Managing Water Resources in Large River Basins

• Other Authors: Young, William (Editor), Harshadeep, Nagaraja Rao (Editor)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2021
• Subjects: Research & information: general; multi-objective competition mechanism; cascade reservoirs operation; copula function; Pareto set; hydropower; dam; damage; ecosystem; conservation measures; environmental assessment; environmental flows; GIS; integrated water resources management; river basin planning; Ganga River; India; participatory modelling; conjunctive water use; hydrologic modelling; co-production; development assistance; hydrological modelling; irrigation; IWRM; rational choice; stakeholder participation; scenario analysis; water governance; transboundary waters; cooperation; integrated water resource management; Brahmaputra River Basin; South Asia; SMAP; passive microwave soil moisture; soil moisture downscaling; digital platforms; stakeholder engagement; equitable water sharing; UN watercourse convention; international and transboundary rivers; Nile River basin; disruptive technology; river basins; large basins; water security; water resources management; water data; information technology; analytics; n/a
• Online Access: DOAB: download the publication; DOAB: description of the publication

Management of water resources in large rivers basins typically differs in important ways from management in smaller basins. While in smaller basins the focus of water resources management may be on project implementation, irrigation and drainage management, water use efficiency and flood operations; in larger basins, because of the greater complexity and competing interests, there is often a greater need for long-term strategic river basin planning across sectors and jurisdictions, and considering social, environmental, and economic outcomes. This puts a focus on sustainable development, including consumptive water use and non-consumptive water uses, such as inland navigation and hydropower. It also requires the consideration of hard or technical issues-data, modeling, infrastructure-as well as soft issues of governance, including legal frameworks, policies, institutions, and political economy. Rapidly evolving technologies could play a significant role in managing large basins. This Special Issue of Water traverses these hard and soft aspects of managing water resources in large river basins through a series of diverse case studies from across the globe that demonstrate recent advances in both technical and governance innovations in river basin management.