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The complex relationship between water, energy, food, and ecological systems, known as the WEFE nexus, has emerged as a major topic in the debate about sustainable economic development and resource management. This subject is of special interest in Mediterranean coastal areas as rapid economic expansion driven by population growth, higher influx of tourists, and intensification of agriculture is leading to structural water scarcity conditions. However, addressing the diverse range of issues associated with the nexus is a difficult task due to the existence of intricate interconnections, interdependencies, and nonlinearities within and across its various components. Accordingly, this case study applies a combination of participatory systems modeling and network analysis tools to yield insights into the complexity of this nexus in Axarquia, a region with features that make it an example of water-stressed jurisdictions in the Mediterranean. Overall, our results provide a strong foundation to understand the dynamics that govern this nexus in regions where the availability of freshwater resources is a significant concern. Furthermore, they lay the groundwork for the development of models and scenarios to simulate the impact of various policies and interventions on the overall system., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The efficiency of water distribution at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels in the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS) has historically suffered due to poor design, suboptimal operation, and water scarcity. To address these issues, the system has been designed with ungated irrigation outlets to ensure equitable water allocation at secondary and tertiary levels. This research evaluates the hydraulic performance of three irrigation outlets: adjustable proportional module (APM), adjustable orifice semi-module (AOSM), and open flume (OF) using a physical model study. A distributary channel model with these outlets was constructed at the Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Engineering, where discharge coefficients (Cd) were calibrated and measured under various hydraulic and geometric conditions, including free and submerged flow conditions, and with adjustments to flow depths and outlet settings. The results showed variability in Cd values under free flow and submerged flow conditions with APM and AOSM ranging from 6.07 to 8.20 and 0.56 to 0.74, respectively, and OF between 2.46 and 4.31. Additionally, the behavior of outlet tampering on Cd values was also assessed under three scenarios: tampering with the half wing wall (1st), tampering with the full wing wall (2nd), and lowering the bed level downstream of the outlet (3rd). The increase in Cd values for APM and AOSM was + 10.84% and + 14.49% under 1st scenario, + 17.12% and + 22.36% under 2nd scenario, and + 24.25% and + 26.30% under 3rd scenario, respectively. The results reveal that even minor tampering with outlet structures can lead to significant deviations in performance, highlighting the importance of maintaining stringent control over outlet configurations to ensure equitable and efficient water distribution. There is a critical need for rigorous, site-specific calibration of irrigation outlets to optimize their performance under local conditions and redesigning outlet structures to minimize the impacts of tampering, thereby enhancing the overall sustainability of water use in large-scale irrigation systems. The findings from this study provide essential insights for irrigation engineers and policymakers tasked with upgrading and maintaining irrigation infrastructure. By adopting a more customized approach to outlet design and management, it is possible to significantly improve water use efficiency and achieve more sustainable irrigation practices., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval: Not applicable. This study did not involve any human or animal subjects, and thus, no ethical approval was required. Consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: All authors consent to the publication of this manuscript. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Disclaimer: “All authors have read, understood, and have complied as applicable with the statement on ‘Ethical responsibilities of Authors’ as found in the Instructions for Authors.” The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Dwindling groundwater supplies threaten food security and livelihoods. Output subsidies for farmers are a ubiquitous agricultural policy tool, yet their contribution to growing groundwater stress remains poorly quantified. We show how output subsidies guaranteeing the purchase of crops at higher than market prices may have contributed substantially to declining water tables in India. Our analysis suggests that these policies may have led to a 30% over-production of water intensive crops. In the northwestern state of Punjab, rice procurement can potentially account for at least 50% of the groundwater table decline over 34 years. In the central state of Madhya Pradesh, wheat procurement adopted in the late 2000s appears to have driven a 5.3 percentage point increase in dry wells and a consequent 3.4 percentage point increase in deep tubewells. These results suggest that well-intentioned but poorly designed subsidies can impose harmful externalities on the environment and undermine long-term sustainable development., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In South Africa, approximately 98% of the predicted total surface water resources are already being used up. Consequently, the National Water Resource Strategy considers groundwater to be important for the future planning and management of water resources. In this case, quantifying groundwater budgets is a prerequisite because they provide a means for evaluating the availability and sustainability of a water supply. This study estimated the regional groundwater budgets for the Inkomati-Usuthu Water Management Area (Usuthu, Komati, Sabie-Sand, and Crocodile) using the classical hydrological continuity equation. The equation was used to describe prevailing feedback loops between groundwater draft, recharge, baseflow, and storage change. The results were coarser scale estimates which, beforehand, were derived from the 2006 study. In the years to follow, groundwater reliance intensified and there was also the historic 2015/2016 drought. This inevitably led to an increased draft while the rest of the components of the groundwater budgets experienced decreases. Both Crocodile and Sabie-Sand experienced groundwater storage depletion which led to reduced baseflow and groundwater availability, while groundwater recharge contrarily increased due to capture. Conversely, the other two catchments experienced relatively lower drafts with correspondingly higher groundwater availability and recharge while storage change was positive. The results highlighted the need for adaptive water management whose effectiveness relies on predictive studies. Consequently, future models should be developed to capture the spatial and temporal dynamism of the natural groundwater budget due to climate change, water demands, and population growth predictions., (© 2024 National Ground Water Association.)

