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Introduction
Additional affiliations
January 1992 - April 1994
IWACO consultants
Position
- Senior project leader & Represntative West Africa
Publications
Publications (139)
Studying hydrogeology of a sedimentary megafan where human & wildlife coexist. Karnali megafan is a transboundary landform lying largely in Nepal with distal part extending to India. It lies at the northern edge of Indo Gangetic Basin, and is a agricultural area. A nature reserve Bardia National Park is present in the eastern part of the fan, makin...
Environmental risk assessment is generally based on atmospheric conditions for the modelling of chemical fate after entering the environment. However, during hydraulic fracturing, chemicals may be released deep underground. This study therefore focuses on the effects of high pressure and high temperature conditions on chemicals in flowback water to...
Ecological processes in floodplains may function differently across climate regions. We compared the river discharge, water chemistry, and nutrient budget and balance of floodplain vegetation in a temperate climate (River Narew, Poland) with those in a tropical climate (River Songkhram, Thailand). Both rivers show a discharge regime with a flood pu...
Ecological values of water have gained increasing attention over the past decades in both (eco)hydrological research and water resources management. Water quality is an important ecological steering variable, and graphical water quality diagrams may aid in rapid interpretation of the hydrochemical status of a site. Traditionally used water quality...
The Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna delta in Bangladesh is one of the largest and most densely populated deltas in the world and is threatened by relative sea level rise (RSLR). Renewed sediment deposition through tidal river management (TRM), a controlled flooding with dike breach, inside the lowest parts of the delta polders (so-called beels) can poten...
The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta in Bangladesh is one of the largest and most populated deltas in the world and threatened by relative sea level rise (RSLR). Renewed sediment deposition through tidal river management (TRM), a controlled flooding with dike breach, inside the lowest parts of the delta polders (so-called “beels”) can potentially co...
There is public and scientific concern about air, soil and water contamination and possible adverse environmental and human health effects as a result of hydraulic fracturing activities. The use of greener chemicals in fracturing fluid aims to mitigate these effects.
This study compares fracturing fluids marketed as either ‘conventional’ or ‘green’...
The Ganges‐Brahmaputra‐Meghna (GBM) delta plain within Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable to relative sea level rise (RSLR) in the world especially under current anthropogenically modified (i.e., embanked) conditions. Tidal River Management (TRM) as practiced in coastal regions of Bangladesh may provide an opportunity to combat RSLR by raisin...
In southwestern Bangladesh, clean drinking water is scarce, since rainwater is only available during the monsoon, pond water is often bacteriologically polluted, and groundwater may exhibit high salinity and arsenic levels. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) might potentially provide safe drinking water by storing abundant freshwater from the wet seaso...
Bangladesh, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, is threatened by sea level rise (SLR) and land subsidence. The tidal river management (TRM) practised in coastal regions of Bangladesh has the potential to raise the land by sedimentation, to counteract SLR and subsidence. TRM is an indigenous method in which dikes are breached to...
To achieve a more sustainable management of the subsiding Dutch peatlands, adaptations such as progressively higher surface water levels, pressurized field drains and a transition from dairy farming to paludiculture are considered. However, a clear understanding of implementation pathways for adaptive management strategies is lacking. Therefore, we...
Naus Burer van Laerhoven- [...]
Paul Schot
The acceptance of newly implemented, safe drinking water options is not guaranteed. In the Khulna and Satkhira districts, Bangladesh, pond water is pathogen-contaminated, while groundwater from shallow tubewells may be arsenic- or saline-contaminated. This study aims to determine why, as well as the extent to which, people are expected to remain at...
Slitere National Park in Latvia is home to rich fens with many endangered and threatened plant species. This study aims to address how the hydrological systems affect vegetation biodiversity (cf. Wolejko et al. 2019) in the mire systems of the National Park: the base-rich inter-dune mires and extremely base-rich calcareous fens. Groundwater samples...
In southwestern Bangladesh, the large variation in groundwater salinity has only been elucidated in small-scale study areas and along large regional-scale gradients. We aimed to assess the regional shallow (<60 m) groundwater salinity variation with a higher resolution as a function of landscape features and associated hydrological processes. Spati...
