The eight WATERGRID sites
At five Demonstration Sites, carefully designed and locally adapted Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) will be implemented to slow, move, and store water. By integrating these new interventions into a smart, monitored network—together with existing NBS—we will establish Smart Water Grids at each site, supported by digital tools for monitoring, maintenance, and decision-making.
To complement this, three Replication Sites will broaden the evidence base by applying the developed protocols and tools across diverse catchment scales, water scarcity levels, governance and management challenges, and socio-economic contexts Together, these sites will pave the way for future replication and catalyse the upscaling of SWGs.
Tamar, Devon & Cornwall, United Kingdom
The Region: Atlantic
The Challenge: Enhancing catchment-scale water retention and resilience
The NBS Measures: Ponds/small lakes across the catchment
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Averbode Forest & Heath, Belgium
The Region: Continental
The Challenge: Restoring water levels in sandy heathland ecosystems
The NBS Measures: Counteracting historic drainage by weirs and blocking ditches
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Bioclimatic Park, Slovakia
The Region: Mountain / Pannonian (Continental)
The Challenge: Maximizing natural storage for agricultural drought mitigation
The NBS Measures: Infiltration strips, terraces and terrain depressions
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City of Valencia, Spain
The Region: Mediterranean
The Challenge: Integrating urban NBS for sustainable storm-water management
The NBS Measures: Modular sustainable drainage systems in tree pits, storm-water harvesting and treatment for irrigation
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Qlejjgha dry-valley, Malta
The Region: Mediterranean
The Challenge: Enhancing aquifer recharge in water-scarce island catchments
The NBS Measures: Desilting and rehabilitating dams, habitat renaturation, bank and soil stabilization, infiltration strips
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Gelderse Poort, The Netherlands
The Region: Atlantic
The Challenge: Scaling natural floodplains for climate-adaptive water buffering
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Schwerin Lakeland, Germany
The Region: Continental
The Challenge: (Implement a climate-adaptive water buffer for water supply and agriculture
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Danube Alluvial Zone National Park, Austria
The Region: Continental (Pannonian influence)
The Challenge: Restoring river-floodplain connectivity for groundwater recharge
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