This work falls under the ERC funded project-  A Global Assessment of the Limits of Groundwater Use (GEOWAT). During this project, we aim to determine the physical limits of groundwater withdrawal by providing the first global estimates of fresh groundwater availability - subject to past and future human water use. A high resolution version of PCR-GLOBWB will be used to yield the locations of, and the times when, physical limits of fresh groundwater use will be reached. In addition, we will evaluate how technological strategies may increase the volume of extractable fresh groundwater and promote water table recovery.

• Barry van Jaarsveld MSc
• prof. dr. ir. Marc Bierkens
• dr. ir. Niko Wanders
• dr. Frances Dunn

Piping is a process of seepage-induced transport of sand underneath river dikes that could occur when rivers flood and can make dikes fail. Prediction of piping risk at delta scale is difficult because it demands detailed knowledge on composition of the natural substrate below the dike, e.g. grain size distribution, sorting and layering and on the way seepage water flows through this; horizontally, diagonally, via preferential paths. This project aims to identify locations of increased piping-risk below river dikes of the Dutch delta. The methods involve improved mapping of substrate below dikes throughout the delta, measurement of hydraulic characteristics of the subsurface at field test locations, and full-3D hi-res numerical modeling of the piping process. This will result in faster and more cost-efficient identification of piping-risk locations and better-informed calculation of dike stability, needed to maintain safety standards along 100-kms of dike.

• prof. dr. Hans Middelkoop
• dr. Kim Cohen
• Willem-Jan Dirkx MSc
• prof. dr. Hans Middelkoop

• Dr. M.P Hijma - Deltares
• Dr. V.M. van Beek - Deltares

Piping is a process of seepage-induced transport of sand underneath river dikes that could occur when rivers flood and can make dikes fail. Prediction of piping risk at delta scale is difficult because it demands detailed knowledge on composition of the natural substrate below the dike, e.g. grain size distribution, sorting and layering and on the way seepage water flows through this; horizontally, diagonally, via preferential paths. This project aims to identify locations of increased piping-risk below river dikes of the Dutch delta. The methods involve improved mapping of substrate below dikes throughout the delta, measurement of hydraulic characteristics of the subsurface at field test locations, and full-3D hi-res numerical modeling of the piping process. This will result in faster and more cost-efficient identification of piping-risk locations and better-informed calculation of dike stability, needed to maintain safety standards along 100-kms of dike.

• dr. Kim Cohen
• prof. dr. Esther Stouthamer
• prof. dr. ir. Marc Bierkens
• Willem-Jan Dirkx MSc
• dr. Tim Winkels

• dr. Marc Hijma - Deltares
• dr. Vera van Beek - Deltares