How interactive simulation systems can improve the support of environmental management is not fully understood. We therefore cross-analyzed questionnaires with logfiles and videos of workshops in which an interactive simulation system for peatland management was applied, to derive an in-depth perspective of its added values. The workshop participan...
Publicly available chemical assessments of hydraulic fracturing related waters are generally based on shale gas practices in the U.S. There is a lack of information on hydraulic fracturing related gas development from EU countries and more generally on other types of extractions. This research fills this knowledge gap by presenting chemical and bio...
Matlabas is a mountain mire in Marakele National Park, located within the headwaters of the Limpopo River in South Africa. This mire consists of a complex of valley-bottom and seepage wetlands with small elevated peat domes. The occurrence of one decaying peat dome, which has burnt, and desiccated wetland areas with terrestrial vegetation has raise...
In the southwestern coastal region of Bangladesh, options for drinking water are limited by groundwater salinity. To protect and improve the drinking water supply, the large variation in groundwater salinity needs to be better understood. This study identifies the palaeo and present-day hydrological processes and their geographical or geological co...
This study uses groundwater isotopes and ion composition to verify model simulations and ecohydrological studies in the Drentsche Aa nature reserve in The Netherlands, which is representative for the northwestern wetland areas in the Ice Marginal Landscape zone. At eight field sites, a total of 24 samples were analysed for their ¹³ C, ¹⁴ C, ² H, an...
In the southwestern coastal region of Bangladesh, options for drinking water are limited by groundwater salinity. To protect and improve the drinking water supply, the large variation in groundwater salinity needs to be better understood. This study identifies the palaeo and present-day hydrological processes and their geographical or geological co...
Collaborative policy processes are increasingly advocated to resolve management problems of social-ecological systems. To elucidate which approaches work in diverse situations, this paper demonstrates the added value of Cost-Benefit Analysis in combination with a deliberative tool as a support system a collaborative policy process in Dutch peatland...
We identify uncertainties and knowledge gaps of chemical risk assessment related to unconventional drillings and propose adaptations. We discuss how chemical risk assessment in the context of unconventional oil and gas (UO&G) activities differs from conventional chemical risk assessment and the implications for existing legislation. A UO&G suspect...
Growing awareness of environmental and social issues in economic development contributes to move the idea of sustainable development forward. Since 2008, the Joint International Master in Sustainable Development offers an international and inter disciplinary approach to the hotly debated topic. It combines the strengths of the eight partner univers...
Although the functioning of river floodplains as sink or source of nutrients has been studied extensively for temperate regions, similar studies in tropical regions are less abundant and studies integrating data about floodplain soil, vegetation, and water are scarce. We examined and compared nutrient contents in soil, water, and vegetation tissue...
Around the world many peatlands are managed unsustainably. Drainage of the peat causes soil subsidence and a range of negative societal impacts. Integrated strategies are required to ensure more sustainable long-term settings, based on impact assessment models that simulate the interrelated dynamics of water management and soil subsidence, and dete...
Although important for the eco-hydrological functioning of the floodplain, the interactions between river and floodplain are not well understood, especially for rivers in the tropical monsoon region. To explore the floodplain functioning of a tropical monsoon river system the longitudinal and transverse floodwater hydrochemical characteristics were...
Landscape-scale ecohydrological mapping is commonly restrained to one-dimensional ecohydrological transect studies or two-dimensional vegetation distributions lacking adequate spatial coverage of explanatory hydrological data. The objective of this paper is to construct a two-dimensional (semi-3D) landscape-scale ecohydrological map based on vegeta...
Exfiltration of anoxic Fe-rich groundwater into surface water and the concomitant oxidative precipitation of Fe are important processes controlling the transport of phosphate (PO4) from agricultural areas to aquatic systems. Here, we explored the relationship between solution composition, reaction kinetics, and the characteristics of the produced F...
The effects of climate change are expected to increase the frequency and magnitude of floods, droughts and heat waves. An emerging method termed adaptation tipping point – opportunity (ATP-O) assesses a system’s climate-incurred tipping points and uses opportunities arising from urban developments to introduce adaptation strategies while reducing i...
