scholarly journals Structural gaps of water resources knowledge in global river basins

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 5381-5398
Author(s):  
Shuanglei Wu ◽  
Yongping Wei ◽  
Xuemei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Knowledge Development ◽  
Period 2 ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
Management Issues

Abstract. The stationarity of hydrological systems is dead in the era of the Anthropocene. Has our hydrological or water resources knowledge been well transformed to address this change? By using publications indexed in the Web of Science database since 1900, we aim to investigate the global development of water resources knowledge at the river basin scale with a systems approach, of which water resources knowledge development in a river basin is defined as a complex system involving the co-evolutionary dynamics of scientific disciplines and management issues. It is found that (1) legacy-driven water resources knowledge structures have consistently dominated most of the highly researched river basins in the world, while innovation-driven structures are identified in the river basins receiving increasing research publications in the recent period; (2) the management issues addressed by legacy-driven river basin studies are increasingly homogenized, while a wider range of emerging issues are considered by innovation-driven river basin studies; and (3) cross-disciplinary collaborations have remained largely unchanged and collaborations with social sciences have been very limited. It is concluded that the stationarity of water resources knowledge structure persists. A structural shift of water resources knowledge development is urgently needed to cope with the rapidly changing hydrological systems and associated management issues, and opportunities for such a shift exist in those less researched but globally distributed innovation-driven river basins.

scholarly journals Global water resources knowledge gaps 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuanglei Wu ◽  
Yongping Wei ◽  
Xuemei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Knowledge Development ◽  
Scientific Disciplines ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Major River ◽  
Management Issues

Abstract. The stationarity of hydrological systems is dead. Has our hydrological/water resources knowledge well transformed to address this change? By using publications indexed in the Web of Science database since 1900, we aim to investigate the global development of water resources knowledge at river basin scale from a system science perspective. Water resources knowledge development in a river basin is defined as a complex system involving the co-evolutionary dynamics of scientific disciplines and management issues. It is found that: 1) centralised and legacy-inclined water resources knowledge structures dominated major river basins in the world; 2) links between water resources knowledge structure and the management issues it addressed are increasingly homogenised; and 3) cross-disciplinary collaborations have remained largely unchanged and collaborations with social sciences have been very limited. In conclusions, the stationarity of the water resources knowledge system persists. A shift of water resources knowledge development to cope with the rapidly changing hydrological systems and associated management issues is urgently needed.

scholarly journals The water dispatching of river basins during dry periods under the most stringent water management system in China

Water Policy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanhu He ◽  
Zhenjie Gong ◽  
Yanhui Zheng ◽  
Xiaoyan Bai ◽  
Peng Wang
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Management System ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Water Management System ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Utilization Ratio

Abstract Since 2011, China has implemented its most stringent water management system to effectively protect water resources and guarantee socioeconomic development. More basin-scale water division schemes have been developed to act as references for basin-scale water resources management. Water dispatching during dry periods is an effective way to guarantee the water supply for the river basin, and is also an important component of basin-scale water resources management. Given this, the present study proposes a framework for the water dispatching of river basins during dry periods under the most stringent water management system in China. This framework mainly consists of the analysis and forecasting of rainfall and inflow, the dispatching requirements for the main water users, major reservoirs, and sections, as well as safeguard measures. The Jian River Basin in South China is presented as a case study. The total discharge of the Gaozhou Reservoir in 2017 was 25 million m3 more than the target discharge specified in the water dispatching scheme, and the total water storage utilization ratio during the dispatch period was 4.7% higher than the target utilization ratio. These factors demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed framework. HIGHLIGHT The proposed framework for the water dispatching of river basins during dry periods provides reliable technical support for water use security under the most stringent water management system in China, and is demonstrated to be both effective and applicable.

scholarly journals Analysis of present IWRM in the Upper Brahmaputra and the Upper Danube River Basins

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.-A. Flügel ◽  
A. Bartosch
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Danube River ◽  
Engineering Sciences ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Water Management Planning

