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Copyright of Biological Invasions is the property of Springer Nature 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.)

This article argues that there is a large gap between the aspirations of international water law and the management of transboundary rivers and lakes necessary to address the existential challenges that have arisen in the twenty-first century. In addition to this gap in practice, these include climate destruction, the holistic view of river basins which includes environmental values and social justice, a more sceptical view of large dams and diversions, and the collapse of the post-World War II idea of a global community of shared values. Thus, international water law requires a transformative change to meet these challenges. New treaties and conventions are not needed. Instead, we need to move beyond traditional international water law. We call for innovation in three main areas: (1) the prevailing approach to this area of international law should be reconceptualised to more fully embrace global issues in ways that enhance community-building approach broadly anchored in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); (2) the normative legal framework, especially procedural obligations, needs to be enhanced, in part through a more invigorated rule of due diligence; and (3) the current regulatory silos that apply to water law need to be better integrated across the layers of international/national law to better represent and to protect the communities of the watershed across the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indus River Basin (IRB), one of the major river basins in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, is primarily sustained by meltwater from the cryosphere. It caters to diverse sectors, including intense irrigation-supported agriculture, energy production, tourism and biodiversity. The cryosphere of the Upper Indus Basin (UIB) is mainly influenced by the western disturbances with subordinate contribution from the Indian Summer Monsoon. Increase in ambient temperature, shrinking cryospheric reserves, fluctuating surface run-off and enhanced frequency of extreme weather events are some of the noticeable indicators of climate change in the UIB. These changes will most likely adversely affect the water-dependent sectors in the upstream and downstream of IRB, posing serious threat to food security and livelihoods. Although the region has gained significant attention in recent years, there remains a noticeable knowledge gap pertaining to certain key issues with serious implications for the natural environment and the people. A national workshop was organized for stimulated deliberations to identify the major knowledge gaps and suggest a policy framework for climate change mitigation in the UIB. The workshop underscores the urgent need of multi-institutional, multidisciplinary, comprehensive, coordinated and time-bound collaboration to study the interplay of complex drivers on water resources of the UIB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of background indicators for monitoring the content of nutrients in surface and groundwater in the steppe and forest–steppe zones of the Russian Plain is substantiated. Approaches to determining the background content of nutrients are proposed. The peculiarities of the formation of the runoff of nutrients during the flood period and summer–autumn and autumn–winter periods are revealed. It is advisable to use the results obtained to assess anthropogenic changes in the content of ammonium nitrogen, nitrate and nitrite nitrogen, and mineral phosphorus in the surface water and groundwater, as well as in wastewater. It is shown that it is advisable to adjust the standards for the content of nitrates and ammonium nitrogen in river and waste waters taking into account the level of the regional natural and anthropogenic background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increasing impacts of climate change on flood management, it is vital to implement effective flood mitigation measures. Economic factors significantly influence the feasibility and speed of these implementations. Evaluations must go beyond just the implementation costs. This paper introduces tools and methods for incorporating environmental economics into flood risk management at various scales, from urban areas to entire river basins. Comprehensive analysis should include social, environmental, direct, and indirect factors. Despite the variability in flood mitigation costs across different economies, the methods discussed are highly adaptable. Data limitations for appraisal tools like Multicriteria Analysis (MCA) and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) can be addressed through expert judgment, qualitative assessment, or using GDP-proportional data for cost estimation. This approach utilizes databases from experienced countries, making the methods adaptable to different contexts.

The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is a large semi-aquatic rodent with a broad distribution across South America. Although it is a relatively common and well-known species, there are few studies on its evolutionary history. Consequently, we decided to investigate the genetic diversity, population structure, and demographic history of capybaras, including new populations from its southern distribution range, by using a 226 bp fragment of the mitochondrial D-loop region. We found 16 haplotypes and populations, with moderate levels of haplotype and nucleotide diversity. In addition, the genetic structure analyses suggested high genetic divergence among populations, mainly among Pampean and Chacoan populations. We also found a consistent phylogeographical pattern with the distribution of main rivers. In agreement with palaeontological data, we propose two colonization pathways towards the south driven by main basins: Paraná–Paraguay and Uruguay–Atlantic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's current water pollution intensive industries are showing a trend of upstream. If their pollutants flow downstream, which will increase the environmental risks of downstream areas. Based on the county data of the seven major river basins in China from 2004 to 2013, this paper uses 2SLS (two-stage least squares) method empirically verifies the existence of the backflow effect of pollutants. The results show that the backflow effect of pollutants is mainly caused by the competition between the upstream and downstream local governments, and the central government's environmental monitoring system for key polluting enterprises can restrain the phenomenon to a certain extent. The backflow effect of pollutants mainly occurs in domestic enterprises rather than foreign-invested ones. To control river basin pollution, the central government should carry out top-level design on the tax, financial and environmental policies of the river basin economic belt, and strictly control the environmental pollution caused by competition among local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibiotics have been recognized as emerging pollutants due to their ecological and human health risks. This paper aims to enhance the ecological risk assessment (ERA) framework for antibiotics, to illustrate the distribution of these risks across different locations and seasons, and to identify the antibiotics that pose high ecological risk. This paper focuses on 52 antibiotics in seven major basins of China. Relying on the optimized approach of ERA and antibiotic monitoring data published from 2017 to 2021, the results of ERA are presented in multilevel. Across the study area, there are marked variations in the spatial distribution of antibiotics' ecological risks. The Huaihe River Basin, the Haihe River Basin, and the Liaohe River Basin are the top three in the ranking of present ecological risks. The research results also reveal significant differences in temporal variation, underscoring the need for increased attention during certain seasons. Ten antibiotics with high contribution rates to ecological risk are identified, which is an important reference to formulate an antibiotic control list. The multilevel results provided both risk values and their ubiquities across a broad study region, which is a powerful support for developing ecological risk management of antibiotics. HIGHLIGHTS Optimized the calculation method of multilevel ecological risks.; Provided ecological risk spatiotemporal distribution of antibiotics for the seven major river basins of China (2017–2021).; Provided the control priority for the seven major river basins.; Provided the top concerned antibiotics with high contribution to ecological risks of the seven major river basins.;

How water governance mechanisms differ is evident in three diverse basins in the United States: the Colorado River, the Missouri River, and the linked Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint and Alabama–Coosa–Tallapoosa basins. Climate change is a major stressor in all three and requires flexibility to adapt. The roles of compacts, coordination mechanisms, allocation formulas, courts, and intergovernmental relationships are different, except the federal government's operation of large reservoirs. Ambiguities in relative powers of the federal and state governments inhibit coordination and negotiation. A major feature of the federal system is importance of legal mechanisms for dispute resolution to supplement collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increases in evaporation driven by global warming change the hydrological cycle by fueling extreme precipitation and exacerbating the frequency and intensity of extreme floods. Combined with the increase in terrestrial waste and pollutants, the changing climate exposes coastal zones to natural hazards. The Sea of Marmara, as an inland sea with a dense coastal population, is more vulnerable to such changes and subject to eutrophication and extreme environmental events (e.g., mucilage). Therefore, quantification of daily and along-coast variation of river discharge and evaluation of its annual trend of extremes are crucial. The daily discharges from the coastal watersheds Biga, Gönen, Susurluk, İznik-Gölayağı, and İzmit-Kiraz during the period 2010-2020 were evaluated using the observed stream flows at the gages near the coast. The extreme daily discharges observed in each watershed are 350, 250, 600, 18, and 45 m3 s-1, respectively. The upper limits for coastal discharges during flood events were estimated as 175, 100, and 300 m3 s-1 for the first three watersheds. Daily discharge extremes exhibit seasonal and spatial variations along the coastline, with higher flow rates predominantly occurring in the winter and early spring. The onsets of these variations differ, particularly among the southern rivers, and this spatialtemporal change is examined in relation to net precipitation rates and geomorphological characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many studies have compared global precipitation datasets at national, continental, and global scales, few have evaluated these data at river basin scales. This study explored differences in precipitation estimates and trends of 12 widely applied precipitation datasets, including gauge-, satellite-, and reanalysis-based products, for the world's 6,292 river basins. Results showed that disparities between 12 precipitation datasets were considerable. A total of 3,125 river basins, with a land area of 5,989.1×104 km2, had differences in estimated annual average precipitation exceeding 500 mm yr−1, and these basins were mainly distributed in Greenland, Africa, Oceania, and West Asia. Disparities between the precipitation datasets were particularly large during the dry season when the percentage difference between the highest and lowest precipitation estimates exceeded 500% in 1,390 river basins (4,839.7×104 km2) expected due to numerical reasons. Differences in rainfall trends also varied markedly between data sources. The data products do not agree on precipitation trends for all river basins. These findings illustrate the importance of accurate precipitation data to ensure effective policy and planning in term of hydropower generation, domestic water supply, flood protection, and drought relief at river basin scales and highlight the uncertainty that exists in current global precipitation data. HIGHLIGHTS A comprehensive evaluation of global precipitation datasets was compared at the river basin scale.; Seasonal and annual differences in these precipitation datasets were compared.; Gives a sufficient explanation of which product is suitable for which river basin.;

Forest remnants are hotspots of biodiversity and play an important role in providing services such as regulating the climate, reducing surface runoff, helping erosion control, protecting and contributing to the balance of ecosystems, and other functions. Despite this, natural vegetation is fragmented and limited to a few remnants, which are gradually suffering from anthropogenic pressures. Assessing the environmental quality of these remnants is therefore vital to understanding their current condition and to provide support for their conservation. This study aims to assess the environmental quality of forest remnants in six water basins in the municipality of Campinas/SP, Brazil. Forest remnants were mapped, and their environmental quality was assessed by applying an analytic hierarchy process (AHP), considering a set of structural landscape metrics previously selected from the literature. Of the 2319 forest remnants evaluated, 4.5% and 30%, respectively, registered high and low environmental quality. The Atibaia and Jaguari basins recorded the highest number of environmentally fragile remnants due to their small size and being predominantly elongated, and to the high erodibility of the soil. In the Anhumas, Capivari, Capivari-Mirim, and Quilombo basins, medium-sized forest remnants predominate. There is a greater distance between them, with a high intensity of land use/land cover in their surroundings, related to the prevalence of urbanized areas. Specific management actions should be taken in each of these basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientifically measuring the level of environmental governance (EGL) and understanding its spatial convergence has important reference value for ecological governance. In this paper, the global entropy method is applied to measure the EGL of 284 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2019, which are divided into three major river basins, including the Yellow River, Yangtze River, and Pearl River, to observe the spatial–temporal evolutionary characterization through a standard deviation ellipse model. The coefficient of variation and the spatial econometric model are the tools used to conduct the spatial convergence test. The results are as follows: (1) China's EGL is low overall, though it is fluctuating upward at low magnitude, and the three major river basins follow the ranking: The Pearl River Basin > The Yangtze River Basin > The Yellow River Basin. (2) Spatially, the distribution pattern of China's EGL changes from "scattered and sporadic" to "multipolar core". (3) The center of China's environmental governance was concentrated in the east from 2007 to 2019, and the EGL in the midstream and downstream regions of the three major river basins increased rapidly. (4) Environmental governance in China has significant absolute and conditional β-convergence characteristics, as do the three major basins, while the ranking of convergence speed remains "Yangtze River Basin > Yellow River Basin > Pearl River Basin". Of these, economic development accelerated the convergence rate of environmental governance in China and its three major river basins; financial pressure significantly inhibited the convergence of the EGL of the Yellow River Basin. The improvement of the EGL in the Pearl River Basin was also negatively influenced by the industrial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the historical geography of nuclear energy through the spatial lens of river basins. Approximately half of the world's nuclear power plants were built along one or the other river. There, they gave rise to both conflict and cooperation. Drawing on the theoretical notion of water interaction, which takes into account relations of both conflictual and cooperative nature, we distinguish between such relations in three dimensions: space, environment, and infrastructure. The spatial dimension gravitates around social and political processes where proximity and distance are at the heart, often linked to the search for suitable sites for nuclear construction. The environmental dimension refers to conflict and cooperation around the radioactive and thermal pollution of waterways. The infrastructural dimension, finally, highlights how nuclear power plant builders, when they arrived from the 1950s onwards, had to relate to pre-existing infrastructural features of the rivers, which sometimes led to clashes with other actors and sometimes to more cooperative forms of interaction. In empirical terms, we focus on three European river basins that came to play particularly important roles in European nuclear history: those of the Rhine, Danube, and Elbe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal 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.)

