Crete Island (Greece) is a karst dominated region that faces limited water supply and increased seasonal demand, especially during summer for agricultural and touristic uses. In addition, due to the mountainous\ud
terrain, interbasin water transfer is very limited. The resulting water imbalance requires a correct quantification of available water resources in view of developing appropriate management plans to face\ud
the problem of water shortage. The aim of this work is the development of a methodology using the SWAT model and a karst-flow model (KSWAT, Karst SWAT model) for the quantification of a spatially and temporally explicit hydrologic water balance of karst-dominated geomorphology in order to assess the sustainability of the actual water use. The application was conducted in the Island of Crete using both hard (long time series of streamflow\ud
and spring monitoring stations) and soft data (i.e. literature information of individual processes). The KSWAT model estimated the water balance under normal hydrological condition as follows:\ud
6400 Mm3/y of precipitation, of which 40% (2500 Mm3/y) was lost through evapotranspiration, 5% was surface runoff and 55% percolated into the soil contributing to lateral flow (2%), and recharging the shallow\ud
(9%) and deep aquifer (44%). The water yield was estimated as 22% of precipitation, of which about half was the contribution from spring discharges (9% of precipitation). The application of the KSWAT\ud
model increased our knowledge about water resources availability and distribution in Crete under different hydrologic conditions. The model was able to capture the hydrology of the karst areas allowing a better\ud
management and planning of water resources under scarcity
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are actions that use natural processes in a resource efficient manner to solve societal challenges. The lack of supportive legislature, and financial, communication and social barriers complicate the process of NBS implementation. It is an urgent need to develop approaches to design and implement NBS that would act as drivers to overcome potential barriers and enhance the social acceptability of the project. The vision-based decision-making methodology and participatory process created in this study has been carried out in the Koiliaris Critical Zone Observatory in Crete to design erosion and flood protection NBS and restore the riparian forest. The methodology consists of four distinct steps as follows: i) develop a vision of the area, ii) conduct a baseline assessment study, iii) NBS design and co-design, and iv) procurement and implementation. The methodology overcame multiple barriers because of the effective stakeholder engagement and the vision “drove” the project and created the necessary consensus that is necessary to achieve the objective of converting privately owned prime agricultural land to riparian forest. It offers an exemplar of a functional ecosystem restoration project that protects the river in a sustainable way, improves its biodiversity and water quality and improves the quality of life and social cohesion.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.