CLIWAT
Report from the First Danish Board meeting
The 12.th of March 2009
Participitants
Susanne Vesten, Sønderborg Municipality
Lars Øvig, Åbenrå Municipality
Gitte Bjørnholdt Jensen, Horsens Municipality
Rud Friborg, Haderslev Municipality
Jette Vindum, Kolding Municipality
Karen Elsborg, Århus Municipality
Tony Bygballe, Horsens Municipality
Jes Pedersen, Region Midtjylland
Rolf Johnsen, Region Midtjylland
Holger Lyngklip Strøm, Region Midtjylland
Jørgen Fjeldsø Christensen, Region Syddanmark
Jørn Pedersen, Region Syddanmark
Torben Sonnenborg, GEUS
Hans Jørgen Henriksen, GEUS
Klaus Petersen, State Environmental Center Aarhus
Anne Esbjørn, State Environmental Center Ribe
Steen Thomsen, State Environmental Center Ribe
Esben Auken, HydroGeophysics Group, University of Aarhus
Karin Larsen, DANVA/Danish water and waste water association
Lorens Jessen, FVD, The Danish association of private waterworks
Hans-Martin Friis Møller, FRI, The Danish association of consulting engineers
Carl Christian Hofmann, National environmental research institute, Aarhus University
Allan Andersen, The Danish society for nature conservation
Marie Louise Bretner, The forest owners association
Flemming Gertz, Danish Agricultural Service
Trine Engholm Michelsen, Rail Net Denmark
Not attending this meeting:
Jørgen Nicolaisen, Tønder Municipality
Keld Rømer Rasmussen, Institute of Geology, University of Aarhus
Bjørn Belsted, The Danish Board of Technology
Michael Quist, Danish Road Directorate
Per Beck Laursen, Danish Geotechnical association,
Jan H. Sørensen, University College, Vitus Bering, Denmark
NN, Danish Forest and Nature Agency
NN, Forest & Landscape, University of Copenhagen
Karsten Arnbjerg-Nielsen, DTU, Technical University of Denmark
Introduction to The Interreg IVB project CLIWAT
The morning was used to an introduction to the CLIWAT project with the following main topics:
 Short introduction to the Cliwat Project
 Introduction to the work of the Danish National CLIWAT Board and the members
expectations as to the upcoming challenges for the groundwater system seen in the
climate perspective
 Activities in the pilotareas Egebjerg and Eskelund
 Activities in the pilot area in the Border area shared between Denmark and Germany.
The presentations are available (in Danish) at the web-site WWW.CLIWAT.org.
During the presentation of the Board Members the external members (nonpartner members)
clarified some of their expectations to the output of the CLIWAT project as follows.
Karin Larsen, DANVA/Danish water and waste water association explained that the association
at the moment has a strong focus on the coming problems for the sewage systems and waste
water treatment plants, and that the CLIWAT project will give new focus on the challenges for
protecting groundwater and the extractable amounts of groundwater.
Lorens Jessen, FVD, The Danish association of private waterworks is anxious to know more
about the available amounts of groundwater and is interested in securing clean groundwater in
the future.
Allan Andersen, The Danish society for nature conservation has a team of 6-7 specialist
working with climate and has a special focus on nature, flooding and CO2 neutral municipalities
at the moment. The society has its own strategy on climate adaptation. Special interest points
will be conditions for agriculture, livestock, groundwater protection and creation of new wet
areas in the new climate regime.
Flemming Gertz, Danish Agricultural Service, reported that they currently are working with an
other Interreg IVB project “Aquarius” focusing on farmers as water managers and expects a
close cooperation with the CLIWAT project. Interesting points to elaborate in the CLIWAT
project will be conditions for farming e.g. flooded areas, conditions for irrigation and leaching
from cultivated areas.
Marie Louise Bretner, The forest owners association, mentioned that foresting can offer a wide
range of solutions to the climate problems, e.g. new forest in vulnerable areas will secure clean
ground water and wood as a CO2 neutral source of energy. Anxious to know more about new
conditions for growing forest and looking forward to see maps pin-pointing where forest
growing will be an advantage.
Trine Engholm Michelsen, Rail Net Denmark remarked that they currently are working on a
climate adaptation strategy. Focus is on securing the danish railnet which only a few years ago
had an example of a breaking embankment due to high water pressure. Important issues are
coming drainage and raising groundwater levels which may cause instability in the
infrastructure
Hans-Martin Friis Møller, FRI, The Danish association of consulting engineers mentioned that it is
important to have good background models for coming groundwater levels and knowledge
about leaching from the open land and polluted sites to ensure good guidance to their
costumers. FRI are currently working on a white book about climate changes.
Carl Christian Hofmann, National environmental research institute, Aarhus University has
special interest in fresh water ecology. Focus areas in respect of CLIWAT are knowledge about
temperature in lakes, the geochemical interaction between outflowing groundwater and water
in streams, and peat/organic earth in new wetlands formed due to rising groundwater.