Due to the increasing impacts of climate change on flood management, it is vital to implement effective flood mitigation measures. Economic factors significantly influence the feasibility and speed of these implementations. Evaluations must go beyond just the implementation costs. This paper introduces tools and methods for incorporating environmental economics into flood risk management at various scales, from urban areas to entire river basins. Comprehensive analysis should include social, environmental, direct, and indirect factors. Despite the variability in flood mitigation costs across different economies, the methods discussed are highly adaptable. Data limitations for appraisal tools like Multicriteria Analysis (MCA) and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) can be addressed through expert judgment, qualitative assessment, or using GDP-proportional data for cost estimation. This approach utilizes databases from experienced countries, making the methods adaptable to different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To access the closeness of DEMs topography with the real field elevation, we evaluated the vertical accuracy of eight different freely accessible DEMs across different physiographic regions and the river basins of Nepal. Results revealed that MERIT DEM (90 m resolution) with RMSE of 9 m was found to be superior to other DEMs in Nepal's low-lying Terai plains where the elevation range lies between 59 m-721 m. In High mountains (515 m-5202 m) and High Himalayas (2150 m-8749 m) with higher elevation, SRTM90m with RMSE 260 m and 323 m respectively, outperformed all its counterpart. Meanwhile, in Siwalik and the middle mountains, both SRTM90m and HYDROSHEDS exhibited almost similar RMSE of 106 m indicating their compatible uses in these regions. Meanwhile, the accuracy assessment across different river basins of Nepal discerned that the accuracy of SRTM90m was above others in larger river basins like Koshi (RMSE 224 m), Narayani (RMSE 215 m) and Karnali (RMSE 265 m) where the range of elevation is greater. In the smaller to medium-sized basins like Kankai, Kamala, Bagmati, West Rapti and Babai, HYDROSHEDS was found preferable along with SRTM90m. Based on different error statistics, the rankings are given to each DEM in order of their accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater habitats are some of the most imperilled ecosystems in the world as they harbour numerous species threatened with extinction. In tropical Africa, acute deficiency of scientific data on the distribution patterns of freshwater biodiversity hampers successful conservation interventions. The number of newly described and resurrected freshwater fish species in southern Africa has increased considerably since the last bioregionalization effort, nearly three decades ago.  Here, we utilize an updated matrix of catchment-scale native freshwater fish distributions to re-evaluate earlier biogeographic zonation patterns and examine the relative contribution of beta diversity to observed spatial distribution patterns in the subregion. Cluster analysis applied to an incidence data matrix of 259 native freshwater fish species from 17 drainage basins resulted in three major biogeographic zones, which generally corresponded to patterns shown in earlier studies. However, our analysis further revealed a split of the Eastern zone into two sub-clusters -- Northeast and Southeast. We decomposed the overall beta diversity (βSOR), of southern Africa’s native freshwater fishes into its nestedness (βSNE) and turnover (βSIM) components. In all three zones, the proportion of the nestedness resultant component (βratio) was less than 0.5, implying that the compositional variation in overall beta diversity was mainly driven by species turnover. The dominance of the turnover component to overall β-diversity suggests that conservation initiatives targeting multiple sites across broad spatial scales are likely to provide better outcomes for southern Africa’s native ichthyofauna than a few large, protected areas. We discuss the relative contribution of environmental heterogeneity and dispersal limitation on observed bioregionalization and β-diversity patterns of native freshwater fishes in southern Africa. Incomplete knowledge of the taxonomic diversity of southern Africa’s ichthyofauna affects the mapping of distribution patterns, stressing the need for increased sampling efforts, especially in high diversity drainages that border the Congo basin.