In this study, the water-energy nexus is investigated throughout coupling the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) and Low Emission Analysis Platform (LEAP) models under the climate change effects in the Marun basin, Iran. For this purpose, first, the climate change effects on water resources and consumption nodes are calculated under representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios from the fifth report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Artificial neural network (ANN) is used to model river inflow and Cropwat model is used for agricultural water demand in future time (2015-2040). In the next step, water system is modeled in WEAP and energy system is modeled in LEAP. Then, three water-energy nexus scenarios include (1) calculating the actual hydropower generation capacity in LEAP model (W-E-N1), (2) water-energy nexus evaluation indexes in the WEAP model (W-E-N2), and (3) changes in the electricity consumption intensity in the LEAP model (W-E-N3) are modeled under RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 climate scenarios. The results of W-E-N1 scenario show that the actual hydropower generation capacity with water-energy nexus is reduced by 78%, 89%, and 91%, respectively, compared to no water-energy nexus under RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5 scenarios. The results of W-E-N2 show that the hydropower generation reliability index will be reduced by 19%, 31%, and 13%, respectively under RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5 compared no water-energy nexus. The results of W-E-N3 scenario show that the electricity consumption intensity will increase considering the electricity required for water transferring to demand sites. The results of the present study show that the water-energy nexus will lead to more accurate results and, as a result, more realistic planning for water and energy resources., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval: The paper is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. All authors have been personally and actively involved in substantial work leading to the paper, and will take public responsibility for its content. Consent to participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Consent to publication.: The participant has consented to the submission of the case report to the journal. Competing interests: The author declares no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Legionella pneumophila is different from traditional drinking water contaminants because it presents a latent public health risk for public and private drinking water systems and for the building water systems they supply. This paper reviews information on the likelihood of occurrence of L. pneumophila in public water systems to lay a foundation for public water systems, as a stakeholder in public health risk management, to better manage L. pneumophila . Important to this approach is a literature review to identify conditions that could potentially promote L. pneumophila being present in drinking water systems at either an elevated abundance or at an increased frequency of occurrence, and/or water quality and supply conditions that would contribute to its amplification. The literature review allows the development of an inventory of hazardous conditions that a public water system could experience and, therefore, can be used by water systems to develop control and monitoring strategies. However, effective L. pneumophila risk management programs are hampered by significant data and knowledge gaps. Priority research to advance public water system's risk assessments and management of L. pneumophila is proposed., Competing Interests: The authors declare there is no conflict., (© 2024 The Authors This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits copying, adaptation and redistribution, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Microcystins are produced by multifaceted organisms called cyanobacteria, which are integral to Africa’s freshwater environments. The excessive proliferation of cyanobacteria caused by rising temperature and eutrophication leads to the production and release of copious amounts of microcystins, requiring critical management and control approaches to prevent the adverse environmental and public health problems associated with these bioactive metabolites. Despite hypotheses reported to explain the phylogeography and mechanisms responsible for cyanobacterial blooms in aquatic water bodies, many aspects are scarcely understood in Africa due to the paucity of investigations and lack of uniformity of experimental methods. Due to a lack of information and large-scale studies, cyanobacteria occurrence and genetic diversity are seldom reported in African aquatic ecosystems. This review covers the diversity and geographical distribution of potential microcystin-producing and non-microcystin-producing cyanobacterial taxa in Africa. Molecular analyses using housekeeping genes (e.g., 16S rRNA, ITS, rpoC1, etc.) revealed significant sequence divergence across several cyanobacterial strains from East, North, West, and South Africa, but the lack of uniformity in molecular markers employed made continent-wise phylogenetic comparisons impossible. Planktothrix agardhii, Microcystis aeruginosa, and Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (presently known as Raphidiopsis raciborskii) were the most commonly reported genera. Potential microcystin (MCs)-producing cyanobacteria were detected using mcy genes, and several microcystin congeners were recorded. Studying cyanobacteria species from the African continent is urgent to effectively safeguard public and environmental health because more than 80% of the continent has no data on these important microorganisms and their bioactive secondary metabolites.

The article highlights the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior's (SNEB) position paper on the crucial role of food and nutrition education in disaster recovery and resilience. Topics discussed include the need for safe, culturally appropriate foods during crises, addressing inequities in food access, and advancing research, policy, and education to improve nutrition security before, during, and after disasters.