Sustainable development issues are characterised by their multidisciplinary character, and the fact they are not merely an academic exercise but pertain to real-world problems. Academic sustainable development curricula should therefore not only focus on developing the analytical and research skills and theoretical and professional knowledge of the...
Wetlands worldwide are threatened by environmental change. Differences in groundwater composition is one of the factors affecting wetland terrestrial floristic biodiversity. However, few studies discuss variations in wetland groundwater composition. This study presents an analysis of local-scale spatial and short-term temporal variations in 15 grou...
The effectiveness of measures targeted at the restoration of populations of endangered species in anthropogenically dominated regions is often limited by a combination of insufficient restoration of habitat quality and dispersal failure. Therefore, the joint prediction of suitable habitat and seed dispersal in dependency of management actions is re...
Nederland bereidt zich voor op een sneller stijgende zeespiegel en een veranderend klimaat. Hiervoor is het Deltaprogramma gestart. Dit deltaprogramma voorziet een serie beslissingen die grote gevolgen zullen hebben voor het beheer van het water in Nederland. Om deze beslissingen zorgvuldig te nemen is informatie nodig over hoe het klimaat en de st...
Knowledge of the hydrological mechanisms that underlie stable plant communities within natural fens is essential for the improvement of current fen restoration and conservation strategies. In this study, steady-state groundwater modelling was performed to quantify the impact of throughflow mechanisms on the presence of exfiltrated, alkaline groundw...
Knowledge of the anthropogenic impact on the hydrology of low-productive fens that are subject to environmental degradation is essential to improve currently utilized hydrological fen restoration strategies. We analyse the naturally and anthropogenically driven evolution of groundwater systems in an intensively managed fen area in The Netherlands u...
Knowledge of the hydrological mechanisms behind habitat fragmentation of fen plant communities in intensively managed regions like The Netherlands is essential to improve currently utilized fen restoration and conservation strategies. In this study, we analysed the local and regional impact of anthropogenic drainage on the groundwater supply of fen...
Qualitative probabilistic networks (QPNs) are basically qualitative derivations of Bayesian belief networks. Originally, QPNs were designed to improve the speed of the construction and calculation of these networks, at the cost of specificity of the result. The formalism can also be used to facilitate cognitive mapping by means of inference in sign...
The environmental management and planning community is struggling with a gap between knowledge and policy making. To bridge this gap, ‘decision support systems’, ‘planning support systems’, and other computer tools have been developed to make knowledge about complex issues more accessible for policy makers. However, the use of these systems in prac...
There is a dichotomy between advanced simulation models and flexible, simple tools for supporting policy-making. The former is difficult to use for policy-makers and the latter lacks in analytical value. It is a step forward to link these two types of tools in a way that enables the analytical value of the advanced models, while retaining the flexi...
The use of Decision Support Systems (DSSs) in Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) has declined since the 1990s. In this article we investigate the opportunities for enhancing the applicability of ICZM-DSSs by considering the following research questions: (1) "What DSS functionalities are important for ICZM decision-making?" and (2) "which of...
Some 25 years after the introduction of the first geo-information technologies in public organizations, strategies to manage their diffusion are still inadequate. This is problematic in light of the new generation of geo-information technologies that has become available and aims to invest in these new information technologies in order to advance e...
Insight into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of planning support systems (PSS) is fragmented between users and system developers. The lack of combined insights blocks development in the right direction and makes potential users hesitant to apply PSS in planning. This study presents SWOT of PSS from a combined user ^ dev...
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is struggling with a lack of science-management integration. Many computer systems, usually known as “decision support systems”, have been developed with the intention to make scientific knowledge about complex systems more accessible for coastal managers. These tools, allowing a multi-disciplinary approach...
Habitat fragmentation and habitat loss are causing many species to become locally extinct. The need to restore or conserve biodiversity has initiated plans in Europe—and, more specifically, in the Netherlands—to create networks of nature areas for the improvement of spatial coherence. In this paper spatial coherence is measured by the total boundar...
