Regional impacts of non-conventional water use: the role of water-systems thinking and modelling

“Although the natural water system and urban water cycle are traditionally considered as separate domains, they are physically strongly connected. The hydrological system supplies water for anthropogenic use, and after use and treatment, wastewater is released from the urban water cycle back to the natural water system. Yet within the broad range of adaptation measures aimed at improving regional water availability, solutions that intentionally leverage these linkages remain underexplored. Exploitation of non-conventional water resources – such as industrial of domestic wastewater – is only recently being explored in temperate climates like in the Netherlands, as a complement to traditional groundwater and surface water supplies. Embracing such circular approaches, instead of the prevailing linear practice in which water is quickly discharged from an area, offers new opportunities for more balanced water allocation to protect the environment that depends so heavily on water resources.”

(Citation: Bartholomeus, R. P., Stofberg, S. F., van Huijgevoort, M. H. J., Yazdani, M., de Wit, J. A., and Raat, K.: Regional impacts of non-conventional water use: the role of water-systems thinking and modelling, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-1735, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-1735, 2026)

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.