This work is devoted to the study of evapotranspiration in the landscape complexes of the northern macroslope of the Western Sayan. Article summarizes literature and authors’ data on evapotranspiration obtained at experimental watersheds in the basin of the river Kebezh, on one of which in the 70s, as an experiment, 50 % of the forest area in the watershed has been cut down. Calculations of the total evaporation of phytocenoses at the basin level has been made, taking into account the altitudinal zonality. To calculate evapotranspiration at the study sites, field data obtained as a result of silvicultural and geobotanical studies and hydrological observations were used. Based on interpretation of remote sensing images and the use of digital elevation model, classification of landscape-hydrological complexes for the basins of the Kebezh and Taigish rivers was carried out, for which the components of evapotranspiration were calculated. The results showed that evapotranspiration in the dark coniferous taiga of the Western Sayan is an important component of the water balance and a significant proportion is the unproductive consumption of moisture for the evaporation of precipitation intercepted by tree crowns. It has also been established that the structure of evapotranspiration changes along the altitudinal zones in accordance with the vertical differentiation of climatic parameters and vegetation productivity. Estimated evapotranspiration data for various landscape-hydrological complexes made it possible to an indirect estimates of their contribution to the formation of runoff in river basins. This study can serve as a theoretical guide for landscape hydrological studies in the temperate cool zone.

Research indicates that the Jordan River Basin area is an area where serious environmental and cultural changes occur. This paper illustrates a new methodological approach to developing a structural framework to study river basins' cultural and landscape changes. The aim of the proposed framework is to elaborate and overlap the natural and cultural driving forces that influence the landscape and to understand the relationship between them. The study consists of four stages: 1. setting specific objectives coinciding with the study area conditions and specifications; 2. defining a specific technique to determine the selected time frame; 3. defining the factors of each driving force and evaluating their correspondence with the study objectives, and finally; 4. building matrixes of intersections combining the natural force, the cultural force, and the overlapping between both, and adopting specific methodological techniques and tools to measure the outcome of each intersection. The paper presents a case study of the application of the proposed framework in the Jordan River Basin. The research results demonstrate the usefulness of the developed framework in understanding the overlapping between the landscape driving forces (natural and cultural) as well as achieving the goals of the related research. This new approach can facilitate a better understanding of landscape change and help researchers and planners identify and address the key issues related to sustainable landscape management by developing more effective policies and management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Al-Adab / Al-ādāb is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) 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 planform rotation of river basins has been used as a marker of crustal strain and been used to assess the style and rates of on‐fault deformation. We use the geometry of river basins to evaluate horizontal deformation associated with the South China–North China relative block motion in the east Qinling mountains. The long‐time average slip rates of the Luonan fault and Shangdan fault are constrained as 0.31 mm/year and 0.3–0.6 mm/year, respectively. According to the latest GPS, we believe that a minor portion of the crustal strain of relative block motion between North China and South China was partitioned into the east Qinling strike‐slip fault system, leaving a major portion of deformation to be accommodated by southern North China (SNC). We conclude that the eastward extrusion of South China cannot explain the present deformation of the entire eastern China, and more attention should be paid into the SNC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural control on drainage patterns has long been suggested to play an important role in the development of fluvial systems, including their map pattern. Along the western Taiwan orogenic wedge, a prominent drainage pattern change is present, from predominantly orogen parallel drainages in the south to river