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In this review study, the major available methods for measurement and estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) are discussed briefly while explaining the latest developments. The best available validation methods are also reviewed and explained. It highlights the importance of accurate ET quantification in managing water resources, evaluating climate change impacts, and supporting crop water requirement management. Measurement methods such as scintillometry, lysimetry, and the eddy covariance (EC) flux method are presented. Additionally, hydrological models are discussed as estimation approaches for actual and potential ET. The paper explores various ET estimation products, particularly those based on remote sensing techniques. Specifically, methods like Mapping EvapoTranspiration at high Resolution with Internalized Calibration (METRIC), Simplified Surface Energy Balance Operational (SSEBop ET), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MOD16), Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL), Global Land Surface Evaporation: Amsterdam Methodology (GLEAM), Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis (LSA‐SAF), and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) are described. The integration of machine learning (ML) with EC and remote sensing is investigated, with a comprehensive discussion of different ML approaches. Validation methods including the EC method, water balance method‐derived ET (WBET), and statistical techniques are explained. Overall, this review paper provides a comprehensive overview of ET quantification, covering measurement techniques, estimation approaches, remote sensing methods, and the integration of ML. The insights gained from this review contribute to a profound knowledge of ET dynamics and helps those sectors dealing with drought monitoring, water resource management and climate change assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known in the international academic community about Chinese‐language research on water management. To remedy this deficit, this paper reviews current mainland Chinese understandings of the role of large‐scale water infrastructures as tools of water resources management. We reviewed 461 papers published in mainland Chinese journals by Chinese scholars. This review suggests that the dominant approach to water management reflects the confines of government priorities—large‐scale, concrete‐heavy, infrastructure‐based means of moving water around the country so as to meet demands and stimulate economic growth. Suppression of critical voices means that infrastructure is generally rendered apolitical: the critiques are about practical issues, such as technological, managerial, or administrative problems. There are exceptions to this characterization that adopt more critical frames; however, they reflect on water management elsewhere or in the past rather than on contemporary China. While these more critical papers are interesting and important contributions to our understanding of the politics of hydraulic infrastructures, the literature as a whole says little about the politics of infrastructure in China now. In effect, much of the literature in Chinese on water management in China simply acts as an arm of a machine—a network of corporations, universities, international institutions, and arms of the government, together tasked with identifying and framing what are water management issues, formulating standardized procedures for tackling those issues, and then constructing solutions to them. This article is categorized under:Engineering Water > Planning WaterHuman Water > Water Governance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of DOMES: Digest of Middle East Studies is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Stochastic hydrology produces ensembles of time series that represent plausible future streamflow to simulate and test the operation of water resource systems. A premise of stochastic hydrology is that ensembles should be statistically representative of what may occur in the future. In the past, the application of this premise has involved producing ensembles that are statistically equivalent to the observed or historical streamflow sequence. This requires a number of metrics or statistics that can be used to test statistical similarity. However, with climate change, the past may no longer be representative of the future. Ensembles to test future systems operations should recognize non‐stationarity and include time series representing expected changes. This poses challenges for their testing and validation. In this paper, we suggest an evidence‐based analysis in which streamflow ensembles, whether statistically similar to and representative of the past or a changing future, should be characterized and assessed using an extensive set of statistical metrics. We have assembled a broad set of metrics and applied them to annual streamflow in the Colorado River at Lees Ferry to illustrate the approach. We have also developed a tree‐based classification approach to categorize both ensembles and metrics. This approach provides a way to visualize and interpret differences between streamflow ensembles. The metrics presented, along with the classification, provide an analytical framework for characterizing and assessing the suitability of future streamflow ensembles, recognizing the presence of non‐stationarity. This contributes to better planning in large river basins, such as the Colorado, facing water supply shortages. Plain Language Summary: Long‐range water supply planning in many river basins requires an assessment of ensembles of plausible future streamflow time series used to simulate and test the operation of water resource systems. With climate change, and growing recognition that hydrologic processes are changing over time, the past may no longer be representative of the future. This poses challenges when using statistical metrics to test future streamflow ensembles. In this paper, we suggest an evidence‐based approach in which streamflow ensembles, whether statistically similar to and representative of the past or a changing future, should be characterized using an extensive set of statistical metrics. We have assembled a broad set of metrics and applied them to annual streamflow in the Colorado River at Lees Ferry to illustrate the approach. We have also developed an approach to categorize both ensembles and metrics. The metrics presented and the classification provide an analytical framework for characterizing and assessing the suitability of future streamflow ensembles for water resources system planning. The metrics and classification developed advance and contribute to better planning in large river basins facing water supply shortages. Key Points: Many ensembles representing plausible future streamflow are available for the Colorado River BasinMetrics are presented to provide an evidence‐based framework for evaluating these streamflow ensemblesA classification approach was developed to group similar ensembles and assess their suitability for planning in different future scenarios [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Irrigation & Drainage is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Yellow River Delta (YRD) is an important agricultural and industrial region in China, yet its water resources have been increasingly affected by shortages and pollution due to human activities and the impact of climate change. This has resulted in severe damage to the water ecosystem in the YRD, thereby necessitating the adoption of effective legal measures to safeguard these resources. This paper provides a comprehensive review of recent research findings on water resources and water ecology in the YRD. Specifically, it summarizes the changes and characteristics of the geographical distribution, quantity and quality of water resources in the region and analyzes the effects of climate change, economic development and population growth on water resources. In light of the vulnerability and risks to the water resources and ecosystems in this area, this paper evaluates the impact of human activities on regional water security and proposes