North Gujarat in India currently extracts three billion cubic meters of groundwater per year, which is up to 95% of the groundwater resources available in the region. This unsustainable abstraction has led to changes in groundwater levels and created water scarcity in many parts of the region. To address these issues, integrated groundwater resource management is required, which should be driven by good quality and quantity of groundwater data. However, current groundwater data are scarce; thus, new, affordable monitoring approaches are necessary. Participatory and community-based monitoring involving citizen scientists provides an approach to complement existing government-run monitoring. This study demonstrates the feasibility of developing a large-scale groundwater level monitoring wells network by directly involving farmers in two agriculturally-dominated blocks in North Gujarat, India. First, long-term groundwater level data for government-monitored wells were analyzed, and the regions lacking monitoring were identified. Then a network of 43 farmers was established through the field survey, who were trained to provide groundwater level observations for their wells every month. The data collected through the field survey were then integrated with the data from the existing government monitoring programs to understand the groundwater dynamics in the region. Results for the post-monsoon season 2022 show that the groundwater levels in Unjha block (Mehsana district) have declined to more than 100 meters below ground level due to unsustainable pumping for irrigation. The evaluation of the participatory approach showed that concern for existing groundwater challenges, social inclusion and contribution to scientific knowledge were the top three reasons that motivated farmers to participate in this research. Of the total volunteering farmers, 71% have shown interest in providing long-term observations for up to 3 years, and 57% agreed to provide observations weekly. Additionally, 70% of the farmers agreed to engage fellow farmers in groundwater monitoring, and 50% agreed to train new farmers. Thus, this study shows that farmers can play an important role in improving the existing challenges of groundwater monitoring through participatory training, and the integration of primary and secondary data can lead to better decision-making regarding need for well construction, crop selection, recharge methods and pathways for sustainable groundwater management.

Indigenous communities in Canada are disproportionately affected by issues related to water security, especially access to clean water to meet human needs. The issues these communities face are diverse and widespread across Canada, with many causes and consequences. This review summarizes the types and magnitudes of risks associated with the water security of these communities, the consequences considering health and social perspectives, and the means of responding to these issues. Risks are broadly divided into quantitative risks (e.g., water quality and availability) and qualitative risks (e.g., lack of funding and jurisdictional conflicts). These risks lead to unique consequences, resulting in challenges in developing generalized risk response frameworks. Management of these risks includes a mix of techniques relying on legislative and technical approaches. Nevertheless, the affected communities should be included in the decision-making process that should be holistic, incorporating indigenous knowledge. Good governance, cooperation between communities, policy improvement and the development of an institutional mechanism for clean water supply will provide a pathway and guidelines to address the water security challenges among indigenous communities.

Strategies are proposed to cope with uncertainties in a way that all possible kinds of uncertainty are named, recognized, statistically quantified as far as possible and utilized in efficient decision-making in flood risk management (FRM). We elaborated on the metaphor of uncertainty as a monster. We recommend two strategies to cope with the uncertainty monster to support efficient decision-making in FRM: monster adaptation and monster assimilation. We present three cases to illustrate these strategies. We argue that these strategies benefit from improving the structure and reducing the complexity of decision problems. We discuss ways to involve decision-makers in FRM, and how communication strategies can be responsive to their informational needs.

Over the years, data-driven models have gained notable traction in water and environmental engineering. The adoption of these cutting-edge frameworks is still in progress in the grand scheme of things, yet for the most part, such attempts have been centered around the models themselves, and their internal computational architecture, that is, the model-centric approach. These endeavors can certainly pave the way for more tailor-fitted models capable of producing accurate results. However, such a perspective often neglects a fundamental assumption of these models, which is the importance of reliability, correctness, and accessibility of the data used in constructing them. This challenge arises from the prevalent model-centric paradigm of thinking in the field. An alternative approach, however, would prioritize placing data at the focal point, focusing on systematically enhancing current datasets and devising frameworks to improve data collection schemes. This suggests a paradigm shift toward more data-centric thinking in water and environmental engineering. Practically, this shift is not without challenges and necessitates smarter data collection rather than an excessive one. Equally important is the ethical and accurate collection of data, making it available to everyone while safeguarding the rights of individuals and other legal entities involved in the process.

The study reviewed the applications of the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus for knowledge generation and decision-making in the Global South. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol identified 336 studies from the Web of Science and Scopus datasets. One hundred eighty-five articles applied WEF nexus tools to improve the understanding of WEF nexus interactions and to show the potential of nexus applications. The other articles (151) focused on nexus applications to guide planning and decision support for resource allocation and policy formulation. Environment, climate, ecosystems, land, and socio-economics were other popular nexus dimensions, while waste and economy were considered to a lesser extent. Limitations associated with nexus applications included unavailability of data, uncertainties from data sources, scale mismatch and bias. The inability of nexus tools to capture the complex realities of WEF interactions is hindering adoption, especially for policy formulations and investment planning. Data limitations could be solved using a sound scientific basis to correct uncertainties and substitute unavailable data. Data gaps can be bridged by engaging stakeholders, who can provide local and indigenous knowledge. Despite the limitations, applying nexus tools could be useful in guiding resource management. Limitations associated with nexus applications included – investment planning. Plausible pathways for operationalising the WEF nexus are discussed.

