The National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics – OGS is proud to announce the project RESources in Coastal groundwater Under hydroclimatic Extremes (RESCUE), funded by Water 4 All and co-funded by the European Union, was presented for the first time at the International Association of Hydrogeologists – World Groundwater Congress in Davos, Switzerland. which was held from 8 – 13 September this year.
The RESCUE project aims to build knowledge on offshore and deep onshore low salinity aquifers in European coastal areas, to evaluate novel freshwater resources, and help secure a steady supply of water to both population and industry, in times of hydroclimatic extremes.
Led by the University of Trieste (UNITS), RESCUE’s objective is to help establish the foundations for the evaluation of new resources for local and regional policy makers, while the global applicability of the outputs will allow upscaling to Europe-wide or other large areas worldwide, where water is needed.
The Consortium of the 36-month long project, which began in March 2024 and ends in February 2027, also includes OGS, Ruden AS, University of Derby (UoD) and University of Malta (UM).
Claudia Bertoni of the University of Trieste (UNITS), Elizabeth Quiroga of Ruden AS and Cristina Corradin of UNITS and OGS represented RESCUE at the IAH Conference, and were joined by sister project and COST Action Off-Source, which aims at creating a new scientific network that will address if and how offshore freshened groundwater (OFG) can be used as an unconventional source of potable water in coastal regions.
The event was attended by more than 1,100 people from within the global groundwater community, including water researchers and practitioners from the private sector, governments and international organizations, who gathered to learn and explore innovative ways to tackle climate change.
The IAH Conference was a highly valued opportunity to showcase the RESCUE project to the hydrogeology community. The novelty of the idea behind RESCUE raised interest and several questions, some of which will be addressed during the Project.