strategies for the sustainable utilization of water resources and the protection of public health. The insights and measures presented in this paper provide valuable guidance and references for water resource management and environmental protection in the YRD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Council on Systems Engineering has long declared a wish to extend the scope of application of systems engineering from its traditional sphere of complex technical systems to more complex sociotechnical systems. The Segura River reclamation project was a successful systems engineering project, involving water treatment and management and environmental regeneration, which falls squarely into the latter category. Taking lessons from this project, the paper sets out to understand the circumstances in which systems engineering can be successful in guiding and managing interventions in nontraditional domains such as transportation, housing, infrastructure, health and environmental systems. This involves an analysis using critical systems thinking. The paper also seeks to suggest how systems engineering must change to ensure success in circumstances that are less propitious for its theory and practice than in the Segura case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater models that simulate only saturated flow use groundwater recharge as an input parameter. In contrast, variably saturated subsurface flow models, including integrated surface and subsurface hydrologic models, can jointly simulate the movement of water in the saturated and unsaturated zones. Instead of recharge, they require climate data such as precipitation and potential evapotranspiration. Given that the latter models represent hydrological processes operating throughout the unsaturated zone and at the water table, one might expect that recharge can be readily extracted from them. In this paper, we demonstrate that it is not the case. When the commonly used definitions of groundwater recharge are implemented in variably saturated subsurface flow models, they do not yield meaningful results. Above all, the problems occur because of the storage dynamics in the capillary fringe above the water table. Despite this difficulty, variably saturated subsurface flow models can provide the information required for water resources management directly. Key Points: The concept of recharge is not compatible with variably saturated subsurface flow modelsOnly potential recharge below an extinction depth can be uniquely extracted in such modelsThe issues arise because of the storage dynamics in the capillary fringe above the water table [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a need to support applied, community‐relevant hydrologic research within changing climate, population, and socioeconomic conditions to better inform water policy and management. We hypothesized that providing a rural agricultural community in a semiarid valley with the necessary monitoring tool to meet local water management needs would increase adaptive capacity within the context of long‐term drought. Through a community science approach, researchers installed a telemetry monitoring system at participating acequia irrigation diversions that remotely sent water data to a web interface every 15 min. Two surveys distributed before and after web interface access targeted seven adaptive capacity indicators. After the first season of improved data accessibility, the following adaptive capacity indicators significantly increased: information diversity, cognitive social capital, leadership, and proactivity. Rather than focusing on the water savings aspect of real‐time monitoring, this paper summarizes a novel water resources study that assessed the social impact of real‐time irrigation water delivery monitoring on adaptive capacity. This study suggests that bridging the gap between community need and hydrologic research through community science, sociologic analysis, and stakeholder engagement provides significant benefits for communities facing water management challenges, further supporting problem‐driven water resources research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water resource planners and managers in the Mid‐Atlantic United States typically determine the sufficiency of water supplies to meet demand by comparing (1) water use as reported to the state by individual water users to (2) metrics of water availability calculated from observed water monitoring networks. This paper focuses on determining whether this means of measuring water use is sufficient for proactive and sustainable management of water resources. The Potomac basin study area illustrates the point that, while state‐reported water use databases typically cover the largest individual water users, unreported water uses can cumulatively comprise a substantial portion of the overall water use. If left unaccounted for, the system is vulnerable to human demand exceeding supplies, with attendant detrimental effects to aquatic habitats and organisms, especially given the exacerbating effects of climate change on the variability of water supplies. Planners and managers are therefore encouraged to consider the full spectrum of water uses, regardless of state reporting requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Irrigation & Drainage is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We present an overview of the contributions collected to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Water Resources Research along with a critical discussion of the legacy and perspectives for the science of hydrology in the 21st century. This collection of papers highlights exciting pathways to the future of water sciences. New monitoring and modeling techniques and increasing opportunities for data and knowledge sharing from hydrological research will provide innovative means to improve water management and to ensure a sustainable development to society. We believe that this set of papers will provide valuable inspiration for future hydrologists, and will support the intensification of international cooperation among scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These changes again allowed water resources professionals to collect data with much higher velocities, rapidly disseminate them to a broad audience, and use real-world datasets to build complex models of water resources systems. While this choice precludes me from highlighting several important papers on modeling and monitoring of water resources systems, it seeks to highlight one very important component of the water resources discipline (i.e., social aspects of water) that is often the very purpose scientific and technical advancements are intended to serve better. Public disposition to trust data collected by citizen scientists was also a key determinant in whether the data would likely be used in water resources decision making. Building interpersonal relationships between citizen scientists and end users of data were therefore crucial for ensuring the eventual use of citizen science data. [Extracted from the article]

The years 1995-2004 marked the fourth decade of publication of I Water Resources Bulletin i / I Journal of the American Water Resources Association i (JAWRA). However, inclusion of policy into science and engineering curricula is a challenge, as the policy realm is more qualitative and nebulous compared to science and engineering. Baker ([1]) further discussed the science-policy interface of water resources. Walesh ([8]) urged water resources professionals to recognize the increasingly elevated public goals relative to water and the public's growing awareness with regards to water science and technology (thanks to the Internet). [Extracted from the article]