systems that flow perpendicular to the long axis of the mountain belt in the north. Such change likely reflects the temporal evolutionary process as the Taiwan orogen propagates southward. We propose that the flow direction change of river systems is produced by the development of the fold‐and‐thrust belt on the pro‐wedge side of the mountain belt and is facilitated by drainage reorganization that includes abrupt drainage captures and more gradual divide movements, permitting drainage basins to attain a geometrically stable configuration with time. Our observations in Taiwan demonstrate not only how tectonic uplift is effective at modifying river patterns in the early stages of orogenic development but also how time and increased stream power encourage river networks to adjust to more effective patterns in mature mountain belts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of a study of the structural and dynamic organization of forests located in basins of large rivers influent into Lake Baikal that have considerable influence on changes in the hydrologic regimes of the lake. It is known that the annual river flow significantly depends on the state of the forests growing in the river basins. The stable hydrologic regimes of the rivers responsible for most water runoff into the lake are directly dependent on the functional properties of forests. Maintaining the functions of environmental conservation and water regulation of forests contributes to the stable functioning of river basins, ensuring the general sustainability of the lake as an integrated ecosystem within the Lake Baikal basin. It is noted that the combination of centuries-spanning dynamics of forests associated with the succession of forest-forming species (typical for zonal types of vegetation) and the influence of climate change facilitates the formation of polydominant dark–light coniferous and light coniferous forests and, additionally, influences the hydrologic regimes of rivers in the study areas. The structural and dynamic organization of forest communities of different physical and geographical conditions is established, as are the characteristics of their formation. This information is then used to forecast the vector of possible development of forests growing within the Lake Baikal drainage basin. It is shown that changes in the structure, dynamics, and spatial organization of forests within the drainage basin of the lake, associated with the intensification of fires over the last several decades and recent industrial logging, affect river flows and, consequently, lead to relatively severe fluctuations in lake water levels across years. It is established that trends in forest formation within basins of rivers influent into Baikal determine the relationships in the "forest structure–river volume" systems, which can influence the optimization of forest use within the Lake Baikal basin as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientifically measuring the level of environmental governance (EGL) and understanding its spatial convergence has important reference value for ecological governance. In this paper, the global entropy method is applied to measure the EGL of 284 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2019, which are divided into three major river basins, including the Yellow River, Yangtze River, and Pearl River, to observe the spatial–temporal evolutionary characterization through a standard deviation ellipse model. The coefficient of variation and the spatial econometric model are the tools used to conduct the spatial convergence test. The results are as follows: (1) China’s EGL is low overall, though it is fluctuating upward at low magnitude, and the three major river basins follow the ranking: The Pearl River Basin > The Yangtze River Basin > The Yellow River Basin. (2) Spatially, the distribution pattern of China’s EGL changes from “scattered and sporadic” to “multipolar core”. (3) The center of China’s environmental governance was concentrated in the east from 2007 to 2019, and the EGL in the midstream and downstream regions of the three major river basins increased rapidly. (4) Environmental governance in China has significant absolute and conditional β-convergence characteristics, as do the three major basins, while the ranking of convergence speed remains “Yangtze River Basin > Yellow River Basin > Pearl River Basin”. Of these, economic development accelerated the convergence rate of environmental governance in China and its three major river basins; financial pressure significantly inhibited the convergence of the EGL of the Yellow River Basin. The improvement of the EGL in the Pearl River Basin was also negatively influenced by the industrial structure.

