Article
Environmental Sciences
Ana Paula Dalcin, Guilherme Fernandes Marques, Amaury Tilmant, Marcelo Olivares
Summary: This study investigates the design of dynamic operating policies for environmental flows (e-flows) to optimize economic and ecosystem performance in reservoir systems. By combining a fish-flow model with a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm, the study develops multiple environmental water demand curves and derives dynamic e-flow policies that balance immediate and future water use tradeoffs. The approach, termed dynamically adaptive environmental flows (DAE-flows), is demonstrated on a large-scale hydropower system in Brazil and shows promising results in maintaining and improving long-term ecosystem functioning.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
C. Alvarez-Garreton, J. P. Boisier, M. Billi, I. Lefort, R. Marinao, P. Barria
Summary: In this study, a new approach to diagnose water allocation scheme compatibility with long-term water security is proposed. The researchers argue that when the remaining flow of a river after upstream withdrawals is not sufficient to safeguard ecological river functions, it indicates failing water management. The water scarcity risks and safeguarded environmental flows (e-flows) in 277 basins in Chile were analyzed to test this hypothesis. The results reveal that the link between e-flows, water allocation, and water security has not been adequately incorporated in the current law. Rating: 9/10.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Scott Moore
Summary: The article highlights the importance of basin-scale planning, management, and governance using the case of the Delaware River basin, emphasizing the political tensions and competition among stakeholders as key factors in the success of River Basin Management.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mame Henriette Astou Sambou, Stefan Liersch, Hagen Koch, Expedit Wilfrid Vissin, Jean Albergel, Mousse Landing Sane
Summary: In this study, the hydropower potential of the Bafing watershed was simulated under different climate scenarios. The results indicate a decrease in future hydropower potential, as well as negative impacts on the planned dams due to climate change. Therefore, new adaptation measures and an energy mix are necessary to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Chandrashekhar Bhuiyan
Summary: The concept of environmental flows is relatively new and still evolving. There are different methodologies and criteria for assessing environmental flows, but there is a lack of consensus on criteria and flow thresholds, and debate regarding the priority between development and the environment. Additionally, there are important issues related to environmental flows that are currently being overlooked. The article highlights these overlooked issues and recommends modifications to enhance the effectiveness of environmental flows policies.
SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Peng Zhang, Kefeng Li, Qingyuan Liu, Rui Liu, Leilei Qin, Hongwei Wang, Zhiguang Zhang, Kaili Wang, Yuanming Wang, Ruifeng Liang, Zaixiang Zhu
Summary: The survival of aquatic biota in different life history stages is influenced by food availability, water quantity, and specific hydrological conditions, especially in degraded rivers affected by hydropower development or climate change. Limited food availability and restricted feeding opportunities in habitats can have a strong impact on habitat carrying capacity, fish growth, and spawning outcomes. Few frameworks are available that closely link bait and feeding opportunities to fish foraging habitat. River restoration has been implemented to address conflicts between ecological demands and power generation benefits, but the suitability of in-stream structures for joint operation of spawning and foraging habitats remains uncertain.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ping Qin, Shuai Chen, Jie-Sheng Tan-Soo, Xiao-Bing Zhang
Summary: This study examines the relationship between household water usage and climate variability using big data collected from smart water meters in Chinese urban households. The findings show that municipal water usage increases during heatwave events and households from lower-valued properties are more likely to substitute water for electricity to cope with heat. Additionally, over time, households are using increasingly more water to cope with high-temperature days. Climate projection models estimate a long-term increase of 7-44% in household water usage. These findings are particularly important for water-scarce and developing countries.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & POLICY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Andrew John, Avril Horne, Rory Nathan, Keirnan Fowler, J. Angus Webb, Michael Stewardson
Summary: Climate change poses severe risks for environmental flows worldwide, and there is an urgent need for robust environmental flow programs to adapt to changing flow regimes. Testing adaptation options under different climate futures is crucial for improving ecological outcomes and allocation reliability in river management. Combining multiple adaptation options may yield greater benefits and enhance resilience under uncertain future conditions.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Rodrigo Valencia Cotera, Luca Guillaumot, Reetik-Kumar Sahu, Christine Nam, Ludwig Lierhammer, Maria Manez Costa
Summary: A case study was conducted in the Seewinkel region of Austria to develop a system dynamics model for water policy analysis and to replace advanced hydrological models. The results showed that combining measures, such as increasing irrigation efficiency and changing crops, could significantly reduce water demand by an average of 40%. Additionally, artificially recharging the aquifer could increase the local groundwater level by an average of 0.06m.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sean M. Wineland, Rachel Fovargue, Betsey York, Abigail J. Lynch, Craig P. Paukert, Thomas M. Neeson
Summary: The study found that decision-makers have different perspectives and beliefs on implementing e-flows policies, which could complicate efforts and proactive planning for climate change. Despite the differences, there are opportunities for collaboration among decision-makers to address common data needs and implementation barriers.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Guang Yang, Paul Block
Summary: Water resources infrastructure is crucial for energy and food security, but large-scale infrastructure development may lead to conflicts in water resources management. To mitigate conflicts, mutually agreed water sharing policies are proposed as an effective strategy, which includes optimizing reservoir operating rules.
HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Thermodynamics
Julian David Hunt, Andreas Nascimento, Carla Schwengber ten Caten, Fernanda Munari Caputo Tome, Paulo Smith Schneider, Andre Luis Ribeiro Thomazoni, Nivalde Jose de Castro, Roberto Brandao, Marcos Aurelio Vasconcelos de Freitas, Jose Sidnei Colombo Martini, Dorel Soares Ramos, Rodrigo Senne
Summary: Water management strategies can significantly impact regional climate and hydrology. Hydropower storage reservoirs in humid regions like Brazil can increase river flow. Reservoir operation in Brazil has a considerable impact on river flows, with higher storage levels leading to increased river flow during wet periods.
Article
Environmental Sciences
J. Pardo-Loaiza, R. J. Bergillos, A. Solera, J. Paredes-Arquiola, J. Andreu
Summary: This paper proposes a methodology to assess habitat alteration in river basins altered by management activities and quantifies the effects of ecological flows on habitat suitability and water demand reliability. The results of a case study show that ecological flows improve habitat suitability and increasing ecological flows can reduce habitat alteration without impacting water demand reliability.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Review
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Junguo Liu, Deliang Chen, Ganquan Mao, Masoud Irannezhad, Yadu Pokhrel
Summary: This paper provides a comprehensive review of the scientific progress made in understanding the changing climate and water systems in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin. The existing literature suggests that the warming rate in the basin is higher than the global average, and there have been changes in precipitation and streamflow. The paper also identifies four research directions for future studies: the impacts of dams on river flow and local communities, the integration of water-energy-food-ecology nexus, the integration of groundwater and human health management with water resource assessment and management, and the strengthening of transboundary collaboration.
Article
Water Resources
Peng Huang, Eric Sauquet, Jean-Philippe Vidal, Natacha Da Riba
Summary: This study assesses the vulnerability of water management in the Aure Valley in the French Pyrenees by integrating sensitivity, management metrics, stakeholder participation, and water system exposure. Results show that hydropower production is vulnerable to drier conditions, while environmental metrics are sensitive to both precipitation and temperature changes. Reservoir storage management is extremely sensitive to temperature increase, and more intense water competition among stakeholders is foreseen. Adaptation actions are proposed to reduce the vulnerability.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY-REGIONAL STUDIES
(2022)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Yahav Avigal, William Wong, Mark Presten, Mark Theis, Shrey Aeron, Anna Deza, Satvik Sharma, Rishi Parikh, Sebastian Oehme, Stefano Carpin, Joshua H. Viers, Stavros Vougioukas, Ken Goldberg
Summary: Polyculture farming has the potential to reduce pesticide and water usage while improving soil nutrient utilization. However, automating polyculture is more challenging than monoculture. To facilitate research, AlphaGardenSim is introduced as a simulator that can simulate inter-plant dynamics and growth in a greenhouse garden.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Anna M. Rallings, Britne Clifton, Vicky Espinoza, Zhuo Hao, Wenjun Chen, Weili Duan, Qidong Peng, Pingping Luo, Joshua H. Viers
Summary: Regulated rivers are managed worldwide to meet human needs and reduce flood risks, but often fail to support ecological and hydrogeomorphic processes. Designing environmental flows is important for balancing ecosystem and human demands. By classifying river basins in China's Yangtze River, it is possible to improve basin management and prioritize environmental flow plans without localized data. This study can inform water resource management and sustainable development efforts as hydropower dams continue to increase globally.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Ananth Kalyanaraman, Margaret Burnett, Alan Fern, Lav Khot, Joshua Viers
Summary: Addressing the challenges of 21st-century agriculture requires a shift in the role of AI technologies and the way we build agricultural AI systems. The AgAID Institute focuses on developing AI solutions for specialty crop agriculture, aiming to achieve climate-smart agriculture and integrate AI technology.
COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONICS IN AGRICULTURE
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Adel M. Abdallah, David E. Rheinheimer, David E. Rosenberg, Stephen Knox, Julien J. Harou
Summary: This paper discusses the use of multiple tools by water systems modelers for data storage, querying, visualization, and sharing. By connecting these tools in an open-source software ecosystem, it becomes possible to compare models from different regions and publish them for discovery and use.