Agriculture faces a significant problem as a result of the decline in per capita freshwater supply that has been observed over the past couple of decades. Better water management strategies are required in order to make agriculture water secure, environmentally sustainable, and economically attractive. The goal of this study was to develop water productivity scenarios for rice and wheat crops in India's Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) by analysing agricultural production from the perspective of water consumption. To pinpoint the areas that are hydrologically suitable for growing rice and wheat crops under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 climate change scenarios, water footprints and water productivity have been mapped. The study found that changes in temperature trends under future climate scenarios are probably going to increase crop water requirements, leading to greater water footprints for IGP regions. Water risk hotspots have been identified in the IGP for the rice- and wheat-growing states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana. In order to achieve food security in a sustainable way, attention should be given to increase the water productivity of both crops., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Deserts and semi-arid environments are habitats to rare species, rich cultural heritage, and essential ecological processes. Approximately 46% of the world's surface area is covered by drylands (arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas), where 3 billion people live and unfortunately witness water insecurity and desertification implications. In this context, the present study argued that reduced dryland ecosystem services and decreased ecosystem health have resulted from the individual and compounding impacts of desertification, water scarcity, and climate change. At 1.5 °C, 2 °C, and 3 °C of global warming, under the shared socio-economic pathway SSP2, the number of people living in drylands who will be affected by various effects on water, energy, and land sectors is projected to reach 951 million, 1152 million, and 1285 million, respectively. Due to combinations of land use change, rainfall variations, fire suppression, and CO 2 fertilization, as well as unsustainable management, widespread woody encroachment has occurred in many shrublands and savannas in Africa, Australia, North America, and South America. This has altered biodiversity and reduces ecosystem services, such as water availability and grazing potential. The north side of the Mediterranean, southern Africa, and North and South America are projected to have the most semiarid expansion. Contrarily, drylands are expected to shrink in India, northern China, eastern equatorial Africa, and the southern Sahara. Growing research evidence highlights the adoption of policy frameworks deriving the solutions from soil land management (SLM), indigenous and local knowledge (ILK), early warning systems coupled with adaptation and mitigation responses, and targets of sustainable development goals (SDGs)., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

• A photothermal paper prepared by chemically dyeing filter paper, with an ultralow cost at 0.163 $ m−2. • Photothermal paper exhibits 1.53 kg m−2h−1 of evaporation rate, surpassing the thermodynamic limit of 2D evaporator. • A paper-assembled hopper-type 3D solar evaporator maintains 2.38 kg m−2h−1 in real seawater for 7-day operation. • WHO-compliant drinking water produced from multiple real saline waters. • 2.65 and 7.58 kg m−2 of freshwater collected from outdoor test of seawater in midwinter and late spring, respectively. Interfacial solar evaporation has been regarded as the promising technical option to produce fresh water from seawater and other real brines or contaminated water bodies. However, it still suffers in the high cost, complicated preparation, low-efficiency, and salt accumulation induced poor evaporation stability of solar evaporator. Herein, we propose a simple method to fabricate ultralow cost photothermal paper with high solar evaporation efficacy (1.53 kg m−2h−1 for water) by chemically dyeing a filter paper, which is based on the grafting polymerization of pyrrole-2-aldehyde (P2C) onto the cellulose in paper via hydroxyl-aldehyde acetalization and pyrrole-aldehyde condensation. The manufacturing cost of this photothermal paper was evaluated as low as 0.163 $ m−2. Furtherly, a hopper-type solar evaporator with efficient water supply was assembled by tailoring the above photothermal paper, which maintained evaporation rate at 2.38 kg m−2h−1 without any measurable decay from 7 d seawater evaporation test, reflecting the excellent stability for seawater desalination. It also can produce purified water (>2.10 kg m−2h−1) complying with the sewage discharge standards, even the WHO standard for drinking water from uranium-contaminated nuclear effluent, concentrated seawater of desalination plant, and real dyeing wastewater of textile dyeing plant, maintaining a high evaporation efficacy. Moreover, outdoor experiments in midwinter and late spring yielded a daily freshwater collection at 2.65 kg m−2 and 7.58 kg m−2, respectively, demonstrating its good applicability in all season. This work provides a cost-effective strategy to constructing high-performance solar evaporator for freshwater production from various real waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pulp and paper industry consumes enormous quality of freshwater, leading to wastewater. It must be treated to remove pollutants, particularly residual dyestuffs, before releasing them to water bodies to avoid adverse environmental effects. The traditional wastewater treatment methods used for the pulp and paper industry are less efficient in colour and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal. The current study is aimed at developing a novel catalyst for the catalytic ozonation of pulp and paper wastewater with better colour and COD removal for sustainable resources of clean water. The proposed catalyst is impregnated by iron on natural zeolites. Various parameters such as catalyst dose, pH, ozone dose, initial COD concentration, and reaction time are studied and optimized. The performance was evaluated by comparing the results with the single ozonation process (SOP) and catalytic ozonation process (COP). The highest COD and colour reduction efficiencies have been achieved, i.e., 71%, and 88% at a natural pH of 6.8. The proposed process achieved higher COD and colour efficiencies than the single ozonation process and catalytic ozonation process using raw zeolites. The improvement in efficiencies are 23% and 29% for SOP and 17% and 19% for COP, respectively. Hence, the results proposed the sustainability and applicability of COP to treat paper and pulp sector effluent. [Display omitted] • A novel Fe-zeolite catalyst was developed for catalytic ozonation process. • Performance of single ozonation process and catalytic ozonation process was evaluated. • Under optimized condition the catalyst remains efficient even after 5 cycles. • 71% of COD were eliminated using Fe/NZ as catalyst in catalytic ozonation process. • The optimum ozone dose for COD and color removal was 0.3 mg/ml of wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forum papers are thought-provoking opinion pieces or essays founded in fact, sometimes containing speculation, on a civil engineering topic of general interest and relevance to the readership of the journal. The views expressed in this Forum article do not necessarily reflect the views of ASCE or the Editorial Board of the journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saudi Arabia (SA) is one of the world's arid, most water-scarce nations without permanent water resources. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of Saudi Arabia's water resources availability and reliability in terms of water supply, demand, and the major challenges that water faces. Saudi has an annual water supply of roughly 89.5 m 3 per person as consumption is rising in parallel with the country's rapid population growth and development. SA produces the most desalinated seawater in the world, accounting for 22% of worldwide consumption. Due to changes in agricultural demand, Saudi Arabia's overall water needs in 2020 were 15.98 BCM. Apart from agricultural use, the food industry utilizes up to 80% of freshwater supplies, with only around 20% of rain recharging the aquifer, meaning that the region will still be water-stressed by 2025. In addition to wastewater reuse, water expenses should be split between private investors and the government, and water losses in cities should be collected and recycled. Water development projects must also be safeguarded and have long-term viability for the community's future and well-being. Despite previous conservation efforts (public awareness campaigns, television and other public media messages, drip irrigation, and so on), more work is required, including improving water resource infrastructure, implementing environmental use of friendly technologies, and increasing economic feasibility, social acceptability, and management in light of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The primary impediment to adopting the Water, Energy, and Food (WEF) Nexus is a lack of a comprehensive and user-friendly simulation model. According to our search on Google Scholar and the Scopus databank, WEF Nexus studies can be divided into three broad categories: (1) studies about the nexus concept, (2) studies related to nexus modeling and software development, and (3) case studies. Given that the present study's objective is to review various solutions for WEF Nexus modeling and also to prepare a checklist of available models to find a better model for nexus simulation, we excluded papers and studies which were related to the nexus concept. After that, we split up other papers that talked about nexus and software development into (1) integrated and (2) compiled approaches. Then, it was attempted to identify the shortcomings in each approach. It was shown that the existing integrated WEF Nexus models (such as MUSIASEM, NexSym, CLEW, and ANEMI) had some significant drawbacks compared to compiled alternatives. Several of the major shortcomings of existing integrated models include the following: (1) They did not cover all spatial scales; (2) they included only a limited number of interactions across WEF subsystems; and (3) some of these models were unavailable. Therefore, as a general result of the current study, it was shown that compiled approach is generally preferable compared to available integrated models. In this regard, we tried to find the best water simulation models to implement in the nexus concept. We searched for papers about water simulation models and defined water subsystem requirements in the nexus concept. So, we evaluated each water simulation model based on its ability to cover water subsystem requirements. This work illustrates the capability of a suitable water simulation model to be utilized in the nexus concept and provides a holistic checklist to choose the preferred water simulation model based on the needs of each issue., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The authors of the article "Numerical simulation of a managed aquifer recharge system designed to supply drinking water to the city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands" acknowledge and appreciate a comment that pointed out errors in their calculations of the thermal distribution coefficient and retardation factor. The correction article published by the authors provides the corrected values for these factors, resulting in higher thermal retardation factors and lower groundwater residence times. Despite these corrections, the study's main conclusions regarding groundwater residence times meeting legal environmental impact requirements remain unchanged. The correction article was authored by Pranisha Pokhrel, Yangxiao Zhou, Frank Smits, Pierre Kamps, and Theo Olsthoorn. [Extracted from the article]

An accidental or intentional contamination event can raise health and sociopolitical concerns, erode public trust, and affect the operation of water distribution systems. In this regard, emergency management plans are required to describe the necessary measures in order to deal with a threat. This study was carried out to investigate the best ways to manage intrusion in a water distribution network. In this research, the optimal management approach to deal with chemical contamination in a water distribution network was examined under three scenarios using the particle swarm optimization method. In each scenario, three management solutions were used to manage the contamination, including closing the pipe, opening the fire hydrant, and using a combination of pipe closure and fire hydrant opening. Contamination risk impact on consumers' health was assessed in the network's emergency status and after implementation of the best pollution management scenarios. The results showed that in the benchmark network, pipe closure was slightly more successful than opening of the fire hydrant valve. In pollution management of a real network, pipe closure was less effective than the hydrant opening in all scenarios. Generally, all applied scenarios were successful in reducing the contamination risk among the exposed people, so that carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks reduced by 100% in all scenarios compared to the non-management state., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Adequate water, electricity, and food are essential for sustainable development. Regional conflicts intensified by global water, energy, and food shortages necessitate a rethinking of the security and interdependence of these resources. However, most earlier scholars concentrated on the subsystems of the water-energy-food nexus (WEF nexus), lacking holistic studies. Therefore, to understand the history and current state of research on the WEF nexus and predict future research directions, this study analyzed 1313 journal articles from the Web of Science database between 2007 and 2022 using the bibliometric analysis and Citespace software. The findings in this study indicate that (1) the progress of the WEF nexus research can be classified into three stages between 2007 and 2022: the early stage (2007-2010), the fast-developing stage (2011-2015), and the steady and in-depth stage (2016-2022). The WEF nexus has become a hot zone for academic research. (2) Map of the network of countries, institutions, and author collaborations implies tight academic collaboration among countries, institutions, and writers. (3) Climate change, integrated WEF nexus, sustainable development, and security are research hotspots in this field. Meanwhile, energy security, circular economy, and resource allocation are advanced subjects in this field. These key findings can provide managers and researchers with valuable information for decision-making., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