The influence of anthropogenic and natural factors in the trends and mechanisms of development at various topological levels is determined based on relevant information on the structure and dynamics of fluvial systems in the south of Eastern Siberia in various geodynamic settings. This article considers the current spatial and temporal dynamics of the hydrological conditions of the vast territory of the Angara River and its influence on channel deformations and the manifestation of dangerous processes. An analysis of fluctuations in the maximum runoff using differential integral curves resulted in the identification of six periods of water content according to the maximum annual discharges for the period spanning from the beginning of observations to 2020 for the rivers under consideration. The dynamics and intensity of manifestation of hydrological and geological hazardous processes are demonstrated using a series of studies conducted under various geodynamic conditions. Catastrophic floods brought on by enhanced cyclonic activity are accompanied by the destruction of the bank. The highest rate of bank erosion in the plains is 1.5 to 2 m per year, and for rivers in mountains and piedmonts it is 2 to 6 m per year. An analysis of the dynamics of the development of floodplain–channel complexes in the Upper Angara region makes it possible to distinguish two zones of actively developing floodplain–channel complexes: piedmont and estuarine, separated by a relatively stable plain zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fluvial system can be characterized from the application of geomorphological indicators. These allow understanding the dynamics of the system as well as carrying out a status diagnosis for good management. The aim of this work was to apply a group of geoindicators to diagnose and monitor the environmental status of the Oro basin (38° 4' 56.9"S 61°56' 24.17"W), Argentina. The geoindicators were grouped according to the application objective (diagnosis and monitoring) and the time scale (long, medium and short term). The field work was carried out during the period 2019 - 2021, which was the main input of information. The application of geoindicators in the medium and long term allowed the environmental characterization of the basin and recognition of the most important characteristics in terms of its fluvial dynamics, highlighting the variability of rainfall, which when it occurs in an extreme way, due to the morphometric characteristics of the basin, favors the occurrence of stream flooding events. In the short term, they allowed the identification of those indicators to be monitored to ensure optimal hydrogeomorphological quality, mainly in the riparian areas, which resulted in the highest degree of transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Extreme precipitation shows an increasing trend in most river basins. • Precipitation sensitivity to temperature shows an asymmetric spatial pattern. • The sensitivity of extreme precipitation is 1.1 times that of mean precipitation. • Natural factors explain spatial stratified heterogeneity better than social factors. • Vegetation has the highest explanatory power among all factors. Global warming is expected to lead to a continuous increase in extreme precipitation. However, the response of extreme precipitation to climate change remains not entirely clear. This study quantitatively analyzes extreme precipitation in multiple river basins of China over the past nearly 60 years using high spatial resolution data. Both extreme precipitation and mean precipitation exhibit a spatial distribution pattern of higher values in the southeast and lower values in the northwest. However, their sensitivity to temperature shows an asymmetric spatial pattern, with higher sensitivity in the northwest and lower sensitivity in the southeast. Overall, the sensitivity of extreme precipitation to temperature (9.6 %/K) is 1.1 times that of mean precipitation (8.8 %/K). Additionally, the sensitivity of extreme precipitation in relatively dry areas (Continental River Basin) is about five times that in relatively wet areas (other river basins). Vegetation has the highest explanatory power (i.e., q -value) for the spatial stratified heterogeneity of extreme precipitation, ranging from 0.61 to 0.72, with the explanatory power of natural factors exceeding that of societal factors. Furthermore, the interaction between vegetation and elevation enhances the explanatory power for the spatial stratified heterogeneity of extreme precipitation, reaching values between 0.74 and 0.82. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the river basins of the Republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, in which many irrigation complexes have been allocated for the development of agricultural production. Each irrigation complex, in turn, serves a set of farms - the main links of agricultural production. Naturally, the task of irrigation development in the river basin is considered in a certain sequence (river basin - irrigation system - irrigated farm); which allows to link sectoral planning with territorial planning and to take into account the interests of the development of agricultural sectors, economic zones and districts. The purpose of the study is to create a new water resource management system based on the existing one, united by common water resources, which should meet water needs and ensure environmental well-being. The goal is based on the task of irrigation development, considers the acute shortage of water resources and the environmental degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate estimation of terrestrial water storage anomalies (TWSA) is crucial for the sustainable management of water resources and human living. In this study, long-term TWSA estimates are reconstructed by integration of multiple meteorological products and the water balance (WB) method at 0.5° × 0.5° resolution, generating a total of 12 combinations of different meteorological data. This scheme is applied to 10 river basins (RBs) within China and validated against GRACE observations and GLDAS simulations from 2003 to 2020. Results indicate that similar seasonal characteristics can be observed between different precipitation and evapotranspiration products with the average correlation coefficient and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient metrics larger than 0.96 and 0.90, respectively. Three GRACE solutions indicate similar seasonal variations and long-term trends of TWSA over 10 RBs, with the correlation above 0.90. Similar performance can also be observed concerning the root mean square error and mean absolute error metrics. Nevertheless, WB-based TWSA estimates represent larger discrepancies compared to GRACE observations and GLDAS simulations. Specifically, the variation amplitude and long-term trend of WB-based results are much larger than that of the GRACE observations, which is mainly caused by the inaccuracy of remote sensing products and the neglect of anthropogenic activities. Comparable TWSA estimates independently computed from the WB method can only be achieved in 4 out of 10 RBs. This study can provide insightful suggestions for an enhanced understanding of TWSA estimates and improving the performance of the water balance method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water security (WS) is a desirable goal of ensuring a sufficient quantity and quality of water for life-supporting processes and the development of society. However, achieving WS is a complex challenge that must be addressed in an integrated and interdisciplinary way. Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) could be a means to achieve WS if it is supported by the development of an appropriate adaptive governance process that emphasizes more collaborative and coordinated actions and recognizes river basins as complex social-ecological systems. In this paper, we analyze the relationship between WS and the hybrid conceptualization of hierarchical, market and network governance, namely metagovernance of modes. Here the three governance modes are best coordinated by a public metagovernor, who is a key actor in avoiding typical governance failures, helping it become an effective approach to implement adaptive river basin management. The context-specific attribute of metagovernance of modes, and the situationally optimal mixtures that it provides, seem to make it the most suitable alternative to deal with complexity, uncertainty and constant change. We propose that social-ecological components and processes in river basins must be integrated through sound combinations of these three governance modes, which could determine the adoption of a specific adaptive management instrument, according to the problem to be solved. Further research is needed to understand how metagovernors could achieve better coordination and how to best address context-specific intervention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water quality monitoring at high temporal frequency provides a detailed picture of environmental stressors and ecosystem response, which is essential to protect and restore lake and river health. An effective monitoring network requires knowledge on optimal monitoring frequency and data variability. Here, high-frequency hydrochemical datasets (dissolved oxygen, pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, water temperature, total reactive phosphorus, total phosphorus and nitrate) from six UK catchments were analysed to 1) understand the lowest measurement frequency needed to fully capture the variation in the datasets; and 2) investigate bias caused by sampling at different times of the day. The study found that reducing the measurement frequency increasingly changed the interpretation of the data by altering the calculated median and data range. From 45 individual parameter-catchment combinations (six to eight parameters in six catchments), four-hourly data captured most of the hourly range (>90 %) for 37 combinations, whilst 41 had limited impact on the median (<0.5 % change). Twelve-hourly and daily data captured >90 % of the range with limited impact on the median in approximately half of the combinations, whereas weekly and monthly data captured this in <6 combinations. Generally, reducing sampling frequency had most impact on the median for parameters showing strong diurnal cycles, whilst parameters showing rapid responses to extreme flow conditions had most impact on the range. Diurnal cycles resulted in year-round intra-daily variation in most of the parameters, apart from nutrient concentrations, where daily variation depended on both seasonal flow patterns and anthropogenic influences. To design an optimised monitoring programme, key catchment characteristics and required data resolution for the monitoring purpose should be considered. Ideally a pilot study with high-frequency monitoring, at least four-hourly, should be used to determine the minimum frequency regime needed to capture temporal behaviours in the intended focus water quality parameters by revealing their biogeochemical response patterns., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)