STARS4Water: European partnership on water resource availability in river basins

All these river basins are affected by climate change and shifting water use patterns; through model simulations of co-created scenarios, stakeholders gain a better understanding of their own specific challenges, such as the effect of the gradual retreat of glaciers on hydrology, the increase in agricultural irrigation, which will raise water abstraction levels, or the need to adjust reservoir management to serve the various users as effectively as possible, now and in the future. Whilst each region requires a different, locally specific solution, the regions can also learn a great deal from one another, and stakeholders and researchers can co-design more effectively pathways implementing the EU Water Resilience Strategy.

STARS4Water is a collaborative project funded under the Horizon Europe framework programme and coordinated by Deltares. The project was launched in October 2022 and will conclude with a conference in Delft 15-16 September 2026.

STARS4Water aims to improve understanding of the impacts of climate change on the availability of water resources and the vulnerabilities of ecosystems, society and the economy at the river basin level, focusing on two key elements:

• helping an international community of stakeholders to identify and address their specific needs and requirements
• the development and application of innovative data services, models and tools

STARS4Water is developing new data services and innovative machine learning models, whilst improving existing modelling tools to support more evidence-based decision-making when planning measures for the adaptive, resilient and sustainable management of freshwater resources. This new generation of data and models has been designed and developed, in close collaboration between researchers and stakeholders, taking the local context into account. After all, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Following a process of co-creation across seven river basin hubs, we aim not only to provide stakeholders with the latest generation of river basin tools but also to build a strong community of practice.

Seven hubs

STARS4Water is developing the next generation of tools and services for river basins to support decision-making on water resource management in these seven ‘hubs’. These river basin hubs act as ‘living labs’ – spaces that offer scope for experimentation and innovation – for the joint development of data services and tools with communities of stakeholders, whilst also serving as catalysts for the further upscaling of these services and tools to other river basins within Europe (such as the Meuse) and globally.

Each hub has a river basin committee or other key water management organisation within the river basin (such as a ministry responsible for water or an organisation responsible for the operation of hydroelectric power stations) as its direct beneficiary. This body is the primary user of the project’s products and services (though not limited to these) and maintains strong institutional links and relationships with other government organisations, non-governmental organisations (e.g. water companies, nature conservation organisations, civil society organisations) and private-sector organisations (e.g. farmers’ associations, the food and drink industry, the energy sector). These organisations may also, if they wish, make use of the developed products and services or be directly affected by them. The Rhine Commissions, for example, use the project’s results to update the Rhine Climate Adaptation Plan.

Rhine catchment area case

The Rhine catchment area is becoming increasingly vulnerable to periods of extreme drought, as a result of climate change and growing socio-economic pressures. These developments pose a major challenge to existing practices in the field of low-water and drought management across national borders.

In response to this, the International Commission for the Hydrology of the Rhine Basin (CHR), in collaboration with the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine (CCNR), the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) and the Horizon-funded EU project STARS4Water, launched the Socio-Economic Scenarios (SES) project (2023–2025). The aim of this two-year initiative was to provide information for policy-making and planning in the field of transboundary water management by offering scientifically underpinned insights into the future availability, demand and allocation of surface water in plausible future scenarios, whilst at the same time promoting transboundary cooperation and raising awareness of potential water shortages.

Key activities included collecting socio-economic data, jointly developing shared socio-economic scenarios, improving the IWRM modelling framework for the Rhine, and simulating and assessing scenarios relating to the future availability of water resources and water use.

The project was set up jointly with input from the three Rhine Commissions and the STARS4Water partners, ensuring that stakeholders’ perspectives were central to the development of the scenarios and the identification of key questions regarding future low flow conditions and water stress for economic sectors, environment and society.