Digitally-enabled Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Water Resources Management (DIGIRES)

Despite the abundance of natural water resources in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), urban areas face major shortcomings in the delivery of basic services such as safe water supply. The cause is manifold, including spatial and temporal heterogeneity of water resources, negative water balance caused by overexploitation, and insufficient human capacities and governance. The conventional solutions based on “grey” infrastructure cannot cope with the basic needs of the population; so, we urgently need appropriate, locally accepted technical options. In this project, managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is proposed for replacing traditional water infrastructure with greener, Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) that allow for a more equitable water provisioning. The overall goal is to develop and mobilise information and communications technology (ICT), coupled with citizen science observations for the design and implementation of MAR as nature-inspired components of sustainable water resources management in the LAC region. The efficiency of the solutions proposed will be demonstrated through success stories, by designing and implementing small-scale, demonstrative MAR schemes with the active participation of stakeholders and by developing capacities for sustainable urban development.

This project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under ERANet-LAC 3rd Multi-Thematic Joint Call 2017/2018. ID: ERANet17/ICT2 0196 DIGIRES