Evaluating the water resources carrying capacity (WRCC) is the prerequisite and foundation for the planning and management of water resources. In this paper, according to risk theory, a framework for the risk assessment of WRCC was proposed based on the fragility of damage‐affected bodies and the damage posed by disaster‐inducing factors. Then, based on water quantity, water quality, water area, and water flow, a fragility index system was constructed from the water resources, economy, and society category. Additionally, the damage was analyzed in terms of climate change, urbanization, and industrialization. Finally, a model for the risk assessment of the WRCC was established by combining the fragility of the water resources carrying system with the compound damage posed by climate change, urbanization, and industrialization. The developed model was then applied to assess the risk of the WRCC in North China in 2017. The results indicate that the fragility of the WRCC was the highest in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, and the compound damage showed an increasing trend from the southeast to the northwest in North China. Meanwhile, the risk of the WRCC decreased from the southeast to the northwest, the highest risk was observed in Hebei Province, and the lowest risk was observed in Inner Mongolia. This research provides an important technical guideline for the sustainable utilization of water resources and the coordinated development of the economy and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water governance has emerged as perhaps the most important topic of the international water community in the 21 century, and achieving 'good' water governance is now a focus of both policy discourse and innumerable development projects. Somewhat surprisingly in light of this attention, there is widespread confusion about the meaning of the term 'water governance'. This paper reviews the history of the term's use and misuse to reveal how the concept is frequently inflated to include issues that go well beyond governance. Further, it highlights how calls to improve water governance often espouse predetermined goals that should instead be the very function of water governance to define. To help overcome this confusion, the paper suggests a more refined definition of water governance and related qualities of good water governance that are consistent with broader notions of the concepts. In light of the substantial resources allocated in its name, this paper's findings show there is significant potential to strengthen efforts at improving water governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Armed conflict has the potential to disrupt water systems that are crucial to environmental and human wellbeing. Yet there is no comprehensive overview of scientific evidence on the impact of armed conflicts on water resources and their management. This paper assesses the relevant scientific evidence through a systematic literature review. We discern conceptual, empirical, and methodological approaches adopted in the reviewed publications and synthesize the overarching research results. Common research topics across the body of literature include the role of water resources in armed conflicts, either as a casualty or as a weapon used by conflict parties, and the implications of armed conflict on water resources management, such as basic service provision and water governance. The analysis also pinpoints the research field's focus on empirical studies based on a small number of cases, and highlights a lack of conceptual engagement with the notion of armed conflict. Future research on water resources and their management in conflict settings needs to be more transparent on conceptual frameworks and assumptions to facilitate knowledge integration across different studies. This article is categorized under:Planning Water > Engineering WaterWater Governance > Human Water [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: While the number of environmental flows and water science programmes continues to grow across the globe, there remains a critical need to better balance water availability in support of human and ecological needs and to recognise the environment as a legitimate user of water. In water‐stressed areas, this recognition has resulted in friction between water users in the public and private sectors. An opportunity exists for practitioners to be on the forefront of the science determining best practices for supporting environmental water regimes. This Special Issue brings together a collection of environmental flows science and water management papers organised around three major themes: (1) method development and testing; (2) application case studies; and (3) efficacy evaluation. Contents of this Special Issue are intended to foster collaboration and broaden transferability of the information, technical tools, models and methods needed to support environmental water management programmes. The technical sophistication of methods and modelling tools, while important to the advancement of environmental water science, may come at the expense of easily interpretable outcomes that positively influence management decisions. Researchers need to be more proactive in translating the results of advanced modelling methodologies into user‐friendly tools and methods. This will allow stakeholders and water managers to proactively test alternative water allocation scenarios to help address growing human water demands in the face of droughts and changes in climatic patterns. The application of environmental flows science and water management strategies cannot be done in isolation. Implementation involves a complex decision‐making process that integrates ecological, hydrologic and social science across diverse multifaceted governance systems and requires active stakeholder involvement. Scientists and managers must strengthen partnerships at multiple scales to develop sensible science investment strategies so that collective knowledge can be translated into wise environmental water management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Irrigation & Drainage is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A risk‐based decision‐making mechanism capable of accounting for uncertainty regarding local conditions is crucial to water resources management, regulation, and policy making. Despite the great potential of hydrogeological models in supporting water resources decisions, challenges remain due to the many sources of uncertainty as well as making and communicating decisions mindful of this uncertainty. This paper presents a framework that utilizes statistical hypothesis testing and an integrated approach to the planning of site characterization, modeling prediction, and decision making. Benefits of this framework include aggregated uncertainty quantification and risk evaluation, simplified communication of risk between stakeholders, and improved defensibility of decisions. The framework acknowledges that obtaining absolute certainty in decision making is impossible; rather, the framework provides a systematic way to make decisions in light of uncertainty and determine the amount of information required. In this manner, quantitative evaluation of a field campaign design is possible before data are collected, beginning from any knowledge state, which can be updated as more information becomes available. We discuss the limitations of this approach by the types of uncertainty that can be recognized and make suggestions for addressing the rest. This paper presents the framework in general and then demonstrates its application in a synthetic case study. Results indicate that the effectiveness of field campaigns depends not only on the environmental performance metric being predicted but also on the threshold value in decision‐making processes. The findings also demonstrate that improved parameter estimation does not necessarily lead to better decision making, thus reemphasizing the need for goal‐oriented characterization. Key Points: We present the risk‐based data acquisition design evaluation (RDADE) framework to integrate stochastic analyses with defensible decisionsWe find that improved parameter estimation does not always guarantee lower decision riskWhen dealing with extreme events with high consequences, it is advantageous to improve system resiliency in addition to modeling accuracy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water and water management are no longer related to environmental studies. There is a very strong link between water and a state's security, as well as its survival and development. A decline in water availability may lead to a collapse or even