REACT (Rapid Ecological Assessment and Communication Tool) is a plug-and-play environment that can be setup for every river basin in the world. The tool aims at combining publicly available global datasets, tools and models with ecological knowledge to offer an ecological quick scan of the fluvial system. The high level of abstraction calls for approaching ecological indicators as species groups with specific trait sets (i.e. trait strategies) instead of individual species. The level of ecological indicators also fits the aim of the tool: facilitate discussions with stakeholders early in the process to quickly identify potential bottlenecks in the abiotic and biotic system and to start thinking about scenarios and strategies targeted at designing E-Flows. Moreover, early involvement of stakeholders can aid in finetuning model input by more detailed data and knowledge.

An overview of the tool:

REACT contains three main steps (Figure below). First, an ecological quick scan is performed that generates an initial image of the current ecological state based on information on abiotic conditions like hydrological indicators that are publicly available and retrievable (e.g. global data and tools). Second, the assessment can be refined by stakeholder engagement and disclosure of field data. The third step is the analysis of scenarios and strategies. In this step the impact of scenarios and strategies can be assessed by comparing scenario and strategy results to the current state. The rationale behind the REACT tool is based on the DPSIR approach (see below). This method helps to identify how the system was, is and could be functioning and how measures may change this functioning.