HORIZON EUROPE GENESIS Project: Geologically Enhanced Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Change Resilience of Critical Water Infrastructure

Groundwater represents the largest (and often the only practical) freshwater resource on oceanic islands. Due to the small surface area of many islands, the amount of freshwater available is limited and particularly affected by dynamic processes, including climate change. On the islands of Macaronesia, any change in climatic conditions can have more severe negative effects on the volume of available freshwater than in a continental setting; therefore, protecting critical water infrastructure is a top priority.

The main objective of GENESIS is to demonstrate that innovative, nature-based smart solutions for improving the climate resilience of critical water infrastructure can lead to more reliable, consistent, and predictable water management practices by effectively protecting groundwater, dramatically improving the efficiency of water use and reuse, and consequently sustaining social and economic activities, while mitigating the potentially severe impacts of climate change on local communities.

The overall concept of GENESIS is to test and demonstrate local and regional NBS and create a powerful demonstrator in the Macaronesian biogeographic area, with the long-term goal of providing climate-resilient critical water infrastructure, replicable in other islands and vulnerable areas of the EU mainland. The methodology is designed to provide a complete workflow to implement and demonstrate in operational settings how to strategically and effectively capture, store, and protect water (from diverse sources, such as stormwater runoff, treated wastewater, and irrigation return flows) to mitigate the impact of extreme events (droughts, floods, and wildfires) and create climate-resilient zones/islands.

The development and implementation of nature-based systemic solutions for improved water management in Macaronesia will dramatically improve the resilience of these islands to the impacts of climate change, minimizing stormwater runoff and soil erosion, while improving groundwater infiltration and storage.