the extinction of a whole civilization. Sometimes referred to as a "water‐bankrupt" state, Iran is a case that underlines the close relation between water and security, from the perspective of survival and opportunities for development. Without a doubt, the Islamic Republic of Iran is among those countries that are the most affected by climate change and low water levels. The main goal of this paper is to analyze challenges related to water in Iran, including the political, security, economic, and social dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a physical metric that is defined as 'difference of water footprint and availability in a given region' during either normal or dry periods, based on blue and green water concepts. Proposed metric quickly highlights water‐stressed regions and directly provides volume of water surplus/deficit in the region of interest. Evaluated green water surplus/deficit for agricultural areas can be applied to assess optimum irrigation water requirement while blue water surplus/deficit can be used to assess potential growth of agricultural‐based economy and sustainable water use and allocation within a watershed. We assessed surplus/deficit volumes of blue and green waters for three watersheds of Karaj, Latian and Mamlu dams located in Tehran and Alborz Provinces of Iran. Blue and green water resources are quantified using well‐calibrated hydrologic model of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool during the period 1995–2013. Results denote that minimum and maximum water deficit occur during wet and dry seasons, respectively. Study area does not experience green water deficit during normal periods, but a few regions encounter green water deficit during droughts. Annual blue water metrics show that one (Subbasin 7) and three subbasins (Subbasins 5–7) are ecological hotspots during normal and dry periods, respectively. Results also indicate that farmers should reduce applied irrigation water from 4.86 to 3.165 (−35%) and 3.4 (−30%) m3/s during normal and dry periods, respectively, while cultivated area (agricultural production) in Karaj, Latian and Mamlu watersheds can, respectively, be increased by 31 (46.5×106 kg), 52 (65.6×106 kg) and 31.4 km2 (47.6×106 kg) during droughts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydropower reservoirs designed and/or operated to provide multiple services beyond power generation are called multiple‐use reservoirs. However, their construction has social and environmental impacts that require technical knowledge, social discussion, and acceptance by the public. The present paper analyzes the roles of the strategic environmental assessment and the hydroelectric inventory studies, as well as proposes alternatives for water distribution. The purpose of this study is to focus on the initial phases of hydropower planning, with the aid of the SHARE concept, in order to avoid future conflicts in the use of water resources. Although the instruments analyzed provide for the participation of different sectors, there is still little integration and alignment with sectoral policies (electrical and environmental) or there is no institutionalization of them, which makes this an urgent problem. The diagnosis resulting from this study is that the situation of multiple‐uses reservoirs in Brazil still deserves significant advances. As a proposal for improving the framework, this study claims that the use of integrated planning between sectors that use water resources should be improved by applying new concepts of integrated planning, such as the SHARE concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought and water scarcity pose a risk to the economy, particularly sectors where water is a crucial input to the production process. This paper describes integrated simulations of water shortages from a dynamic national water resource systems model with a static economic input‐output (I‐O) model to assess total drought risk to the economy. To quantify the economic risks of drought and water scarcity, the analysis: (a) integrates a large ensemble of simulated meteorological droughts, propagated through a national hydrological model and water resource systems model to simulate water availability from reservoirs and groundwater; (b) assesses implications of restrictions on water availability for multiple water user categories, representing natural and human contributions to water scarcity; (c) investigates how water shortages propagate into economy‐wide direct and indirect impacts. The study focuses on England and Wales where the water supply system is considered under strain, with growing recognition of the economic risk of prolonged and widespread shortages. The direct Expected Annual Loss (EAL) to water users, averaged over an ensemble equivalent to 2800 years of synthetic daily weather, is estimated to be £11.7 million in the 2011 base‐year. Accounting for indirect economic losses results in a total EAL of £30.2 million in 2011. The most severe event simulated results in a total loss of £1.4 billion in 2011, equivalent to 0.11% of GVA. The analysis provides a framework to assess what the economically efficient level of system reliability should be, and for deciding upon appropriate water management regulations and strategic investments. Key Points: Simulated water availability from a national water resource system model are integrated with a macroeconomic model to assess drought riskThe use of a large ensemble of synthetic drought simulations supports the risk‐based analysis of direct and indirect economic lossesThe method supports national economic assessment of the implications of climate change and different water management strategies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The implementation of environmental flow regimes offers a promising means to protect and restore riverine, wetland and estuarine ecosystems, their critical environmental services and cultural/societal values. This Special Issue expands the scope of environmental flows and water science in theory and practice, offering 20 papers from academics, agency researchers and non‐governmental organisations, each with fresh perspectives on the science and management of environmental water allocations. Contributions confront the grand challenge for environmental flows and water management in the Anthropocene—the urgent need for innovations that will help to sustain the innate resilience of social–ecological systems under dynamic and uncertain environmental and societal futures. Basin‐scale and regional assessments of flow requirements mark a necessary advance in environmental water science in the face of rapid changes in water‐resource management activities worldwide (e.g. increases in dams, diversions, retention and reuse). Techniques for regional‐scale hydrological and ecohydrological modelling support ecological risk assessment and identification of priority flow management and river restoration actions. Changing flood–drought cycles, long‐term climatic shifts and associated effects on hydrological, thermal and water quality regimes add enormous uncertainty to the prediction of future ecological outcomes, regardless of environmental water allocations. An improved capacity to predict the trajectories of ecological change in rivers degraded by legacies of past impact interacting with current conditions and future climate change is essential. Otherwise, we risk unrealistic expectations from restoration of river and estuarine flow regimes. A more robust, dynamic and predictive approach to environmental water science is emerging. It encourages the measurement of process rates (e.g. birth rate, colonisation rate) and species traits (e.g. physiological requirements, morphological adaptations) as well as ecosystem states (e.g. species richness, assemblage structure), as the variables representing ecological responses to flow variability and environmental water allocations. Another necessary development is the incorporation of other environmental variables such as water temperature and sedimentary processes in flow–ecological response models. Based on contributions to this Special Issue, several recent compilations and the wider literature, we identify six major scientific challenges for further exploration, and seven themes for advancing the management of environmental water. We see the emerging frontier of environmental flows and water science as urgent and challenging, with numerous opportunities for reinvigorated science and methodological innovation in the expanding enterprise of environmental water linked to ecological sustainability and social well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Irrigation & Drainage is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The issue of transboundary river management is highly pertinent to South Asia with conflicts emerging in water resource management and utilization which indeed affect the beneficial uses of downstream states. The paper considers the situation of the Teesta river basin to assess the water unavailability driven agricultural shock, cost of loss and damage of the downstream region, identify the mutual benefits of water collaboration, and suggest potential adaptation options for water unavailability. The study found during 1995–2010, the annual mean discharge in the upper Teesta floodplain was 707 cumec, where the downstream discharge was 140 cumec and during 2005–2010 the downstream region received less than 8% of the mean annual discharge which may be attributed to reduced flow from the upstream region due to the intense operation of dams and barrage. Consequently, the water reliant 5,000 villages and 12 sub‐districts of lower Teesta basin of Bangladesh were found to be experiencing immense hydro‐socioeconomic impairment and food insecurity. The study estimates that in the Rangpur region, total loss and damage of Boro rice production is 15,08,020 metric tons during 2006–2015, and in the Nilphamri total loss and damage is estimated 9,83,054 metric tons during the same period. Here, the total computed economic loss for both the region is $564 million from 2006–15 FY, which remarkably trims down the overall agricultural production and socio‐economic situation in the lower Teesta region of Bangladesh and fuel the hydro‐economic and political tension between the close riparian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) has been gaining adoption within the mining industry for managing surplus water volumes and reducing the groundwater impacts of dewatering. This paper reviews MAR for mining and includes an inventory of 27 mines using or considering MAR for current or future operations. Most mines using MAR are in arid or semi‐arid regions and are implementing it through infiltration basins or bore injection to manage surplus water, preserve aquifers for environmental or human benefit, or adhere to licensing that requires zero surface discharge. Surplus water volumes, hydrogeological conditions, and economics play a pivotal role in the feasibility of MAR for mining. Groundwater mounding, well clogging, and interaction between adjacent mines are common challenges. Mitigation strategies include predictive groundwater modeling, extensive monitoring programs, rotation of infiltration or injection facilities, physical and chemical treatments for clogging, and careful location for MAR facilities in relation to adjacent operations. Should water availability alternate between shortage and excess, injection bores may be used for supply, thus reducing costs and risks associated with drilling new wells. MAR, if applied strategically, also has the potential to accelerate groundwater recovery post‐mine closure. The success of MAR for mining is emphasized by mines opting to increase MAR capacity alongside dewatering expansions, as well as prospective mines proposing MAR for future water requirements. Upfront planning is the key to maximizing MAR benefits. Improved information sharing could help increase awareness and uptake of MAR as an effective and sustainable mine water management tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the degree to which this relationship has been utilized in water resource studies, we find that such non-stationarity has direct implications for the efficacy of water resource forecasting in Western Europe. Water resource forecasting generally centres on understanding hydrological variability over coming months or years, so that water managers can prepare for extremes such as droughts or floods (Chang & Guo, 2020; Hao et al., 2018). Dotted grey lines represent the 95% CI gl DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS This paper seeks to question whether the relationship between winter NAOI and winter precipitation (NAOI-P) is sufficiently stationary for application to water resource forecasting in Western Europe. We discuss the non-stationarity of the NAOI-P relationship in Western Europe from a water resource forecasting perspective, by undertaking a rolling 10-year window correlation between the NAOI and gridded winter rainfall estimates for the period the past 125 years (1889-2016) across Western Europe. [Extracted from the article]

Reservoirs are the key infrastructure of water resources management. A controlling variable of reservoir operation is evaporation, which in semi‐arid and arid regions may consume a large fraction of reservoir storage annually. This paper assesses the role of evaporation and the choice of evaporation methods on reservoir operation. The operation of the reservoir is calculated with the standard operation policy (SOP). Several efficiency criteria are employed to rank the evaporation‐calculation methods with the technique for the order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). The method presented in this paper is illustrated by applying its application to Karkheh reservoir, the largest in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of World Water Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The ancient port city of Sumhuram (Dhofar Governorate, Sultanate of Oman) has been the focus of over 20 years of research by the Italian Mission to Oman (IMTO), University of Pisa, in collaboration with the Office of the Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan for Cultural Affairs (Muscat‐Salalah, Sultanate of Oman). Excavation has revealed most of the town layout, leading to the identification of several buildings, alleyways, squares and workshops, among which two massive buildings stand out, significantly named by the excavators as "Monumental Building" 1 and 2 (MB1 and MB2). This paper presents the results of the excavation inside MB1, characterised by the presence of the only well discovered within the city walls, which was previously interpreted alternatively as a palace or as a temple. The architectural development of the building, its distinctive features, the archaeological material discovered inside it, and its chronology will be discussed. These results highlight the absence of fitting parallels from other ancient South Arabian towns. Overall, it is clear that access to, management of, and control over the water supply of the town represented a key asset which justified the huge investment in workforce and building materials that is reflected in the monumental architecture of this edifice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional change is fundamental to regime transformation, and a necessary part of moving toward integrated water management. However, insight into the role of institutional change processes in such transitions is currently limited. A more nuanced understanding of institutional frameworks is necessary, both to advance understanding of institutional change in the context of transitions toward improved water management and to inform strategies for guiding such processes. To this end, we examine two contemporary cases of transformative change in Australia's urban water sector, exploring the evolution of institutional change in each city. This paper offers insights into regime transformation, providing guidance on types of institutional structures and the ways structure-change initiatives can be sequenced to support a transition. The results reveal the importance of regulation in embedding regime change and suggest that engagement with structural frameworks should begin early in transition processes to ensure the timely introduction of supporting regulation. Our findings also highlight the inextricable