Rusteberg Water Consulting
Dr.-Ing. Bernd Rusteberg
Dr. Bernd Rusteberg is a water resources engineer with long-standing experience in consulting, research and University lecturing. He is a Director at Rusteberg Water Consulting (RWC), but also supports the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations as “International Water Consultant”.
His academic career began with a degree in civil engineering at the University of Hanover and studies in economics at the University of Hagen. After completing his doctorate at the Institute for Water Resources Management, Hydrology and Agricultural Hydraulic Engineering at the University of Hanover, he initially worked for several years as a University Professor of hydraulic engineering, water resources management and environmental technology in Brazil. This was followed by consultancy services for GTZ and Brazilian ministries in the areas of integrated water resources management.
Over the past 20 years, he has often worked at the interface between research and consultancy in a wide range of water management tasks and numerous projects in Europe, the Middle East and South America, focusing on the water scarcity challenge. His professional expertise covers the following topics:
Information and Expert Systems for Decision Support
- Development of GIS-based online information and expert systems for decision support and management of participative and collaborative planning processes in the below areas
- Use of innovative operations research and AI techniques to optimize complex processes and make them transparent, as well as to minimize conflicts of interest.
- Integrated approach involving all stakeholders and taking decision-relevant economic, ecological, technical, social and legal indicators into consideration.
IWRM, Climate Change and Water Scarcity
- Integrated water resources management (IWRM) under water scarcity
- Transboundary water management
- Regional water management planning and development strategies for the water resource system
- Assessment of potential water management conflicts
- Climate change adaptation strategies
- Mitigation of drought impacts
- Desalination and water transfer
- Managed aquifer recharge and conjunctive use of surface and groundwater resources
- Integrated assessment of policies, strategies and projects
Green Hydrogen and Renewable Energies
- Risk assessment and decision support for the implementation of large-scale H2 production by electrolysis under water scarcity
- Potential analyses for the production of green hydrogen in Brazil, North Africa and the Middle East and H2 imports
- Use of conventional and non-conventional water resources for H2 electrolysis
- Integration of renewable energies in water management planning
Irrigation Agriculture, Climate Change and Wastewater Reuse
- Irrigation under water scarcity and adaptation to climate change
- Expansion of irrigation at the regional level
- Management of irrigation sites at risk of salination
- Strategies for wastewater reuse
As an expert in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), RWC has meanwhile made a name for itself internationally as well as in Germany (German Water Resources Management Journal/2022).
Company Profile
The company Rusteberg Water Consulting (RWC) was founded in 2014 and specializes in tasks in the above-mentioned areas, among others.
At German level, RWC offers consulting services for the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive, the National Water Strategy and the National Hydrogen Strategy. As part of the implementation of the German hydrogen strategy, there is an urgent need for integrated water resources planning in order to avoid water supply bottlenecks and conflicts over water use during the increasing dry weather conditions (droughts) (presentation on June 14, 2024, Hydrogen Week Lower Saxony).
The same applies in particular to the production of green hydrogen in arid regions such as the Middle East, North Africa and Brazil. In these regions, RWC has been active as water consultant in recent years as part of IWRM projects and has many years of experience there. The (SALAM Initiative) and the (BRAMAR project) should be mentioned here as representative long-term projects.
The company also has a group of experts in related fields to meet the complex requirements of integrated water resources planning and management (IWRM). RWC has considerable international experience and has worked with more than 50 partners since its foundation. Further information on the company, services, projects and partners can be found on the following pages.