Young researchers

The flood event of 2021 has been a wake-up call for the responsible authorities of Western Europe that actions to adapt to extreme climate events are necessary. The Rur river basinis amongst the regions that have been particularly affected by this flood. The village Ophoven, situated along the lower Rur in Germany, has experienced two significant flood events within a decade, showing the urgency for adaptive measures.

Deltares introduced me to the very interesting case study of the lower Rur and has made it possible for me to be involved with JCAR ATRACE. I am looking forward to collaborating with RWTH Aachen and others on enhancing the lower Rur’s resilience against flooding. I am especially eager, given my background being half Dutch and half German, to contributing to strengthen the transboundary collaboration on reducing flood risk. I am excited about meeting students and researchers that are involved with JCAR ATRACE and engage in insightful discussions and to exchange knowledge. I am confident that the coming months will be very valuable for my further development within the field of Hydraulic Engineering.

Participating in JCAR ATRACE is part of my master's thesis graduation at the University of Twente. I am excited to work with hydrological models of the Vecht to assess the impacts of nature-based solutions in the catchment. Alongside two other students from Enschede, I started this thesis project at Deltares in February. When I have finished, I hope to have made a modest yet meaningful contribution to the extensive research program.

Contributing to the program, novelty research.

Hi all! I’m Romijn, a second-year Hydrology master student at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Currently I’m conducting my master thesis in collaboration with Deltares and JCAR ATRACE.  
 
In Northwestern Europe floods are increasing in magnitude and frequency. Devastating events in the past few years such as the floods in 2021 have caught considerable attention of many. Nature-based solutions (NBS) are a potential flood hazard reduction measure which next to infrastructure measures such as levees can aid in reducing flood risk. However because it is a relatively new flood hazard reduction measure its exact effectiveness is unconclusive and uncertain. Therefore I, together with Huub and Julius, am researching NBS, in this case afforestation, in relation to flood hazard in the Meuse basin. I’m doing this through applying different afforestation scenario’s in a hydrologic and agent-based model named GEB (Geographical, Environmental and Behavioural). Here I’m analysing the 2021 flood event and hence the effectiveness of afforestation in reducing peak discharge of this event.  

Because afforestation is a fairly pristine flood reduction measure, the results of my research will be very novel and valuable to science, which is more than exciting. I think searching for alternative solutions, different to common or currently applied methods is the way forward in science, certainly in flood risk management. Fort these reasons I’m very glad to be involved in the JCAR ATRACE program and to be able to contribute. I’m looking forward to advancing my research and hopefully share promising results with you soon! 

The JCAR ATRACE project focuses on the collaboration between different countries and institutes in various research topics. I’m looking forward to meeting new people who each have their own perspective and input on the JCAR ATRACE project. More cooperation between different countries is important in dealing with consequences of climate change and I think the JCAR ATRACE project is a very good example of such cooperation.

The focus of my study within JCAR ATRACE is to delve into the effects of nature-based solutions in hydrological models regarding the river Vecht basin. I’m interested in what we can do in our river basins to minimize the risk of floods and droughts. The river Vecht is a rainfed river, meaning that high flows events occur due to large rainfall events and vice verse for periods of drought. Our environment should act more as a sponge where we can store water from rain during high flow events and use this water during low flow periods.

During high flow events, we want to lower and broaden the discharge peak in the river to minimize the risk of a flood. One way to do this is to increase the infiltration capacity of the soil in areas so less water enters the river in a short period of time. Another measure could be to construct retention areas at tactical places to store water. In my thesis, I will look for ways to incorporate these kinds of measures in hydrological models to see whether interventions also lead to the intended effect. I also hope to explore the impact of model selection on the results, as different models may yield varying outcomes.

During last Christmas, there was much rainfall in the Netherlands and surrounding countries, leading to high water levels in our rivers and threatening our water safety. Such events remind us about the relevance of exploring measures we can take to reduce the risk of flooding in our country, this thesis is an example of this.