This study addresses the regulatory impacts on an innovative project seeking to introduce autonomous robots into the potable water network, Pipebots. It does so through the lens of adaptive governance, principally the under-explored area of adaptive governance and formal law. Through this study, suggestions are made to improve the regulatory regime, including a separate authorisation process for novel or complex products, built-in feedback loops to encourage learning and reflection and the need for early engagement by innovators in the regulatory process. Further, the analysis exposes a wider, serious tension: How do we encourage the innovation and flexibility we need to ensure the resilience and sustainability of our systems and at the same time safeguard strict human and environmental protections? The Pipebots project is used to explore the law’s role within adaptive governance, and suggestions to improve water governance are proposed.

The integrated water systems (IWSs) concept involves managing water quantity and quality through dynamic interactions. This paper reviews the terrestrial water cycle, focusing on resilience and adaptive planning (AP) approaches within IWSs. We examine how integrating these approaches can improve IWS management and planning, addressing their inherent complexities. Using a performance-based resilience definition, we consider the system’s ability to absorb, recover from and adapt to adverse events. The AP focuses on flexible management pathways for uncertain future conditions. Although both resilience and AP aim to enhance water system performance and address uncertainties, they differ in their assessment and implementation approaches. We propose an Adaptive Resilience Planning (ARP) framework that merges both approaches. The ARP uses resilience metrics for performance assessment and incorporates AP’s methods for conceptualising uncertainties and optimising management portfolios. Implementing the ARP framework raises four research questions: (1) holistic characterisation of uncertainties and options in IWSs, (2) using resilience metrics for IWS adaptation, (3) balancing trade-offs among management goals through optimal portfolio selection and (4) monitoring portfolio performance and uncertainties for informed adaptation. The ARP framework offers a structured method for dynamic and adaptive resilience planning, enhancing IWS management’s responsiveness to evolving challenges.

Almost half of the global population lives with inadequate or unsafe water, sanitation or hygiene (WASH) services. The consequences of this situation include negative impacts on individual and public health, the environment and economic production. The WASH sector is linked with other international development sectors and is embedded within complex social, environmental and governance structures. This complexity led us to reflect on how WASH sector practitioners and researchers are applying systems thinking tools and techniques to progress an agenda of sustainable and universal WASH services. From this perspective, we then discuss the near- and long-term future needs of the sector in coming to a comprehensive understanding and application of systems thinking to progress the ultimate aim of universal access to safely managed, accessible and abundant water, sanitation and hygiene services.

The necessity for high-resolution two-dimensional (2D) simulations in flood modelling often requires excessively long simulation times. This study evaluates the impact of various hardware configurations on Hydrologic Engineering Center-River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) 2D with particular emphasis on Central Processing Unit (CPU) speed, number of cores, Random Access Memory (RAM) capacity, addressing a critical gap in the optimisation of hardware setups for time-efficient simulations. These findings are invaluable for flood modellers and the HEC-RAS community, ultimately supporting more effective flood risk management and decision-making. Additionally, the study examines how different meshes, numerical solution methods, and solving equations perform within these hardware setups, aiming to examine the effects of computational techniques on overall simulation efficiency. Our investigations were carried out using both virtual machines on the Google Cloud Platform and a desktop PC. The findings indicate that optimal performance in HEC-RAS 2D simulations does not necessarily correlate with a higher number of cores or increased RAM. Instead, a well-adjusted configuration with 8 cores and 64 GB of RAM demonstrates superior efficiency. This result questions the usual assumptions about the need for greater computational power and emphasises the value of carefully optimising hardware for fast hydraulic modelling.

This case study uses the concept of ecosystem services and specifically payments for ecosystem services, alongside five experiences from the Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT), which celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2024, to demonstrate the need for integrated catchment management (ICM). It highlights the multifaceted benefits that ecosystems provide to human well-being, the challenges faced in managing these often-siloed services and the role of ICM in preserving and enhancing multiple ecosystem services, focusing on the water-related drivers of flooding, drought, water quality and aquatic biodiversity. Through WRT projects this case study highlights practical applications and successes in managing ecosystem services at the catchment level and what considerations are needed for future integration and delivery of multi-benefit solutions. This paper is derived in part from the interviews and workshops undertaken as part of the Atlantic Area Interreg funded Triple C project (EAPA_772/2018), as well as contributions from the Horizon funded, InnWater project (Horizon EUROPE No. 101036683 and UKRI No. 10066637) and the OFWAT-funded, mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions.