Climate Scenarios and Irrigation
Global warming increases the risk of extreme precipitation and flooding, but also means that longer periods of heat and drought must be expected. These have an impact on usable groundwater resources and groundwater quality. At the same time, the demand for water is expected to increase. The pressure on groundwater resources is therefore likely to increase.
Model simulations can be used to detect the effects of future drought periods on the availability and origin of water in an entire aquifer or in a single drinking water catchment at an early stage. Changes in the minimum water level, origin and temperature of the groundwater can be quantified. The simulations thus provide the basis for long-term planning of groundwater use and protection.
Long-term planning of the drinking water supply in the Thurtal
With regard to a longer-term planning of the drinking water supply, the canton of Thurgau has commissioned Simultec AG to investigate the impact of different climate change scenarios on the groundwater conditions. In this context, drought extremes are decisive.
With the regional model of the Thurtal different drought scenarios were investigated. For this purpose, these scenarios were implemented in all climatic and hydrological boundary conditions of the groundwater model. The following questions were answered:
- Change of the minimum water level
- Change in the water balance
- Consequences of the exhaustion of the concessionary extraction rates by the drinking water plants
Client: Canton Thurgau