As climate change strains the world's freshwater resources, access to safe and clean water becomes limited. The use of alternative water sources, such as rooftop-harvested rainwater, has become one mechanism to address freshwater scarcity in the American Southwest, particularly when it comes to home gardening. The University of Arizona's Project Harvest, in partnership with the Sonora Environmental Research Institute, Inc., is a multi-year, co-created citizen science project aimed at increasing current understanding of harvested rainwater quality. Citizens in four Arizona, USA, communities (Hayden/Winkelman, Globe/Miami, Dewey-Humboldt, and Tucson) submitted harvested rainwater samples over 3 years. The harvested rainwater samples were then analyzed using IDEXX Colilert® for total coliforms and E. coli and using Hach PathoScreen™ test for sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). This study design allows for the validation of a low-cost, at-home alternative methodology for testing rainwater for bacteria that may indicate fecal contamination. In total, 226 samples were tested using both methodologies, revealing a positive correlation (r=0.245; p<0.002) between total coliform MPN and SRB MPN, but no discernable correlation between E. coli MPN and SRB MPN. This work indicates a potential value of SRB testing for harvested rainwater if cost, laboratory access, and fecal contamination are of concern., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Water, energy and food are inextricably linked in agricultural system. Social and environmental issues arising from socio-economic development pose new challenges for sustainable agricultural development. Achieving sustainable agriculture from the perspective of water, energy and food resource conservation is of critical importance to the national strategy for high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin in China. In this study, the mass productivity and economic productivity of water and energy in agricultural system were considered, and an integrated assessment index system for agricultural system based on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus (WEFN) was proposed in three dimensions: reliability, coordination and resilience. Based on these indicators, the agricultural water-energy-food nexus index (AWEFNI) and integrated risk index (IRI) were performed to assess the current status of agricultural development in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. Results indicate that the AWEFNI in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River is increasing year by year, and the level of sustainable agricultural development is improving, but the overall level is lower. The AWEFNI values vary widely among provinces. The reliability of single subsystem in the study area accounts for more than 1/3 of the AWEFNI, with poor water endowment， rich food and energy resource endowments, the coordination of the AWEFN is weakening. The resilience of the third subsystem is gradually declining. The contradiction in water and energy supply and demand in Ningxia is the most prominent among the five provinces, and the level of AWEFN development is the lowest, so the regulation policies should be implemented as soon as possible to promote the synergistic development of AWEFN around the region., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In Diyar-Al-Hujjej irrigated area, the aquifer's over-exploitation, sea intrusion, and abandonment of irrigated areas and wells took place. A yield decrease for all crops was observed. Average aquifer water electrical conductivity (EC) jumps from 4 to 6.6 dS/m between 1969 and 2017. A fresh surface water transfer over more than 100 km was launched in 1998 to safeguard this irrigated area but this fresh water supply is not stable; it varies from 1 year to another (about 1,900,000 m 3 in 2015 and only 60.000 m 3 in 2018) while annual crop water requirement of the perimeter is about 2,500,000 m 3 . An adaptation by farmers to this new situation of saline and water stress was observed. The follow-up surveys of the farmer's practices showed that (i) new crops with high added value grown during the rainy season were introduced in association with dry season crops (strawberry-pepper association), (ii) rainfed crops, fallow, and water blending are common practices; and (iii) growing of rainy season crops in the aim to reduce water supply. The instability of fresh surface water volume transferred constitutes the main threat for this perimeter. The use of aquifer salt water must be stopped; it is the cause of the large quantities of salts supplied (over 13,000 kg/ha) and also of the low annual net income achieved. Net revenue was less than 2000 US $/ha under salt water and reached even 8000 US $/ha when sufficient surface water is available. An agrarian reform policy must be applied for this perimeter; only crops whose water requirements are partially met by rain should be grown. The introduction of another more sustainable water source should be initiated (as desalination) even at the private farm level., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Research on the assessment of water resources in agricultural regions is a prominent area of study. These resources are vital for many arid and agricultural areas, including those in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). This paper provides a comprehensive review of research trends, analysing scientific production and published articles on water resources in CIS countries from 2000 to 2023. We collected, reviewed, and analysed 163 publications from the Scopus database meeting our selection criteria. The bibliometric analysis revealed publications in English (149) and Russian (15), annual publication counts, document types, top papers, journals, funding sponsors, subject categories, and affiliations by country and institution. We also examined co-authors and keyword cooccurrence to identify knowledge clusters in the literature. The analysis highlighted the need for international research to enhance scientific exchange on this topic. Long-term, continuous research and sustainable development of water resource concepts are essential for future agricultural, water management integration supplemented with parts of water transport. This study may inspire new trends in agricultural development, focusing on irrigation efficiency, water distribution, and climate change within a sustainable circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying suitable zones for surface water storage and groundwater recharge is needed to enhance irrigation water availability. This study was undertaken to map rainwater harvesting (RWH) potential zones using geospatial tools and analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The suitable locations for RWH were also mapped using the Boolean logic concept. The surface runoff is a vital factor to demarcate the appropriate zones for RWH. The curve number approach was used to estimate the surface runoff potential. The runoff coefficient (RC) map was generated based on rainfall and surface runoff depth. Weights have been allocated to selected themes of RC, drainage density, and slope. The themes were integrated using geographic information system (GIS) and AHP to demarcate the suitable zones for RWH. The derived RWH potential map was categorized into zones like "very good," "good," "moderate," "poor," and "very poor" with an aerial extent of 14.3%, 24.7%, 28.3%, 20.2%, and 12.6%, respectively. The area suitable for farm ponds was found to be about 9% (408 km 2 ), 13% (329 km 2 ), and 4% (244 km 2 ) in Mirzapur, Chandauli, and Sonbhadra districts, respectively. Furthermore, 22, 15, and 21 locations were found suitable for check dams in Mirzapur, Chandauli, and Sonbhadra districts, respectively. At a large scale, effective planning of water management strategies based on multicriteria decision analysis and GIS offers increased availability of surface and groundwater resources and may help for enhancing the agricultural land use options. The higher resolution maps may be further utilized to plan RWH strategies at village level., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Despite regularly being criticized, the Impact Factor (IF) remains a widely used journal analysis metric. In the Water Resources category of the Web of Science, a thorough investigation of the reliability of this metric is lacking. This study analyzed the citation records of the top 10 journals from 2002 through 2021 for the last two decades. Important to note, there are inconsistencies in the Web of Science database. Contradictory to many fields, few papers are uncited. However, the Simpson paradox applies. More specifically, on the one hand, the correlation between citations to papers 7 years post publication and 1 or 2 years post publication (which determine the IF) has increased, which supports this metric. On the other hand, many of the most highly cited papers at the time of the IF calculation are lowly cited 5 years afterward. Additionally, most currently very highly cited papers were relatively uncited when they