link between culture-based and structure-based change initiatives, and the importance of using a diverse range of institutional change mechanisms in a mutually reinforcing way to provide a strong foundation for change. These findings provide a foundation for further scholarly examination of institutional change mechanisms, while also serving to inform the strategic activities of transition-oriented organizations and actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of anthropogenic water use play a significant role in determining the hydrological cycle of north India. This paper explores anthropogenic impacts within the region's hydrological regime by explicitly including observed human water use behaviour, irrigation infrastructure and the natural environment in the CHANSE (Coupled Human And Natural Systems Environment) socio‐hydrological modelling framework. The model is constrained by observed qualitative and quantitative information collected in the study area, along with climate and socio‐economic variables from additional sources. Four separate scenarios, including business as usual (BAU, representing observed irrigation practices), groundwater irrigation only (where the influence of the canal network is removed), canal irrigation only (where all irrigation water is supplied by diverted surface water) and rainfed only (where all human interventions are removed) are used. Under BAU conditions the modelling framework closely matched observed groundwater levels. Following the removal of the canal network, which forces farmers to rely completely on groundwater for irrigation, water levels decrease, while under a canal‐only scenario flooding occurs. Under the rainfed‐only scenario, groundwater levels similar to current business‐as‐usual conditions are observed, despite much larger volumes of recharge and discharge entering and leaving the system under BAU practices. While groundwater abstraction alone may lead to aquifer depletion, the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater resources, which includes unintended contributions of canal leakage, create conditions similar to those where no human interventions are present. Here, the importance of suitable water management practices, in maintaining sustainable water resources, is shown. This may include augmenting groundwater resources through managed aquifer recharge and reducing the impacts on aquifer resources through occasional canal water use where possible. The importance of optimal water management practices that highlight trade‐offs between environmental impact and human wellbeing are shown, providing useful information for policy makers, water managers and users. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than one billion South Asians are affected by water scarcity. Pressure on water resources is likely to grow as a result of population growth, urban expansion, and climate change. This paper assesses the impacts of these effects on the historical hydrological baseline, with particular focus on irrigation. A geospatial water balance model was developed for this purpose based on geo‐referenced information available in scientific public domain databases. Annual water supply and demand for a baseline period 1950–2000 were calculated and projected to 2050 using (1) outputs from 19 Global Circulation Models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 for a Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5; (2) population projections to 2050; and (3) historical land‐use patterns at the country level. Improvements in water use efficiency and storage capacity were analyzed using the Modified Water Scarcity Index of the baseline and the projected water balance in 2050 at the watershed scale. Research Impact Statement: Identifying watersheds that could face water scarcity by 2050. Analyzing which basins will have higher water savings when improvements in water use efficiency and storage capacity are applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper discusses a successful public involvement effort that addressed and resolved several highly controversial water management issues involving environmental and flood risks associated with an electrical generation facility in British Columbia. It begins with a discussion of concepts for designing public involvement, summarizing research that indicates why individuals and groups may find it difficult tomake complex choices. Reasons for public involvement, and the range of current practices are discussed. Next, four principles for designing group decision process are outlined, emphasizing decision-aiding concepts that include 'value-focused thinking' and 'adaptive management.' The next sections discuss the Alouette River Stakeholder Committee process in terms of objectives, participation, process, methods forstructuring values and creating alternatives, information sources, and results. Discussion and conclusions complete the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) involves the intentional recharge of water to aquifers for subsequent recovery or for environmental benefits. It is an increasingly common water resources management strategy but, despite its use for many decades, is unfamiliar to many. This lack of widespread understanding makes it essential that MAR projects are developed using a systematic, comprehensive and transparent approach. This paper outlines a proven and successful approach to planning and developing MAR projects. The process includes three steps, consisting of developing project objectives, developing evaluation criteria for potential MAR projects, and, after collecting and evaluating pertinent data, ranking potential projects against those criteria. Project objectives help define the data that should be collected and the evaluation criteria that are relevant to consider. Commonly used criteria include those relating to water supply, aquifer restoration, water quality and environmental protection. Key evaluation criteria that are discussed in more detail include the availability of water that would be used for recharge, the suitability of receiving aquifers to accept and retain the recharged water, and the compatibility of recharged water with the aquifer into which it is placed. Potential MAR projects can be ranked objectively by quantifying the evaluation criteria and assigning ranking scores to them. The potential project that best meets the project objectives will score the most favorably. Using a quantitative and objective process to evaluate and rank potential projects will increase support by project stakeholders and increase the likelihood that the project will be successful. Article impact statement: Factors to consider when planning a MAR project are presented. These will help in deciding the type, location, design, and feasibility of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of rapid industrialization, urbanization, and modernization, water resources have been facing a series of increasingly severe problems in China, especially in urban areas. However, the absence of an effective, scientific evaluation method may lead to a lack of awareness of sustainable water usage. Thus, this paper focuses on performance analysis for regional sustainable water use in China. First, the sustainable water management (SWM) efficiency is defined, and then, six indicators are selected to construct an evaluation index system. Given that experts are usually not completely rational in practice, we need to take the effect of the experts' nonrationality into consideration when evaluating the SWM efficiency. In view of the indicators' uncertainty and fuzziness, and the experts' nonrationality, the hesitant fuzzy TODIM (HF‐TODIM; TODIM is an acronym in Portuguese for interactive multicriteria decision making) method, which can capture the influence of the experts' psychological factors on the evaluation results, is used to evaluate the SWM efficiency. Furthermore, the assessment method is applied to some sample regions in Tuojiang River Basin. Based on the calculated results, some findings and implications for the SWM efficiency in the sample regions are analyzed. Finally, the applied results using the proposed method are compared with the results derived using the HF‐TOPSIS (hesitant fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution in hesitant fuzzy environment) method. Through the comparative analysis, we conclude that the HF‐TOPSIS method does not take the experts' psychological factors into consideration, but the HF‐TODIM method can avoid this issue and is very useful for the evaluation of the regional SWM efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a short history of water resources systems analysis from its beginnings in the Harvard Water Program, through its continuing evolution toward a general field of water resources systems science. Current systems analysis practice is widespread and addresses the most challenging water issues of our times, including water scarcity and drought, climate change, providing water for food and energy production, decision making amid competing objectives, and bringing economic incentives to bear on water use. The emergence of public recognition and concern for the state of water resources provides an opportune moment for the field to reorient to meet the complex, interdependent, interdisciplinary, and global nature of today's water challenges. At present, water resources systems analysis is limited by low scientific and academic visibility relative to its influence in practice and bridled by localized findings that are difficult to generalize. The evident success of water resource systems analysis in practice (which is set out in this paper) needs in future to be strengthened by substantiating the field as the science of water resources that seeks to predict the water resources variables and outcomes that are important to governments, industries, and the public the world over. Doing so promotes the scientific credibility of the field, provides understanding of the state of water resources and furnishes the basis for predicting the impacts of our water choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water shortages are an increasingly significant social and economic issue in many countries. Increasing the supply of water is one solution (e.g. desalination plants, new dams), but such measures are expensive. Using price to manage household water demand may be viewed as socially unequitable and politically contentious. Social marketing campaigns, where voluntary behaviour change is the goal, provide the potential to foster sustainable consumption of an increasingly scarce yet essential resource. This paper details a case study of successful water demand management in a drought affected region of South-Eastern Australia. In this region, water consumption was reduced to more sustainable levels through a targeted and successful social marketing campaign. This case is of significant relevance to the field of Social Marketing where there are increasing calls for research into environmental issues in general and water consumption in particular (Kotler, 2011). The extant research literature and this case study are integrated to form several propositions about household water consumption behaviour. Consequently, this paper contributes to the literature by providing a conceptualisation of how residents respond to water conservation related social marketing campaigns. Key issues include the potential for reciprocal behaviour by consumers when a water authority is perceived to manage the water problem effectively, and linking behaviour change through structural approaches (e.g. subsidies and restrictions) and voluntarist approaches (e.g. attitudinal change)., Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In Mediterranean‐type river systems, naturally low seasonal stream flows are often overexploited, which has implications for managing flows for environmental as well as human needs. Traditional approaches to instream flow management are not well suited to unregulated systems with strong seasonal patterns of water availability and many water diverters, and are challenging to implement in such systems. They often do not protect the full range of variability in the annual hydrograph, require extensive site‐specific data, expensive modelling or both. In contrast, holistic flow management strategies, such as percent‐of‐flow (POF) strategies are designed to protect multiple ecological processes and preserve inter‐annual flow variability. However, POF approaches typically require real‐time streamflow gauging, and often lack a robust metric relating a diversion rate to ecological processes in the stream. To address these challenges, we present a modified percent‐of‐flow (MPOF) diversion approach where diversions are allocated from a streamflow baseline which is derived from a regional relationship between a conservative streamflow‐exceedance and date. The streamflow baseline remains the same from year to year, and is independent of water‐year type. This approach protects inter‐annual flow variability and provides a predictable daily allowable volume of diversion at any diversion point—supporting efficient water management planning. The allowable diversion rate in the MPOF approach is based not on a fixed percentage of the ambient streamflow, but rather on a maximum allowable percentage change in riffle crest thalweg depth, an ecologically meaningful, common hydraulic measurement. In this paper, we demonstrate that the MPOF approach is a holistic approach well suited to manage diversions in unregulated streams typical of California's Mediterranean‐type coastal drainages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is an important key to understand Maya society, especially water availability within a context of climatic changes. Increasing drought would have pushed the Maya water systems into collapse. This paper studies the Maya water systems from an action‐oriented perspective, in order to understand what challenges the Maya had to overcome when dealing with water. The systems found at Tikal serve as main example, allowing comparisons with other Maya sites. In this analysis, hydraulic‐ and agent‐based elements are combined in a model to investigate the performance of the water system within extreme weather conditions and changing human agency. The results suggest that the Tikal water system was able to cope with most of the extreme situations. Furthermore, model results allow proposing that the Maya did not anticipate on short‐term changes in external conditions. Generally, in Tikal surpluses of water may have been as important as shortages of water. The extensive system of drains and canals present at Tikal may have been built to move water from the center of the city rather than to supply water to lower situated reservoirs during the dry season. Such a water‐removal system could be less centrally orientated and organized than is often argued. This could also mean that organizational structures of water systems of different city centers (Tikal, Calakmul, and Caracol) were more similar than usually assumed. This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water as Imagined and Represented Engineering Water > Planning Water Science of Water > Water Quality [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acute water and electricity shortages in Gaza necessitate comprehensive solutions that recognize the interconnected nature of these vital resources. This article presents pragmatic solutions to align supply with fundamental needs in both domains, offering viable pathways for achieving strategic water‐energy security in Gaza. Baseline data reveals a deficit in the current water supply, falling below the international minimum of 100 L per capita per day, while the reported 137–189 MW per day electricity supply significantly lags behind the estimated 390 MW per day peak demand. To meet projected 2024 residential, commercial, and industrial demands, this study proposes actionable measures including expanding wastewater treatment to enable over 150 MCM per year tertiary effluents for agricultural reuse and adopting energy‐efficient forward osmosis‐reverse osmosis and osmotically assisted reverse osmosis desalination methods to increase potable water supply to 150 MCM per year. Electricity supply strategies include scaling renewable capacity towards 110 MW per day, exploring regional cooperation to unlock over 360 MW of power per day, and potentially recovering up to 60 MW per day through system efficiencies. These recommendations aim to prevent exacerbated scarcity and alleviate hardships in Gaza. