A water-energy nexus approach to improve the climate resilience of the city of Leeuwarden

Decision-makers face challenges due to the increasing demand for water and energy driven by climate change and urbanization. Especially in urban water management, local decision-makers should develop strategies to adapt to more frequent and intense rainfall, saltwater intrusion, and periods of droughts. To do so, the actors should gain a better understanding of these challenges and, in doing so, improve their climate resilience. In the Netherlands, the city of Leeuwarden, a forerunner in water technology, is coping with these challenges. Therefore, the Municipality of Leeuwarden and the Vitens drinking water company have the ambition to reduce drinking water consumption by 5% in 2030 compared to 2019 and formed a partnership with key stakeholders to counter the impacts of these challenges, seeking ways to reduce the domestic water use towards increasing climate resilience and water scarcity. This research provides a technology assessment, showing insights into the criteria for comparing and selecting water-saving technologies in the current situation, and is applied to rainwater harvesting, greywater reuse and warm water reduction.