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The Upper Indus Basin's (UIB) unique geographical positioning and its ecosystem contributions to the downstream basin in the form of water and energy are of critical importance. UIB is also among the most vulnerable water towers in the world vis-a-vis climate as well as a host of environmental and socio-economic changes. The paucity of ground observations and their associated unknowns make it imperative to study and highlight the grey areas for attention and action by policy planners and basin government and management at different levels in order to improve the management and the governance structures for better water resource management. As this river basin is shared between countries, enhanced co-creation of knowledge can provide greater understanding of the challenges to stakeholders so that they can make better decisions regarding the development of the region. With this in view, the UIB network, comprising four national chapters (Afghanistan, China, India and Pakistan) linked strategically at regional level, was conceived to provide better understanding of the critical issues associated with the UIB. The network strives for a resilient and empowered UIB region through science-based regional cooperation, which promotes coordination and collaboration among organizations working in the UIB to ensure improved understanding of present and future water availability, demand and hazards and to develop gender sensitive solutions for all stakeholders. The special issue is one of such efforts from the network in knowledge generation, exchange, and dissemination to contribute towards an enhanced understanding of climate change impacts in the Indus. The paper presents a time-wise evolution of the network to highlight the importance of cross boundary knowledge and the relevance of such networks. Such a science-based network can provide important information for science-backed policies for the basin countries. It also details the achievements of the network, lessons learnt from such knowledge networks, and the potential for future contributions to basin countries taking into consideration the transboundary nature of the UIB.

The relationship between the variations of the Nujiang River transboundary flow and the summer monsoon activity under the topographical effect of the Longitudinal Range-Gorge (LRG) is examined. The study is based on statistical analysis of the observed river flow data, and their correlation with the reanalyzed U/V wind fields of the National Centers for Environment Prediction (NCEP) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and the data of the Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is concluded that the transboundary river flow is predominantly concentrated in the wet or rainy season (from May to October), particularly in the summer or flood season (from June to August). There is a clear tendency for the transboundary river flow to increase with time since 1970s, particularly apparent since 1980s. Due to the topographical “east-west barrier and north-south corridor” effects of the LRG, the summer river flow variations are largely correlated with winds of the southerly and northerly at both high and low altitudes. In contrast, the river flow variations are apparently correlated with winds of the easterly and westerly only at the high altitudes, not at the low altitudes. Negative correlation between the OLR and the river flow variations is also apparent. These relationships are quantitatively described using two summer monsoon indices proposed in this paper. The index MI2 includes both dynamical and thermodynamical effects and gives a generally good representation of the transboundary river flow variations in the LRG region of the Nujiang River basin. Larger MI2 represents stronger summer monsoon activity and higher transboundary river flow, while smaller MI2 suggests weaker monsoon circulation and lower water flow.

This paper discussed the transboundary eco-security issues, their distribution patterns, characteristics and driving forces, and regulation system in the Longitudinal Range-Gorge Region (LRGR). Major transboundary eco-security issues, except for sand-dust storm, can be found along the terrestrial border regions of China in the LRGR. The direct driving forces included constructions of cascade hydropower dams, highways and international navigation development, slope land cultivation and mineral exploration. Transboundary eco-security issues affect the neighboring areas in the terrestrial region, and the downstream countries along the international watercourses. The ecological changes in the neighboring countries had effects on the domestic side in the LRGR, such as species invasion. The integrated measures should be taken into consideration, including the construction of border eco-protection projects and transboundary nature reserves, ecological threshold set-up, species invasion control, the establishment of eco-security monitoring platform, the constituting of ecological compensation mechanism and laws (rules) and institutions, and capacity building. The most important tasks to deal with the transboundary issues in the LRGR are to form internationally participative cooperation mechanism, establish fund for transboundary eco-security, implement ecological compensation strategy, and develop information exchange platform and warning system.

Water temperature (WT) is one of the important indicators of water body physical properties. Understanding the characteristics of spatial-temporal variation on WT in the river continuum will help to develop the rational river-water-resource utilization plan, to avoid the possible ecology crisis, and to take full advantages of the natural resources in the involved region. As the biggest international river continuum in Asia, the Lancang-Mekong river subregion (known as Greater Mekong Subregion, GMS) has become a famous economic, political, and ecological natural territory. This study examined the spatial-temporal distribution characteristics of the Lancang River water temperature, using the observational data of WT values from 11 hydrological stations in 1960s. Furthermore, the WT differences between Yunjinghong hydrological station (one representative station in China) and Chiang Saen hydrological station (one representative station in Thailand) were analyzed. Results indicated that: 1) Water temperature was higher in the lower part of the river continuum than the upper part. Latitude variation is the main influencing factor. This effect is more obvious in dry season than in rainy season, more obvious in winter than in summer, and more obvious of the average minimum WT than the average maximum WT; 2) WT difference between the upper and the lower parts of the river continuum was decreasing due to little increase of WT in the upper part (Yunjinghong hydrological station) and obvious decrease of the WT in the lower part (Chiang Saen hydrological station) during the research period. Therefore, the parameters of WT are affected by the latitude, and the Lancang-Mekong river continuum lies in the north-south direction, so the tropical aquatic creatures, such as the tropical aquatic fishes, cannot survive in the upper part of this river continuum in winter season, while in summer season, the tropical aquatic creatures properly swim to the upper stream. The water temperature in the lower Mekong River is mainly influenced by the regional water temperature and regional climate change.