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As multiple countries share a river, the likelihood of conflicts over distributing water resources increases, particularly under the effects of climate change. In this paper, we demonstrate how countries can cooperate in sustainable transboundary water sharing under such conditions. We examine the case of water distribution in the Volta Basin of West Africa between the upstream country, Burkina Faso, and the downstream country, Ghana. The latter faces an additional tradeoff between the production of hydropower in the south, close to the outlet of the basin, and agricultural water use in the reservoir's catchment area in the north. In the framework of a stochastic Stackelberg differential game, we show how sustainable water-sharing agreements can be achieved by linking transboundary flows to hydropower exports. Our results indicate that, through cooperation, Ghana will have an opportunity to increase its water abstraction for agriculture, which has remained largely restricted. We also find that the equilibrium strategies for the long-run distribution are stable even with increasing variances of water flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reservoir management and intertemporal water allocation are critical issues in semiarid regions where agriculture has to confront highly variable rainfall patterns. In this paper, we derive and propose an economic drought management index (EDMI) to evaluate water institutions’ performance to cope with drought risk. The EDMI is based on the optimal conditions of a stochastic dynamic optimisation problem that characterises reservoir management. The index's main advantages are its ease of interpretation and breadth of scope, as it incorporates information on hydrological processes, structural constraints, water institutions’ rules, and the economic benefits of water use. An empirical application is developed to assess the institutional rules governing water allocation in two different supply systems in Andalusia (southern Spain). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Irrigation & Drainage is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The human‐environmental system in drylands is centered on oases. Despite its extent and socio‐ecological importance, understanding the dynamic changes of global oases and their human and environmental driving forces is imperative for sustainable development in drylands under global warming. Nevertheless, the dynamic changes of global oases and how they respond to the evolving environment are not well established. In this study, three criteria were summarized (i.e., existing in dryland climates, surrounded or partially surrounded by desert terrain, having a reliable source of freshwater and forming landscape units with higher vegetation coverage/productivity). A global oasis distribution map from 1995 to 2020 was generated using European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative Land Cover and GIMMS‐3G+ data (overall accuracy within a 95% confidence interval is 0.85 ± 0.01) based on overlay analysis and visual interpretation. In addition, we used geographic and temporal weighted regression methods to evaluate the potential macro‐level elements affecting both global and local oasis growth. The result showed that the global oases area in 2020 occupied an area of 191.91 Mha, and most oases existed in Asia (77.3%). The global oases area has significantly increased from 1995 to 2020 (+8.65 Mha). However, about 13.43 Mha of the global oases are desertified, indicating a high risk of desertification. Water resources, contributing 51.36% to the total driver's contribution, are key to the global oasis expansion. In the context of climate (climate variability and climate change), this research highlights the need for improved holistic water resource management for long‐term global oasis growth, particularly in developing countries where the oases' development is threatened by water scarcity and desertification. Plain Language Summary: In recent decades, global oases have exhibited an expanding trend. Under the backdrop of climate (climate variability and climate change), water resources profoundly influence this trend. We comprehensively assessed the distribution, dynamic changes, and factors driving the expansion of global oases. The research findings indicate that from 1995 to 2020, the global oasis area significantly increased by 8.65 Mha. However, approximately 13.43 Mha of global oases degraded into deserts, highlighting the extremely high risk of desertification. The abundance of water resources, accounting for 51.36% of the overall effect, emerges as the key determinant in global oasis growth. These findings emphasize the need for improved global comprehensive water resource management, particularly in developing countries' oasis regions, to address water scarcity and achieve the sustainable development of the oasis. Key Points: Global oases changed significantly from 1995 to 2020, yet desertification risk remains severeWater resources comprise 51.36% of all drivers and are the key to the world oasis's growthIn developing countries oases, climate (climate variability and climate change) will increase the demand for water resources [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many water resource systems have been designed assuming that the statistical characteristics of future inflows are similar to those of the historical record. This assumption is no longer valid due to large-scale changes in the global climate, potentially causing declines in water resource system performance, or even complete system failure. Upgrading system infrastructure to cope with climate change can require substantial financial outlay, so it might be preferable to optimize existing system performance when possible. This paper builds on decision scaling theory by proposing a bottom-up approach to designing optimal feedback control policies for a water system exposed to a changing climate. This approach not only describes optimal operational policies for a range of potential climatic changes but also enables an assessment of a system's upper limit of its operational adaptive capacity, beyond which upgrades to infrastructure become unavoidable. The approach is illustrated using the Lake Como system in Northern Italy-a regulated system with a complex relationship between climate and system performance. By optimizing system operation under different hydrometeorological states, it is shown that the system can continue to meet its minimum performance requirements for more than three times as many states as it can under current operations. Importantly, a single management policy, no matter how robust, cannot fully utilize existing infrastructure as effectively as an ensemble of flexible management policies that are updated as the climate changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental flows allocation is an intrinsic part of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). This paper analyses socio‐political issues and effects of environmental flows integration on water availability under the context of increased agricultural intensification in an effort to tackle food insecurity. Lack of appropriate framework comprising the procedural requirements and strategic directions as well as prevalence of politically motivated ad hoc development programmes are among major challenges identified. Introducing environmental flows to a perceived satisfactory level would result in a significant increase of unmet irrigation water demand, yet, "productivity first" norm overtakes. This is presumed to be due to skewed focus on irrigation expansion and low awareness on the possible consequences. The particular challenges highlighted generally unveil the inherent contradictions in the IWRM concept putting its claim that the set of principles and entire course stand universally accepted as a means to balance socio‐economic and environmental outcomes under question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]