Abstract. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a process which strives towards the sustainable management of water resources in river basins. The approach integrates insights and knowledge from various scientific disciplines comprising natural, socio-economic, and engineering sciences. These three pillars of sustainability are important components of this approach integrating the environmental, economic and social dimension. In the ideal IWRM case planning is based on the river basin scale and therefore is comparatively discussed herein for the two twinning BRAHMATWINN river basins, i.e. the Upper Danube River Basin (UDRB) in Europe and the Upper Brahmaputra River Basin (UBRB) in South Asia. In this chapter major challenges for the implementation of the IWRM process towards a sustainable management of water resources in the two UDRB and UBRB twinning river basins of the BRAHMATWINN project are analysed. The study revealed that in the UDRB the IWRM approach is already part of water management planning and the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is a good example in this regard. Contrary in the UBRB the implementation of IWRM is just at the beginning phase, only recently is being discussed in the riparian states but has not been implemented in any way so far on the basin scale.

scholarly journals Basin-Scale Approach to Integration of Agro- and Hydroecological Monitoring for Sustainable Environmental Management: A Case Study of Belgorod Oblast, European Russia

2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 927
Author(s):  
Zhanna Buryak ◽  
Fedor Lisetskii ◽  
Artyom Gusarov ◽  
Anastasiya Narozhnyaya ◽  
Mikhail Kitov
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Basins ◽  
European Russia ◽  
Water Runoff ◽  
Belgorod Oblast ◽  
Water Quality Control ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Seventh Order

The quantitative and qualitative depletion of water resources (both surface and groundwater) is closely related to the need to protect soils against degradation, rationalization of land use, and regulation of surface water runoff within the watershed area. Belgorod Oblast (27,100 km2), one of the administrative regions of European Russia, was chosen as the study area. It is characterized by a high activity of soil erosion (the share of eroded soils is about 48% of the total area of arable land). The development phase of the River Basin Environmental Management Projects (217 river basins from the fourth to seventh order) allowed for the proceeding of the development of an integrated monitoring system for river systems and river basin systems. The methods used to establish a geoecological network for regional monitoring include the selection and application of GIS techniques to quantify the main indicators of ecological state and predisposition of river basins to soil erosion (the share of cropland and forestland, the share of the south-oriented slopes, soil erodibility, Slope Length and Steepness (LS) factor, erosion index of precipitation, and the river network density) and the method of a hierarchical classification of cluster analysis for the grouping of river basins. An approach considering the typology of river basins is also used to expand the regional network of hydrological gauging stations to rationalize the national hydrological monitoring network. By establishing 16 additional gauging stations on rivers from the fourth to seventh order, this approach allows for an increase in the area of hydro-agroecological monitoring by 1.26 times (i.e., up to 77.5% of the total area of Belgorod Oblast). Some integrated indicators of agroecological (on the watershed surface) and hydroecological (in river water flow) monitoring are proposed to improve basin environmental management projects. Six-year monitoring showed the effectiveness of water quality control measures on an example of a decrease in the concentrations of five major pollutants in river waters.

A methodological framework supporting trans-boundary water agreements: the case of the Nestos/Mesta river basin

Water Policy ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Eleftheriadou ◽  
Yannis Mylopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Consensus Building ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Joint Effort ◽  
Boundary Area ◽  
European Water ◽  
International Conventions

Management of trans-boundary river basins is a major issue that has attracted great attention in recent years. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) recommends management at a river basin level, overlooking any national or administrative borders. This new managerial approach impels water managers to disregard the trans-boundary nature of the water resources while considering an integrated river basin where only geographical boundaries exist. The new challenge for scientists and water managers is the establishment of water agreements between countries sharing water resources. These agreements should aim at the settlement of tensions and conflicts while providing the essential framework for cooperation and consensus building. Apparently, the content of these agreements should comply with international law and the relevant international conventions especially, as noted by the WFD, the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Trans-boundary Watercourses and International Lakes (known as the Helsinki Rules), approved by the European Council in 1995. This paper examines the efficiency of water agreements and their precedent negotiations using the best known international examples while focusing on the Greek–Bulgarian agreement for the waters of the Nestos/Mesta River and its compliance with the WFD and the Helsinki Rules. As shown, the two countries have failed to implement a joint effort to put it into action; hence a methodological framework is proposed including certain strategic steps that can guide the two countries to a more effective and applicable water agreement taking into account the peculiarities of this trans-boundary area.

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