The European project WATERGRID aims to create a Smart Water Grid (SWG) that helps manage this resource more efficiently in the face of climate change, and particularly in response to extreme droughts.
COORDINATOR
Westcountry Rivers Trust LBG
BUDGET
Total: 7.549.383,13 €
VIC: 131.562,50 €
PROGRAMME
COUNTRIES
Watergrid
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This Horizon Europe programme project will launch two highly innovative pilot projects in our city to make better use of water and combat the effects of drought, while also improving the health of the Albufera.
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Our city participates alongside cities and natural areas from 13 countries distributed across the Atlantic, Continental, Mountain, and Mediterranean biogeographical regions.
Pilots in Valencia
In Valencia, two nature-based solutions will be tested:
Peri-urban pilot in the Albufera area, led by Global Omnium. The project begins by analysing and optimising the Tancat de Mília as a successful model. This wetland can receive both regenerated wastewater and eutrophied water from the lagoon itself, and it serves a dual function: improving water quality through biogeochemical processes that take place within it, and enhancing and protecting local biodiversity by creating habitats that are scarce in the Natural Park, turning it into a biodiversity reservoir.
During the project, a new NbS (Nature-based Solution) will also be implemented on a 1.3-hectare plot to study the feasibility of crop diversification, evaluating alternative species with cycles different from rice that could provide economic benefits and increase the proportion of flooded areas for most of the year, delivering high-value ecosystem services.
Urban pilot, coordinated by València Innovation Capital, where data from monitored and already operational Urban Drainage Systems in the city will be analysed, and new SUDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) will be installed in the form of tree pits in different locations, featuring advanced permeable soils equipped with sensors. These systems will allow more rainwater to be retained, filtered, and made available to trees, improving their health, especially during drought periods. In addition, the sensors will provide real-time data on water availability.
Overall, these pilots will allow us to test technologies and solutions that increase water availability, reduce pollutants, and better prepare us for extreme droughts. In addition, Watergrid will provide a digital platform with up-to-date data to optimise water management in the city.