CapTain Rain – Capture and retain heavy rainfalls in Jordan
The joint project CapTain Rain aims to develop appropriate climate services for assessing and forecasting flash floods and to identify measures for the adaption to climate change and the mitigation of disaster damages. This includes measures to collect and drain water during heavy rainfall events.
Background
The Middle East is particularly affected by climate change and extreme weather events. Over the past 50 years, heavy rainfall events in Jordan have caused many flash floods that lead to significant property damage and fatalities. At the same time, Jordan is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world and has few renewable water resources. Maximizing the benefits of heavy rain events in terms of water harvesting and minimizing flash flood damages is therefore one of the most important tasks when it comes to climate change adaptation in Jordan.
One prerequisite for minimizing disaster losses is the ability to accurately predict disaster events so that precautionary measures can be taken. Such “climate services” for risk prevention are a high political priority in Jordan, but have not yet been sufficiently put into practice. Despite recent scientific findings, there is a lack of basic hydrological and meteorological knowledge which is needed to better predict the occurrence and intensity of flash floods in Jordan’s wadi systems. A successful development and implementation of climate services also requires that it be done in cooperation with future users and decision makers. Here, transdisciplinary research methods enable a holistic analysis of flash flood hazards and hazard prevention and facilitate the transfer of scientific knowledge into practical measures for climate change adaptation.
In Jordan, the transdisciplinary research project CapTain Rain aims to help improve current methods and tools for flash flood prediction and prevention. For this purpose, the driving factors of flash floods in Jordan’s wadi systems will be analyzed and the complex interactions between climate and land use changes and hydraulic engineering measures will be deciphered. Based on vulnerability analyses and engineering solutions for water collection and drainage during heavy rainfall events, measures to protect the population will be identified. Climate services (e.g., flash flood risk maps, early warning systems, recommendations for heavy rainfall risk prevention) will be developed in close collaboration with Jordanian stakeholders and practice partners, taking into account scientific as well as local practical knowledge.
Research Approach
In order to analyze the vulnerability to flash flood hazards at various spatial and temporal scales, CapTain Rain follows a social-ecological research approach. An integrated vulnerability analysis of flash floods will be carried out within the network , which includes the analysis of the socio-ecological causes of flash floods and the identification, mapping and assessment of flash flood risks (exposure and sensitivity). In addition, risk perceptions will be investigated from the perspective of the local population and strategies for adaptation to heavy rainfall events will be developed. Model-based scenarios will be used to develop and evaluate measures to improve risk preparedness, including technologies to divert and use water from heavy rain events. Climate services for the prevention of heavy rainfall risks will be prepared and made available in a participatory manner. The study area includes the capital Amman with its 4.3 million inhabitants in the metropolitan region and the more rural region around the UNESCO World Heritage Site Petra. Both regions have been heavily affected by flash flood events in the past.
This joint project is headed by ISOE whose team will focus on stakeholder dialogues and transdisciplinary integration. Comprised herein are the compilation and translation of project results into easily accessible and user-friendly formats to meet the practical needs of different societal stakeholders. In addition, ISOE addresses the risk perception by the population regarding flash floods within the study area which includes decision making for protective measures in order to deal with these hazards. Interviews are used to determine how local people perceive, understand, and respond to flash floods and flash flood warnings. Based on these findings, recommendations for heavy rainfall prevention and a user-friendly establishment of early warning systems are developed. Furthermore, ISOE investigates which traditional methods have been used in the past for the retention, storage and utilization of rainwater in rural areas, on what kind of knowledge these methods are based and how this traditional knowledge can again be made available for today’s problems.
Research and project partners
- Hochschule Koblenz, University of Applied Sciences (HK)
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
- Hamburger Stadtentwässerung AöR (Hamburg Wasser)
- KISTERS AG (KIS)
- Institut für technisch-wissenschaftliche Hydrologie GmbH (ITWH)
Practice partners
- Ministry of Environment of Jordan (MoE)
- Ministry of Water and Irrigation of Jordan (MWI)
- National Agricultural Research Center (NARC)
- Greater Amman Municipality (GAM)
- Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA)
Funding
The project “CapTain Rain – Capture and retain heavy rainfalls in Jordan” is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the funding measure “CLIENT II – International Partnerships for Sustainable Innovation” in the context of the framework program “Research for Sustainable Development” (FONA).
