NeWater - Buffering Capacity Assessment as a mean to Promote Adaptive Management Alternatives in Water Quantity Issues

"Buffering capacity" has an interesting particularity: it sounds familiar to many but a detailed analysis reveals a quiet complex picture. To avoid meaningless and general formulations, the first step is to identify the scope of our buffering capacity concept for this work package: - Buffering capacity analysis will focus on water quantity issues and more specifically surface water and groundwater storage management. - The analysis focuses on variables at large river basin scale. The buffering capacity concept is meant to support water managers in their planning activities. The ultimate objective is to define a set of indicators useful to water managers when selecting policy alternatives. These variables could be directly calculated from available data or processed through models.