were used in the IF calculation. This raises doubt about the usefulness of this metric. For a limited number of journals, papers from individual nations strongly influence the IF. Also, for a few journals, the IFs are strongly influenced by review papers, but leaving these out of the IF does change the top 3 and 10 of the rankings. The general conclusion is that IFs do contain some valuable information about the journals' citation impact, but that using them to rank journals is questionable practice. Plain Language Summary: Impact Factors (IFs) continue to be very frequently used to evaluate researchers' publication records. They are calculated in a very simplistic manner, and are essentially an attempt to summarize a very complicated issue (publication quality) into one single metric. This paper shows that care must be taken when applying this practice. Not only does the data set contain errors, there are a number of other reasons why these IFs are not reliable indicators of a journal's quality. Key Points: In many cases the calculation of the Impact Factor (IF) by the Web of Science is contradictory with their own dataAnother number of issues have been identified which raise doubt on the IF as a measure of journal qualityA number of recommendations for a better use of the literature databases have been made [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The document discusses the importance of groundwater in the world's water supply and the challenges in evaluating subsurface water through traditional methods. It highlights the integration of geophysical methods to characterize and monitor hydrogeological parameters in aquifers. The document presents case studies from different countries using various geophysical techniques to improve understanding of hydrogeological processes and manage groundwater resources effectively. The future prospects include further research on geophysical techniques for groundwater studies to enhance modeling, reduce uncertainty, and integrate data with environmental monitoring. [Extracted from the article]

Evaluation of river water quality is one of the most important aspects of water resource assessment. River Umtrew (Digaru), which originated in Meghalaya and runs down to Assam plains before merging with the mighty Brahmaputra, is one of the main drainage systems of this region. Using some physical, chemical and biological indicators of river water, the current study attempted to assesses its environmental integrity. The current study provides a clear image of the health of the river, as well as differences in the river's pollution levels at various locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microcystins are produced by multifaceted organisms called cyanobacteria, which are integral to Africa's freshwater environments. The excessive proliferation of cyanobacteria caused by rising temperature and eutrophication leads to the production and release of copious amounts of microcystins, requiring critical management and control approaches to prevent the adverse environmental and public health problems associated with these bioactive metabolites. Despite hypotheses reported to explain the phylogeography and mechanisms responsible for cyanobacterial blooms in aquatic water bodies, many aspects are scarcely understood in Africa due to the paucity of investigations and lack of uniformity of experimental methods. Due to a lack of information and large-scale studies, cyanobacteria occurrence and genetic diversity are seldom reported in African aquatic ecosystems. This review covers the diversity and geographical distribution of potential microcystin-producing and non-microcystin-producing cyanobacterial taxa in Africa. Molecular analyses using housekeeping genes (e.g., 16S rRNA, ITS, rpoC1, etc.) revealed significant sequence divergence across several cyanobacterial strains from East, North, West, and South Africa, but the lack of uniformity in molecular markers employed made continent-wise phylogenetic comparisons impossible. Planktothrix agardhii, Microcystis aeruginosa, and Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (presently known as Raphidiopsis raciborskii) were the most commonly reported genera. Potential microcystin (MCs)-producing cyanobacteria were detected using mcy genes, and several microcystin congeners were recorded. Studying cyanobacteria species from the African continent is urgent to effectively safeguard public and environmental health because more than 80% of the continent has no data on these important microorganisms and their bioactive secondary metabolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study offers an updated mean annual water discharge of 10 large and 11 coastal basins of the Indian Peninsula and looks into environmental parameters influencing the water flux and discharge trends. The mean annual discharge of large and coastal rivers is estimated to be 221 and 294 km 3 . Thus, despite draining 25% of the Indian Peninsula, coastal rivers deliver more than half of the annual flux, and west-flowing coastal rivers contribute 85% of it. This study demonstrates temporal changes in the water discharge of various river basins. The presence of dams regulates discharge regimes of large rivers. The construction of large dams resulted in a significant decline in the water discharge of the Krishna, Cauvery, and Narmada. Through this study, we demonstrate the role of rainfall, catchment size, water loss through evapotranspiration and infiltration, and societal use of water in determining the runoff of each basin. We recommend tapping the water resources of the west-flowing rivers for proper planning, development, and management to reduce the water stress in the peninsular region and promoting sustainable management., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Translational research (TR) represents a promising systematic process for going from scientific discoveries to practical applications. Through conversations with academics, practitioners, decision‐makers and users, there has emerged a broad level of water science community support for including TR in Water Resources Research (WRR) publications. Based on this, we now open a continuing special collection of TR papers in WRR. The aim is to facilitate a community within hydrology and water science that seeks to provide actionable knowledge for societal benefit across disciplines, scales and contexts, with a focus on water as a key societal resource or a risk (e.g., of floods, droughts, or as pollutant carrier). This Editorial discusses what the multi‐faceted nature of TR may include in the context of WRR, why it is important to encourage TR papers in WRR, and how the opening of a continuing special collection of translational water research papers initiates a process to include such articles in the journal. Key Points: Opening a continuing special collection for translational research (TR) papers in the context of Water Resources Research (WRR)Explaining the multi‐faceted nature of TR and Initiating a process to encourage and include such papers in WRRAiming to facilitate a community within hydrology and water science that seeks to provide actionable knowledge for societal benefit [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to compare the most important physico-chemical parameters of the drinking water supplied by the company ECOAQUA S.A. in Călăraşi municipality, taken from monthly average analysis bulletins carried out within the company in 2023, both at the entrance to the treatment plant and at the exit - to be able to evaluate the degree of water treatment and the quality of drinking water supplied to consumers. The parameters analyzed in the paper are: pH, turbidity, residual free chlorine (only analyzed for drinking water), nitrates, total hardness and aluminum. They were represented graphically, and the values of the parameters at the exit from the station were compared with the maximum limit provided in the Government Ordinance 7/2023 and Government Decision 971/2023, in order to be able to estimate the qualitative level