With regard to environmental decision-making, the field of conceptual modelling is primarily focused on representation and visualisation. As such, the 'soft' problem structuring methods have limited analytical value. On the other hand, quantitative analyses with various types of 'hard' models lack in flexibility and versatility. The Quasta approach...
Questions: Were continued groundwater discharge and mowing regimes sufficient for vegetation preservation from 1944 to 1993? Which has a stronger effect on vegetation development; groundwater discharge or mowing? What is the role of surface water eutrophication as driver of vegetation change? Location: Het Hol, The Netherlands (ca. 92 ha, 52°13′N,...
The quality of Dutch nature reserves is threatened by high nitrogen input, a problem which to a large extent is caused by agricultural activities. The Dutch government intends to solve this by designating some areas where the emission level is allowed to increase and other areas where the emission level will have to decrease. Theoretically, this pr...
Groundwater–surface water interactions constitute an important link between wetlands and the surrounding catchment. Wetlands may develop in topographic lows where groundwater exfiltrates. This water has its functions for ecological processes within the wetland, while surface water outflow from the wetland may provide water downstream. Wetlands may...
Groundwater quality prediction studies are carried out to increase the reaction time when drinking water companies have to respond to breakthroughs of contaminants. Drinking water companies exploit numerous wells and need to decide on research priorities for these wells, as budgets are limited. The reliability and accuracy of predictions improve if...
Wetlands show a large decline in biodiversity. To protect and restore this biodiversity, many restoration projects are carried out. Hydrology in wetlands controls the chemical and biological processes and may be the most important factor regulating wetland function and development. Hydrological models may be used to simulate these processes and to...
There is an ongoing debate as to whether nutrient contamination of groundwater under agricultural fields may cause nutrient-enrichment and subsequent eutrophication in discharge areas. Often, there is only circumstantial evidence to support this supposition (proximity of agricultural fields, direction of water flow, highly productive vegetation). R...
As a consequence of economic, technological, and sociocultural megatrends,Western
countries are increasingly being confronted with large spatial problems. Households
and businesses need more space for residential, recreational, and economic activities.
An increasing demand for mobility of persons and goods enlarges the action radius
and the demand...
Research on planning support systems (PSS) is characterized by a strong emphasis on the supply side, whereas little research has been undertaken on the successes and failures in the adoption of PSS within the planning community (demand side).What becomes clear from the existing research is that usage is not widespread. In this paper we aim to find...
Land-use planning is constantly trying to re-arrange functions in order to optimise their performance, while minimising the negative effects on adjacent functions. In densely populated countries like The Netherlands this may become a tedious task given the intensity of landuse. The number of functions in an area may be so large that it becomes prac...
Inflow of nutrient poor alkaline groundwater is generally seen as a prerequisite for the development of species rich fen vegetation. Drainage and groundwater abstraction may lead to the development of so-called rainwater lenses in the upper groundwater of fens, which prevent upward seeping alkaline groundwater from reaching the fen root zone. This...
Land-use-change patterns are the result of the complex interaction between the human and the physical environment. Case studies of the determinants of land-use change can help to analyse which theory is appropriate in a particular region and stimulate the development of new theoretic understandings. In this paper an empirical method is presented to...
Land use change models are tools to support the analysis of the causes and consequences of land use dynamics. Scenario analysis with land use models can support land use planning and policy. Numerous land use models are available, developed from different disciplinary backgrounds. This paper reviews current models to identify priority issues for fu...
In the Netherlands, drainage and groundwater abstraction in wetlands has
lead to deterioration of fen vegetation through lowering of the phreatic
level. This enables recharge of local, acid precipitation and the
development of rainwater lenses which float on alkaline groundwater.
These lenses prevent upward seeping of the groundwater reaching the f...
Framing land use dynamics was organised as part of the Networks in the Delta research programme of Utrecht which is a LUCC endorsed activity since August 2001. The programme aims at developing a generic theoretical and methodeological framework for understanding and modelling the complex interactions between socio-economic and environmental systems...
Finding a strategy that allows economically efficient drinking water
production at minimal environmental cost is often a complex task. A
systematic trade-off among the costs and benefits of possible strategies
is required for determining the optimal production configuration. Such a
trade-off involves the handling of interdependent and nonlinear
rel...