Research
Hydrology and Water Quality Model Development

  • YHyM
  • PESTFADE
  • CLIMWAT

Water and Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation
1

This research explores links between climate change and hydrology, including impacts of climate change on: agriculture and food security, urbanization, land use and forestry, water supply and sanitation, infrastructure, and energy security which, in addition to climate, are strongly influenced by human interventions and actions. This research also discusses the challenge of identifying and implementing appropriate adaptation responses by considering new approaches to adaptation planning and decision making.

Forest Hydrology

2

The overall objective of the research is to improve our understanding of the effects of forests on water to ensure that future benefits can be secured and any negative effects minimised. Specific objectives include:

  • Conducting research into the effects of forests and forestry management on the quality and quantity of water
  • Evaluating the impact of floodplain woodland on flood and base flows
  • Assessing the interactions between riparian woodland and the freshwater environment
  • Investigating the long-term effects of forestry on surface water quality
  • Assessing the effectiveness of best management practices at protecting the freshwater environment

Water Energy and Carbon Nexus

3

This is a regional research carried out in an interdisciplinary and comparative fashion in three Asian cities. The research activities will integrate three key dimensions- i.e. water, energy and carbon. It will be carried out in policy relevant manner for the benefit of a number of Asian cities in understanding and devising low-carbon urban development. The research activities are place-based in nature. The followings are three research activities (a) comparative case-studies of Asian cities to characterize the nature of water-energy-carbon nexus and (b) quantification of the nexus in in order to show the extent of the direct and indirect importance and to illustrate the potentials of the nexus to the low carbon development in cities.

Groundwater Management

4

Increase of reliance to climate change impacts in water sector is one of the important agenda for sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region. As one of the adaptation options against intensifying water scarcity especially under prolonged dry season recently observed, the need for groundwater has been increasing in recent years.  However, groundwater resource is not always well managed by both users and policy makers, which can be a major cause of overdraft or contamination of groundwater resources. Maintaining the sustainability of groundwater resources through better management contributes not only to the sound access to water but also to increase of resilience to potential climate change in water sector. The proposed research aims to enhance understandings of policy makers and relevant stakeholders (e.g. users) in selected Asian cities and develop their capacity to assess their situation of groundwater management though customization and application of “groundwater governance index”.

Hydrology and Water Quality Modelling

5

The applicability and validity of hydrological and water quality models has to be critically evaluated before they can be used in a basin different from where they were originally developed. Variations in physiographic characteristics and climate regime will affect the choice of a suitable hydrological model as models vary in the assumption and simplification of the natural process. These entail evaluation and if necessary modification of the original model assumptions, processes descriptions and structure to suit the river basin in consideration. The objective of this research is to investigate the applicability of widely used hydrological and water quality models under the different climatic and hydrologic conditions.