Hydro Regen: Regenerative Hydrology Platform
Overview & Objective
An interactive decision-support and geospatial visualization platform built in a 48-hour sprint during the Aquathon hackathon. Won 3rd Place overall and the prestigious 'Coup de Cœur' Jury Award from the Office International de l'Eau (OiEau). Inspired by the regenerative hydrology paradigm introduced by Prof. Karl Matthias Wantzen, the platform empowers regional stakeholders to explore watershed regenerative potential ('bassins versants'), define custom intervention polygons, identify drought and flood vulnerability zones, and simulate ecological water retention scenarios.
The Vision: Regenerative Hydrology
Traditional water management treats water as an extractive resource or a risk to channel away as fast as possible through concrete infrastructure. Regenerative hydrology—championed by Professor Karl Matthias Wantzen—inverts this logic: it focuses on slowing, spreading, and sinking rainwater into the soil to recharge aquifers, restore natural humidity cycles, and revitalize local micro-climates. Hydro Regen translates these scientific principles into an intuitive digital decision-support tool.
Geospatial Web Application Features
Interactive Watershed Selection
Geolocate or search addresses to load watershed basin boundaries ("bassins versants") with hydrological flow data.
Custom Polygon Drawing Tools
Empowers municipal decision-makers to outline specific plots of land and simulate re-naturalization impacts.
Ecological Intervention Simulations
Simulates the retention capacity gained through swales, retention ponds, urban de-paving, and agro-forestry buffers.
Engineering Artifacts & Diagrams
Click any diagram or visual artifact to examine in high resolution.
Official Hackathon Award Trophy
Celebrating 3rd Place overall and the 'Coup de Cœur' Jury Award from the Office International de l'Eau at the Aquathon 2024 finale.
Pitching to the Expert Jury
Delivering the technical demonstration and ecological vision to the hydrologist jury on Sunday afternoon.
Intensive Team Sprint on Friday Evening
Late-night architecture and design sprint with the 10-person interdisciplinary team aligning data models.
Project Professor & Domain Briefing
Initial briefing on regenerative hydrology concepts and watershed conservation priorities.
Hackathon Finalists on Stage
The competing engineering teams gathered on stage before the announcement of the winning projects.
Award Ceremony Celebration
Celebrating our dual recognition by the Office International de l’Eau after 48 hours of nonstop engineering.
Key Engineering Highlights
3rd Place & OiEau Jury Favorite Award
Awarded 3rd Place overall and the prestigious 'Coup de Cœur' Jury Award from the Office International de l'Eau among 30+ competing teams.
48h Interdisciplinary Team Collaboration
Spearheaded frontend and geospatial visualization within a 10-person cross-functional team of software engineers, hydrologists, and environmental specialists.
Interactive Watershed Cartography
Engineered dynamic Leaflet & OpenStreetMap geospatial tools allowing users to search addresses, explore watersheds, and draw custom intervention polygons.
Regenerative Hydrology Modeling
Modeled ecological restoration interventions (swales, wetland restoration, soil re-permeabilization) based on Prof. Wantzen’s regenerative water cycle principles.