University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences draws upon 150 years of international research and management expertise

In a time where sustainable development and management of the globe’s resources is more important than ever, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) draws upon 150 years of international research and management expertise. Within Hydro4U, BOKU plays a key role in finding sustainable hydropower development solutions in Central Asia’s multidisciplinary and complex environment.

A team of highly motivated researchers from two BOKU institutes – the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and River Research (IWA) and the Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management (IHG) – with profound experience in integrative river basin planning and environmental research is involved in several project tasks. Working with state-of-the-art tools at different spatial scales, the BOKU team will explore the sustainable small-scale hydropower potential and develop decision support tools for the detection of potential sites. BOKU scientists will also conduct extensive field measurements to provide invaluable baseline data for installing the two demo hydropower facilities.

The successful start of BOKU’s project activities – together with its project partners hydrosolutions GmbH (HSOL), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the “Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers” National Research University (TIIAME NRU), and SJE Ecohydraulic Engineering – resulted in a unique geodatabase, currently consisting of over 40 usable spatially relevant data sets assigned to six thematic sectors. This Hydro4U database provides a key starting point and a central element for research questions and project tasks of multiple work packages dealing with the analysis and replication of unexploited small-scale hydropower potential as well as the Water-Food-Energy-Climate nexus. Motivated by this project deliverable’s success, the BOKU team now delves into methodological and conceptional research questions, sustainability assessments and is looking forward to furthering exchange within the project team and the stakeholders, jointly developing sustainable solutions for small-scale hydropower  in Central Asia.

Authors: Beatrice Wagner, Helmut Habersack – BOKU IWA | Daniel S. Hayes – BOKU IHG

Partner Description: BOKU
Website: https://boku.ac.at/en/
Twitter: @BOKUvienna, @BOKU_IHG