of drinking water. We found exceedances of a maximum of 22% only in the case of free residual chlorine in November 2023, due to the water disinfection process. The other physico-chemical parameters did not exceed the legal limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity associated with glacier retreat in mountainous regions is of growing concern worldwide, especially in arid regions, where precipitation is scarce or seasonal. Scientists and decision makers aim to respond to glacier driven water scarcity by improving glacier protection and developing water resource management strategies. Despite the increasingly prominent 'water resource' lens for understanding the changing mountain cryosphere, little research has investigated what this framing means for how different actors value, study, manage, and protect cryospheric water stores. This paper therefore presents a critical analysis of how we conceptualise the importance of glaciers. Specifically, this paper examines how environmental campaigns, scientific research, and policy interact to make glaciers into a water resource, and how this impacts glacier protection. Focusing on a case study of glacier management and protection in the Chilean Andes, the motivations and processes that made glaciers into a water resource in Chile are examined, and the impacts of this for glacier protection in a country where glaciers are exposed to threats from climate change and the mining industry are explored. This paper presents qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with experts in glacier science, policy, and environmental campaigning, and documents associated with managing glaciers as a water resource in Chile. The research shows how, in response to mining threats, glaciers were strategically framed as water resources by environmental campaigners to improve Chilean state protection. This framing was institutionalised within Chile's water resource management system through science and policy, resulting in some successful protection legislation. However, this resource framing has also integrated glaciers into a system which inherently limits their protection, because their protection is conditional on the shifting ways glaciers are valued for storing and releasing water to downstream communities and ecosystems. Here, we highlight processes that make glaciers into a resource, demonstrate that glaciological knowledge is not directly translated into policy, and importantly, show how managing glaciers as a resource may limit, or even undermine glacier protection efforts. As concern globally grows about water scarcity driven by glacial retreat, these findings are vital for the development of glacier protections and effective management of glacial water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in enhancing urban water infrastructure in three municipalities: Maanshan City in China, Cairo in Egypt, and Tshwane in South Africa. The paper highlights each municipality's specific challenges through case studies, such as inadequate water supply, infrastructure decay, and financial constraints. It examines the successful PPPmodels implemented in Maanshan and Cairo, emphasising the importance of private sector involvement in financing and technology transfer. In contrast, the analysis of Tshwane reveals the need for structured planning and management to achieve effective partnerships. The findings suggest that South African municipalities can learn valuable lessons from these case studies, particularly regarding the necessity of strong governance frameworks, stakeholder engagement, and the alignment of water tariffs with investor interests. Overall, the paper underscores the potential of PPPs to improve urban water services and provides actionable recommendations for enhancing water infrastructure management in similar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Droughts, characterized by prolonged periods of below-average precipitation, pose a significant threat to environmental stability, human well-being, and economic prosperity. This review paper delves into the complexities of droughts, exploring their multifaceted nature, classification schemes, and methods of assessment. We analyze the cascading effects of droughts on various sectors, including agriculture, water resources, ecosystems, and human populations. The paper then presents existing mitigation and adaptation strategies employed to combat droughts and their adverse effects. Finally, we discuss the potential influence of climate change on future drought patterns and explore promising research directions for improved drought prediction, preparedness, and response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a novel control algorithm for a standalone Photovoltaic Reverse-Osmosis (PV-RO) system without a battery. It highlights the importance of tracking the maximum power tracking points in the photovoltaic panels. The development of new methods has become more urgent than before. The PV-RO system combines solar energy and reverse osmosis technology to provide reliable and sustainable access to clean drinking water in remote areas. Traditional PV-RO systems often require energy storage solutions such as batteries to maintain a constant water supply during periods of low solar irradiation. However, the integration of batteries adds complexity, cost, and environmental impact to the system. The paper presents the development of different MPPT techniques, which are better than traditional techniques (more accurate and faster). The paper also provides a comparison with the studied methods (P&O and Incremental Conductance) and the proposed one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper of [6], maps of suitability predictions for a handful relevant tree species in 30 × 30 m resolution are presented based on ecograms that are linked with interpolated, modeled soil data (subsoil pH, subsoil texture and derived plant available water to 160 cm). We ignore statistical principles if we accept interpolated tree species suitability predictions based on limited sets of soil properties without verifying them with observed, local site and soil data. Commentary to the paper by Roell, Nord-Larsen et al. 'Mapping tree species ecograms based on soil pH and soil water availability across Denmark'. [Extracted from the article]

Since the 21st century, overseas farmland investment has gradually become the focus of research in the field of transnational agricultural investment. Under the background of China's "going out" strategy, exploring the spatial distribution pattern and influencing factors of China's overseas farmland investment activities in different regions of the world and reducing domestic food supply pressure through effective use of overseas farmland resources has become an important path for China to ensure food security. Based on the case data of China's overseas cultivated Land investment in the Land Matrix database, this paper sorted out the utilization status of China's global cultivated land resources, and analyzed the spatial distribution and influencing factors by using spatial analysis method and grey correlation analysis method. The results show that: (1) At present, the host countries of China's overseas cultivated land investment have obvious spatial aggregation, showing the spatial characteristics of "small agglomeration and large dispersion," and have the characteristics of distribution along the border and river; (2) China's overseas farmland investment is affected by geo-economy, resource base, geo-culture and geopolitics, and the degree of impact is weakened in turn. Among them, the average annual import and export value, total water resources and other indicators have a significant impact on the investment choice of Chinese enterprises. Based on this, on the basis of identifying the spatial distribution pattern of China's global overseas farmland investment and development and analyzing its key driving factors, this study proposed the path that overseas farmland investment and development can help improve the resilience of food system with the goal of ensuring the food security of sustainable agricultural system. It provides a theoretical basis for the country to formulate food security strategy based on overseas farmland investment and guide enterprises to invest overseas farmland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an examination of drought management strategies in three countries: the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (USA). Additionally, it includes an evaluation of Türkiye's approaches to water management and drought mitigation. Despite differing geographic, economic, and political conditions, these countries face similar challenges in drought management. Their approaches to dealing with drought have been examined from various perspectives, including institutional structures, legal frameworks, and operational strategies, with a focus on water allocation priorities, stakeholder collaboration, and the utilization of monitoring tools and data. The case studies revealed insights and experiences that can be used to evaluate and improve Türkiye's existing water management and drought mitigation strategies. By drawing on the experiences of top-performing nations in drought management, this paper provides insights for creating a strong and sustainable water management for Türkiye, effectively tackling the challenges posed by climate change and ensuring the long-term security of water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indonesia is one of the countries committed to realising Sustainable Development Goals, but at the implementation level, Indonesia faces challenges in the form of unclear groundwater management regulations. This paper aims to examine the ambiguity of groundwater management from the aspects of regulation and impact on the environment to the formulation of strategic solutions. Through the analysis of various data sources, this paper succeeds in revealing three facts. Firstly, Indonesia still needs to have a special regulation on groundwater management. The current regulation still focuses on the approval of groundwater use. Still, it needs to regulate in detail the mechanisms of planning, implementation, monitoring, conservation, utilisation (except licensing), and control of groundwater damage. Secondly, the high percentage of groundwater use in Indonesia is evidence of the government's inability to fulfil the mandate of Law No.17 of 2019 Jo. Law No. 6 of 2023 recommends prioritising the utilisation of surface water over groundwater. Consequently, excessive use of groundwater has a negative impact on the environment, namely the emergence of a water crisis accompanied by a decrease in groundwater levels and a decrease in groundwater quality. Based on the lessons learnt on participatory groundwater management from Australia, this paper offers a strategic solution: the government needs to reconstruct the specific regulation of groundwater management in Indonesia to guarantee aspects of legal certainty. The reconstruction needs to be followed by ensuring public access to information, public participation in decision-making and public access to justice. These three elements are prerequisites for resolving groundwater governance issues in Indonesia to achieve water security and Sustainable Development Goals. To overcome the fragmentation of groundwater management, a national water information system in the form of a 'One Data Policy' is needed to provide real-time information on the quality and quantity of surface water and groundwater. The government must involve the community in national groundwater management planning to ensure public participation and community access to justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing urbanization, greywater, generated from domestic activities like bathing and washing, is a marginal water resource that can be valorized to meet irrigation demands and overcome water scarcity. This review paper delves into the characteristics and variability in greywater quality, highlighting the benefits of greywater reuse, such as water conservation, nutrient supply, and potential cost savings, as well as challenges like pathogen contamination and salinity buildup. Various treatment methods, including physical, chemical, and biological processes, are discussed concerning their effective use for irrigation. This paper explores the integration of greywater irrigation with vegetated walls, an innovative urban greening solution that offers numerous environmental and social benefits. The types of vegetated walls, their irrigation requirements, and studies involving greywater application in these systems are discussed. By synthesizing the current knowledge, this review article provides a comprehensive understanding of enhancing urban sustainability through the valorization of an otherwise wasted resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Microorganisms in dental unit water (DUW) play a significant role in dental bioaerosols. If the methods used to decontaminate DUW also help improve air quality in dental clinics is worth exploring. In this study, we aim to identify the source of bacteria in dental bioaerosols and investigate the impact of waterline disinfectants on the quantity and composition of bacteria in DUW and bioaerosols. Methods: Two dental chair units in a separate treatment room are installed with two different waterline decontamination systems, a plasma or iodine cartridge. The experiment was performed in two phases, before and after installing the decontamination systems. Aerosol is generated via running airotor in the subject's mouth. Before and after the procedure, the air samples were collected with an active air sampling machine onto agar plate and filter paper for genomic DNA extraction. The subject's saliva and DUW samples were also collected. The samples were analyzed further with bacterial counting and metataxonomics analysis. Results: The bacteria present in the air sample after the aerosol-generating procedure were confirmed to be derived from the air-before, saliva, and DUW in 51.43%, 6.38%, and 18.60%, respectively. The saliva samples demonstrated the highest alpha diversity (within the sample), whereas the air samples had the least. Both waterline disinfectants effectively controlled bacteria in DUW but did not affect the bacterial number and composition in the air. Conclusions: Dental bioaerosols are composed of bacteria from saliva and DUW. Plasma and iodine showed a trend in controlling bacterial contamination in DUW but did not alter the bacterial count and composition in dental bioaerosols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In water-scarce areas, there is a complex interrelationship between water resources and economic development. This paper studies the relationship between water resources and economic development from an ecosystem services perspective. This paper selected the value of river ecosystem service functions and the comprehensive index of economic development in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) from 2007 to 2018 as the research object, tested the synergy of ecosystem service functions in the basin, and introduced a coupling coordination model to evaluate the synergy of developmental factors. The research results showed that (1) the overall river ecosystem service value in YRB was on the rise, and its distribution was characterized by a high value in the lower reaches and a gradual decrease from the middle reaches to the upper reaches; (2) the synergy of river ecosystem service functions in YRB was mainly reflected in the supply and regulation functions, and the synergy of cultural functions should be improved; (3) the overall coupling and coordination degree showed an upward trend. However, judging from the characteristics of coupled and coordinated degrees, backward ecological development is a long-term problem. This article will help to put forward countermeasures and suggestions for the coordinated development of the river ecosystem service value and regional economy in YRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]