Duration
Contact person
Project team
Related projects
- Approaches to long-term effective power saving advice
- AQUA-Hub India – Water Innovation Hubs and Smart Water Monitoring
- Assessment of the potential for the use of service water in Frankfurt am Main
- BioFAVOR II – Low-tech recycling of faeces from decentralised sources
- BioKompass – Communication and participation for the societal transformation towards bioeconomy
- Classification of consumption points in the supply area of HAMBURG WASSER
- Climate CO2NTEST – Acceptance and impact of the competition in the Hanover region
- Competence Atlas Water – Water Technologies and Water Management in Hesse
- CuveWaters – Sustainable Water Management in Namibia
- Daily drinking water demand – forecast model for Hamburg
- ecobiente - Designing Sustainable Goods more Succesfully
- Efficient Use of the Hessian Groundwater Fee
- EiMap – Communication strategy promoting energy-efficient refurbishment during the home purchasing process
- Electromobility for the Darmstadt-Rhine-Main-Neckar Region
- Eliminating micropollutants in sewage plants
- Environmental awareness in Germany 2020
- Environmental Risks and Pharmaceuticals: The Key Role of Pharmacies
- EPoNa – Water Reuse in Northern Namibia
- EUPOPP - Political Strategies and Tools to Promote Sustainable Consumption
- Evaluation of the International Water Stewardship Program (IWaSP)
- Expert report on the carbon balance of forests
- Gender Impact Assessment in Radiation Protection and Environment
- Germany under Climate Change
- Guiding principle IWRM – Water resources management for the metropolitan region of Rhine-Main
- Homes-uP – Single Family Homes under Pressure?
- HypoWave – New Pathways Towards Wastewater Re-Use in Agriculture
- HypoWave+ – Implementation of a hydroponic system for sustainable water reuse in agriculture
- IndUK – Individual environmental action and climate protection
- INTAFERE – Integrated Analysis of Organic Impurities in Rivers
- IntenKS – Improving sewage sludge treatment in China for energetic and material utilisation
- INTERESS-I – Integrated strategies to strengthen urban blue-green infrastructures
- IWRM in Isfahan – Sustainable Water Management in Iran
- JET-SET - Emissions Trading as Social-Ecological Transformation Process
- KlimaAlltag – low carbon lifestyles in the zero emissions city
- LivingSpaces – Instruments for a needs-orientated usage of the housing stock in municipalities
- Material flows of environmentally relevant chemical substances: product line controlling
- MULTI-ReUse – Modular treatment system for water reuse
- NaCoSi – Sustainability controlling of the domestic water management
- NaHa – Sustainable Practices in the Workplace and in Everyday Life
- netWORKS – Transformations in Network Related Infrastructure Sectors
- netWORKS 2 – Transformation Management for a Sustainable Water Infrastructure
- netWORKS 3 – Sustainable concepts for the municipal water sector
- netWORKS 4 – Resilient networks: Contributions of urban supply systems to climate justice (follow-up project)
- netWORKS 4 – Resilient networks: how urban supply systems contribute to climate justice
- New perspectives for the ecological restoration of streams and rivers
- NiddaMan – Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Nidda Catchment Area
- P-Net – Regional network for resource-efficient phosphorus recycling and management
- Perception and Acceptance of the Ecolabel “Blue Angel”
- PLASTRAT – Reduction of plastic discharges in lakes and running waters
- PlastX – Microplastics in bodies of running water
- PlastX – Plastic waste in seas and oceans
- PowerFlex – integrating the heating and cooling sector into the electricity market model PowerFlex
- Privatisation and Competition in Drinking Water Supply in Germany
- Privatisation in the Water Sector
- Proxies and Scenarios for the Development of Water Demand
- RARE - Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe
- Regional Sustainability in Water and Land Use
- regulate – Sustainable Groundwater Management in Europe
- SASSCAL – Research Infrastructure in Africa
- SASSCAL – Water-related vulnerabilities and risk in Southern Africa
- SAUBER+ Innovative concepts for wastewater from public health sector facilities
- Semizentral – Infrastructure systems for cities of the future experiencing rapid growth
- Smart Water Future India: Intelligent Water Management for India’s Cities
- start – Management Strategies for Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water
- start2 – Management Strategies for Hormonally Active Agrochemicals
- Stormwater Infiltration in Wiesbaden
- Structural concept for Trinkwasserversorgung Magdeburg
- SuPraStadt – Quality of life, participation and resource conservation through social diffusion of sufficiency practices in urban neighbourhoods
- Sustainability Audit
- Sustainability Performance in the Water Supply
- Synergies between environmental and social policy
- TransRisk – Pollutants as a risk to the water cycle
- TRAPA India – Transition pathways for solving urban wastewater problems in Indian cities
- TRI-HP – Trigeneration systems based on multiple renewable sources
- Water 2050 – Sustainable Innovations for Water Management
- Water Cycle an Urban-Ecological Development
- Water demand forecast 2030 for Hamburg
- Water demand forecast 2045 for Hamburg
- Water demand forecast 2050 for Hamburg
- Water demand forecast 2050 for the WBV Harburg
- Weschnitz Dialog: Communication and participation in the management of restoration measures along the river Weschnitz