WATCH - WATer and global Change

This Integrated Project Water and Global Change (WATCH) brought together the hydrological, water resources and climate communities, to analyse, quantify and predict the components of the current and future global water cycles and related water resources states, evaluate their uncertainties and clarify the overall vulnerability of global water resources related to the main societal and economic sectors. The objectives of this programme were as follows: •To integrate modelling of the water cycle into global and regional climate models •To better quantify possible changes in the water cycle due to human influences and climate change in the period 2000-2100 - esp. floods and droughts •To assess impacts of the changes on agriculture, industry, energy, drinking water supplies and the environment •To analyse and describe the current global water cycle •To evaluate how the global water cycle and its extremes respond to future drivers of global change •To evaluate feedbacks in the coupled system as they affect the global water cycle •To develop a modelling and data framework to assess the future vulnerability of water as a resource.