ACER project follows a so-called scenario analysis whereby solution trajectories are analyzed and compared, under the assumption of various long-term climate change and socio-economic scenarios. At the core of the ACER scenario approach are a group of stakeholders representing water managers at different levels in the Rhine basin. The objectives are: 1. To develop new cross boundary adaptation strategies to mitigate extreme events (floods and droughts) in the Rhine basin under climate change. The strategies are designed to enhance the adaptive capacity in water management for both the Netherlands and Germany. 2. To develop a coupled atmospheric-hydrological model describing both the energy and water balance for the whole Rhine basin. The model enables simulating adaptations related to land use changes and provides accurate information on the timing of extreme events. The latter though enhanced simulation of soil moisture conditions and a more appropriate description of the land surface atmosphere exchanges and possible feedbacks.