ENVIRONMENTAL MODELLING & SOFTWARE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Darren L. Ficklin, Sarah E. Null, John T. Abatzoglou, Kimberly A. Novick, Daniel T. Myers
Summary: Global warming intensifies the hydrological cycle, resulting in more extreme precipitation events and longer dry spells. Previous studies have focused on precipitation without considering changes in evaporative demand and plant responses. Using state-of-the-art climate models, we examine projected changes in hydrological intensification and its impact on water resources management. Our findings show that surplus events will become larger and more frequent, with the greatest changes expected in the northern latitudes. These extreme events will stress existing water management infrastructure in major river basins, particularly those with large reservoir capacity.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mahesh L. Maskey, Gustavo Facincani Dourado, Anna M. Rallings, David E. Rheinheimer, Josue Medellin-Azuara, Joshua H. Viers
Summary: Freshwater aquatic ecosystems are highly sensitive to flow regime alteration caused by anthropogenic activities, and this study evaluated the potential changes to the flow regime of the major tributaries of the San Joaquin River Basin in California due to climate change and reservoir operations. The study found that most indicators of streamflow dynamics had pronounced departures from baseline conditions under anticipated future climate conditions given existing reservoir operations. Additionally, the degree of flow regime alteration due to reservoir operations was found to be higher than that of climate change.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ann D. Willis, David E. Rheinheimer, Sarah M. Yarnell, Gustavo Facincani Dourado, Anna M. Rallings, Joshua H. Viers
Summary: This study models alternative environmental flow strategies in the major tributaries to the San Joaquin River in California. Results show that these strategies have different impacts on downstream flow releases and hydropower production in different sub-basins. The functional flow and 40% full natural flow strategies increase water released to the river relative to baseline, but in different ways and with varying ecological benefits.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Fisheries
Bobby J. Nakamoto, Carson A. Jeffres, Nicholas J. Corline, Mollie Ogaz, Christina J. Bradley, Joshua H. Viers, Marilyn L. Fogel
Summary: Using compound-specific isotope analysis, we determined the biosynthetic source of amino acids in fish from major tributaries to the Sacramento-San Joaquin river delta in California. Our findings confirm the importance of algae in floodplain food webs in California's Central Valley, while also identifying other sources of amino acids contributing to fish.
JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Gregory C. Goodrum, Sarah E. Null
Summary: This study estimated aquatic habitat suitability for Bonneville Cutthroat Trout and Bluehead Sucker in Utah using publicly available geospatial datasets. The researchers evaluated 15 habitat suitability models and found that simple models outperformed those that used only streamflow. These models are useful for conservation planning and water resources decision-making.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ratha Sor, Peng Bun Ngor, Sovan Lek, Kimsan Chann, Romduol Khoeun, Sudeep Chandra, Zeb S. Hogan, E. E. Sarah
Summary: Hydropower dams, although a source of renewable energy, have negative impacts on freshwater ecosystems, biodiversity, and food security. This study analyzes the effects of dam development on fish biodiversity in the Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok Basins from 2007 to 2014. It shows that dam construction reduces fish biodiversity in the Sesan and Srepok Basins, while the Sekong Basin experiences an increase. The study emphasizes the importance of preserving free-flowing rivers, like the Sekong, Cambodian Mekong, and Tonle Sap Rivers, for migratory and threatened fish species.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Peng Bun Ngor, Sophorn Uy, Ratha Sor, Bunyeth Chan, Joseph Holway, Sarah E. Null, Nam So, Gael Grenouillet, Sudeep Chandra, Zeb S. Hogan, Sovan Lek
Summary: Predictive models are widely used to investigate relationships between fish diversity, abundance, and the environment. In this study, six single statistical models were evaluated for predicting fish richness and abundance in the Mekong River Basin. The Random Forest model consistently out-performed other models, while the Generalized Linear Model performed the worst. Water level, distance from the sea, and alkalinity were identified as important predictors of variation in both richness and abundance.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Christina N. Morrisett, Robert W. Van Kirk, Sarah E. Null
Summary: Reservoirs in the Henrys Fork Snake River in Idaho, USA, are managed to meet irrigation demand and maintain aquatic habitat. A flow target in a management reach has been used since 1978 and has undergone four assignments. Recently, changes to irrigation-season management prompted investigation into the flow target assignment. A streamflow-habitat model was created to assess habitat availability under different management regimes. The study found that adjustments to the flow target and considering local irrigation diversions can contribute to more consistent fish habitat.
RIVER RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
David E. Rheinheimer, Brian Tarroja, Anna M. Rallings, Ann D. Willis, Joshua H. Viers
Summary: Reservoir-based hydropower systems are being transformed under policy initiatives driven by increasing water and energy demand, the desire to reduce environmental impacts, and interacting effects of climate change. Different approaches and assumptions in hydropower representation in water and energy systems have been reviewed, with a focus on applications in California. These divergent modeling approaches may result in inadequate representations of each respective sector and vastly different planning outcomes, and better integration of water and energy models is needed.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH: INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY
(2023)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Kelley Moyers, Robert Sabie, Emily Waring, Jorge Preciado, Colleen C. Naughton, Thomas Harmon, Mohammad Safeeq, Alfonso Torres-Rua, Alexander Fernald, Joshua H. Viers
Summary: Scarce water resources have led to the development of data-driven water budgets. This review examines the current state of data-driven water budgets of various spatiotemporal scales and identifies the reliance on satellite remote sensing data products for larger scales and ground-based monitoring for smaller scales. The use of both data sources enables the estimation of complete water budgets in areas with limited data availability. Standardized reporting protocols are needed for the alignment of water budget estimations across decision-makers at different spatiotemporal scales.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2023)