The water stored and sediment trapped by the reservoirs result in physical, chemical and ecological effects on downstream watercourse environment. Quantitative research on the reservoir sedimentation is the key to assess its environment impacts. The sediment load data obtained over 39 years at the gauging stations located in the upstream and downstream of the Manwan Reservoir were used to estimate the trapping efficiency (TE) of the Manwan Dam. The TE value was then compared with the estimates using the modified Brune and Siyam models. The results indicate that: (1) The TE of the Manwan Dam estimated by the gauging data was 60.48%, and both the TE values calculated by the modified Brune and Siyam models were 60.03%. The approximate TE values indicated that the modified Brune and Siyam models could be used to forecast the TEs of other reservoirs with similar storage capacities as the Manwan Reservoir in the mainstream of the Lancang River; (2) The TE values of Gongguoqiao, Dachaoshan and Jinghong Dams were about 30.23%, 66.05% and 63.50% estimated by the modified Brune model, and 38.81%, 63.97% and 62.30% by the modified Siyam model. The results and the methodologies adopted in the paper could also be used to estimate the TE in other river basins in southwestern China.

Water is one of the basic natural resources and a strategic economic one. According to Chinese law (The Constitution and The 2002 Water Law), water resources are national properties and the state government has the responsibility to administer and protect them. At present, water administration is shared by several ministries of the State Council and called “nine dragons administer water”. This paper illustrates the overall water administration scheme. It focuses on the overlapping mandates and interactions between various ministries, particularly those between the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) and the State Environment Protection Administration (SEPA). The paper then analyzes the reasons why conflicts and disputes over ministry policies and strategies occur and the resultant lowering of administration efficiency and degradation of the water environment. Considering the complexity of water administration and the multiple demands on and limited water resources, some trends must be developed in water administration institutions to improve the efficiency of water administration. In particular, water administration must be strengthened and unified; administrative power must be separated from supervisory power; watershed management and planning must be strengthened; and cooperation among the related water departments must be increased.

China possesses over 110 international rivers and lakes, among which 41 are major ones and 15 are of great importance. With the highest concentration of international rivers, the northeast, northwest and southwest regions of China enjoy abundant transboundary resources and pose complicated ecological security issues. Following the 1950s, relevant studies on international rivers fall into three periods: 1) the planned economy period of the 1950s–1980s when border development and basic research were scant; 2) the reform and opening-up period from 1980 to the end of 20th century. Along with the drive of economic globalization and regional cooperation, development of international rivers was thriving, which filled blanks in the research and narrowed gaps with international standards. Relevant studies also provided national and local governments with important scientific grounds for making decisions; 3) since the start of the 21st century, China has integrated its international river studies across sectors and across international borders. Now both government and scientific institutions pay great attention to transboundary environmental issues.

In this paper, according to the basic rule of the equitable and reasonable utilization of water resources in international rivers, the normal approaches of resolving the conflicts over water and the basic models of water allocation are introduced. The tendency and the problems of water utilization among the riparian states in Lancang-Mekong River are discussed. The extent of cooperation and the conditions of the management institution of the river basin are analyzed. In the present situation, it is considered that the basin-wide allocation model of water resources is the best one in Lancang-Mekong River.

Western China includes 12 provincial divisions (the 7 provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai and; 5 autonomous regions of Tibet, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Guangxi; and one city of Chongqing), which comprise 71.4% of the national land area, 28.5% of the national population and produce 17.5% of the national GDP in China. There are 17 countries that have riparian relationships with western China, most of which are water-short countries. All are listed by UN ESCAP as countries with potential water crisis. The co-operative development and coordinated management of international rivers in western China is an important step toward the implementation of the national Great Western Development program. Taking into account of the national strategy and object hierarchy, as well as the development demand of the western region, it is necessary to pursue the multi-disciplinary study of the equitable allocation, utilisation, and eco-environment protection of transboundary water resources in the region. Such efforts will undoubtedly provide scientific evidence and support for the decision-making of the environmental protection and ecological construction and management in the western regions, the enforcement of the sub-regional economic co-operation, mitigation of trans-boundary conflicts, and enhancing bio-diversity conservation.

While some argue that trade liberalization has raised incomes and led to environmental protection in developing countries, others claim that it generates neither poverty reduction nor sustainability. The detailed case studies in this book demonstrate that neither interpretation is universally correct, given how much depends on specific policies and institutions that determine ‘on-the-ground’ outcomes. Drawing on research from six countries around the developing world, the book also presents the unique perspectives of researchers at both the world’s largest development organization (The World Bank) and the world’s largest conservation organization (World Wildlife Fund) on the debate over trade liberalization and its effects on poverty and the environment.