Aquarius is structured The pilot projects into four phases. Germany Aquarius The Eastern part of “Lüneburger Heide” in Lower Saxony. Part of the Phase A. Baseline and barriers German Sub-Continental Lowlands with a high average summer water This phase covers the initial contact with farmers and The farmer as water de cit. The area is an EU-Object-1-Area (Convergency-Objective-Area). other participants and is extremely important to the The demonstration activities will e ect about 250 km of arable and manager working for a success of the project. During this phase a baseline will irrigated land. be created for each project area in relation to water good water environment. The Netherlands: management, ecosystem description, actors, and socio- Del and economic structures. About 25 km agricultural grassland in the Midden-Del and area within the Haaglanden-region. Phase B. Key Methods Drenthe This phase relates to development and operationalisa - About 10 km in the eastern part of the province Drenthe. The area tion of various key methods which the individual farmer is situated in the region of the villages Stadskanaal, Musselkanaal, will be able to use in the interaction with authorities Valthermond, Buinerveen. and other interested parties. Norway The 337 km Vansjø catchment with a lake which is an important Phase C. Implementation and demonstration recreational area and a drinking water reservoir for 60 000 people During this phase the key methods will be implemented threatened by eutrophication due to high phosphorous loads originat - in the project areas and the involved farmers will be ing mainly from erosion and subsurface drainage on farmland. engaged as “farmers as water managers”. Each project Scotland, UK area will test various key methods in cooperation with The 73 km Tarland Burn catchment is a tributary of the River Dee. the involved project farmers. The area has a varied mix of arable, livestock and forestry land uses. Alleviating ooding and improving water quality are key challenges.
Phase D. Synthesis & communication Sweden Effective agricultural production During the fourth and nal phase the results will be The 277 km catchment of the river Smedjeån with approx. 43 percent adapted to new climatic conditions evaluated and synthesis and recommendations will be forest and agricultural land in the county of Halland on the Swedish and environmental demands in the developed. Due to the ongoing cooperation with the west coast. Su ering from severe oodings on a regular basis and relevant authorities during the project, we can ensure from de cit in precipitation. North Sea region. that the experiences from this project will be dissemi - Denmark nated and utilised in the future agricultural and water The catchment area of Mariager Fjord in the north-east of Jutland, planning under changing climate conditions. which is a vulnerable marine estuary. The catchment is 572 km of which 2/3 is farming and 1/3 is nature or cities. Continued development Long-term partnerships with The seven pilot projects are car- under new conditions. the farmer in focus. ried out in Norway, Sweden,
The climate is changing and in the future we will ex - The experiences from the national projects are shared Germany, The Netherlands (2), perience higher temperatures, more rainfall and more with the other partners in Aquarius. The objective is to Scotland, and Denmark. instances of extreme weather; storms, droughts, and develop new ways of production and new tools that oods. can be used across the North Sea Region. The con - structive cooperation between farmers, advisers, and Transnational Website: The higher temperatures lead to a longer growing sea - authorities is central for developing new techniques. son, and this creates new possibilities for growing dif - It is our ambition that Aquarius will form the basis for www.aquarius-nsr.eu ferent crops. Simultaneously the risk of plant diseases long-term partnerships between the farmers, their and pests will grow. The changing climate increases organisations, and local and national authorities in Scotland Website: the risk of nutrient and pesticide loss from the elds charge of environment and water environ - www.macaulay.ac.uk/aquarius while at the same time the environment becomes more ment. sensitive. Aquarius is partly nanced by the EU In the Aquarius project public authorities, farmer’s InterReg North Sea programme. organisations, and advisory services from six countries around the North Sea work together on nding sus - 100 km tainable and long-term solutions to these challenges. 60 mi The ambition is that food production will continue to develop.
Aquarius consists of seven national pilot projects, which all have the objective that farmers and other landowners will function as managers of a good water environment while still conducting an e ective and pro table production.