Representatives from Sønderborg, Haderslev, Åbenrå, Århus and Kolding municipalities
mentioned among other items these focus points:
 Is the robustness of the groundwater protection plans good enough
 Will the rising groundwater levels give new capture zones to the waterworks, give
different conditions for irrigation
 Knowledge about how the physical planning procedures of the municipalities can
incorporate the coming climate induced changes in the groundwater systems
 How is the leaching from polluted sites and agricultural areas affected.
The afternoon was used in two thematic sessions in order to identify
1. The most important possibilities and threats for the involved sectors
2. The most urgent knowledge the CLIWAT project has to present in order to help the
sectors to adapt to coming climate changes in the groundwater systems.
Expectations on possibilities and threats induced by climate to the groundwater
systems
Open land (agriculture and forest)
Possibilities:
Automatically creation of new lakes and biotopes in water suffering areas (if not efficiently
drained).
Threats:
Increased evaporation from different forest types may change the amount of formed ground
water. We have a lack of knowledge about which forest types that will have good growing
conditions and growing forest is a long process.
Growing new types of crops may cause different leaching patterns (pesticides and nutrients), may also give new opportunities.
Some parcels may not be suitable for cultivation due to increased groundwater level.
Nature
Possibilities:
Restoration of river basins by creation of new wetlands to retain water floods.
Raised base flow in rivers but longer periods of low summer base flow in rivers can cause
problems that should be reflected in the Water Framework Directive objectives for rivers.
Threats:
Different interactions between groundwater and freshwater in the boarder zone between
groundwater and wetlands may cause reduced natural degradation.
Groundwater
Possibilities:
New conditions for abstraction of groundwater for drinking water and irrigation, - new size of
the groundwater resources, different size and direction (?) of capture zones.
Action planning in relation to groundwater protection: it must be more focused and it "must be
able to move anything," irrigation needs and water resources will likely enter.
Threats:
Stronger future leaching of contaminants from point sources and use of the open land (forest
and agriculture with special focus on pesticides and nutrients).
Salinization of groundwater resources close to sea.
Higher temperatures and seasonal fluctuations in groundwater table (dry summers and more
wet winters) may give rise to different geochemical conditions/biodegradation or perhaps
higher release of heavy metals or other pollutants.
Groundwater divides may change position
Increased demand of irrigation due to climate change (larger areas and longer periodes with
water deficiency).
Planning
Possibilities:
Give technical input to the next generation of environmental management plans (Water frame
work directive).
Perhaps the future allows for more exciting urban spaces with more water in the city and close
to the city in the form of ponds, open rivers, wetlands and so on.
Better evidence for climate change and its consequences can hopefully make the issue more
prominent position in the spatial planning; there are places where it actually is foolish to build
new.
Threats:
Different size and direction (?) of capture zones to waterworks may change groundwater
protection areas and plans.
The goal of achieving good ecological status by 2015 in the environmental management plans
(Water frame work directive) may change or move due to climate changes.
Existing urban plans may not incorporate changing groundwater tables and need revision.
Technical installations (infrastructure)
Possibilities:
Requirements: Knowledge of technical quality of the drainage system that can help against the
stowage of groundwater, this refers to, for example pipe dimension and biological systems for
absorption.
Threats:
The railways are vulnerable to flooding and soil erosion, which may cause "troubled track" ,
slippage, subsidence in dams and embankments in the runway. This can cause speed reduction
and blocking of the railway.
Flooding of existing rail facilities.
Surface or near-surface water flowing into abstraction wells.
Increased inflow or outflow from sewage pipes.
Failing foundations of buildings and infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc).
The most urgent knowledge the CLIWAT project has to present
The results should both be communicated to technicians and in a non technical way usable for
decision makers.
Open land (agriculture and forest)
Long term forecast on where growing forest is an advantage, supplemented by state
planning/stimulus on this subject.
Forecast on where new wetlands will be formed.
Nature
Knowledge about new base flows in rivers and new conditions for irrigation.
Response of the freshwater ecosystems to the rising temperatures (comment: probably not a
matter that can be described in this project. However knowledge of new base flows combined
with the forecast of new temperatures can be used for research by others).
Groundwater
Description of the uncertainties in climate modelling.
Description of new procedures for mapping of groundwater resources and vulnerability.
Description of the expected future groundwater quality and potential risk of leaching of
pollutants.
Description of risks of salinization of groundwater aquifers.
Forecasts on new groundwater levels.
Planning
Procedures for adaptive management and planning in a new climate regime.
Rough economic estimates of benefits from different adaptation strategies.
Knowledge about what individuals can do: soil preparation, type of crops, fertilizer type?
Technical installations (infrastructure)
Description on how changing groundwater levels will affect foundations of buildings and
infrastructure (comment: This project can only describe where and how much groundwater
levels will change. The sector has to adapt this knowledge in norms and standards for buildings
etc.)
Research: Credible detailed 3-dimentional geological and hydrogeological mapping of the
factors that control the flow of groundwater. Methods that create better integration between
hydrogeological and geophysical models (inclusion of uncertainty) to improve hydrological
simulations.