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Governmentality is a way of thinking about dispersed practices of governing, including attempts to render space governable. China's South-North Water Transfer (SNWT) project, the world's largest interbasin water transfer project, is a programme of government that attempts to render the distribution of water across space more governable and administrable. This article analyses English and Chinese academic, media and government documents through a governmentality lens. It aims to examine the SNWT project's machinery, mentality and spatiality, including its narrative, its constitution of objects and subjects in space, its multiple techniques of government, and its physical and administrative assemblages. In decentring the problem of the state in relation to the SNWT project we can learn much about both the politics of water and the nature of Chinese governmentalities. This article shows how the SNWT naturalises water scarcity, normalises the pre-eminence of North China, sustains engineering over regulatory solutions and reconfigures hydrosocial relations, while also outlining the limits to and endemic conflicts within this vast programme of government.

This book advances the understanding and integration in operational terms of environmental flows (water allocation) into integrated water resources management (IWRM). Based on an in-depth analysis of 17 global water policy, plan, and project case studies, it addresses the highly contested complexities of environmentally responsible water resources development, broadens the global perspectives on \"equitable sharing\" and \"sustainable use\" of water resources, and expands the definitions of \"benefits sharing\" in high-risk water resources development. The book fills a major gap in knowledge on IWRM and forms an important contribution to the ongoing discourse on climate change adaptation in the water sector.

Amid Nepal’s expanding hydropower sector, the Sunkoshi Multipurpose Scheme stands as a pivotal inter-basin transfer project. As the country seeks to maximize its abundant water resources, strengthening hydropower resilience against the inevitable impacts of climate change is imperative for ensuring long-term energy sustainability. This study conducts a comprehensive assessment of climate change impacts on the Sunkoshi River Basin and proposes an adaptive management strategy through dynamic rule curve modifications, optimizing reservoir operations in response to projected shifts in water availability across different time horizons of the 21st century. Seven bias-corrected General Circulation Models (GCMs) (ACCESS-CM2, BCC-CSM2-MR, CanESM5, EC-Earth3, MPI-ESM1-2-HR, MPI-ESM1-2-LR, and NorESM2-MM) were adopted for the projection of climate variables under Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSP)245 and SSP585 scenarios which were further utilized for the projection of future discharge in the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The anticipated inflow data served as input to the Hydraulic Engineering Center- Reservoir System Simulation (HEC-ResSim) software to simulate the reservoir operation and propose modified rule curves for Sunkoshi No.1, Sunkoshi No.2, Sunkoshi No.3, and Dudhkoshi hydropower projects for the time frame of 2030s, 2060s, and 2080s. Six different rule curves were proposed and average yearly energy generations were maximized ranging from 25.5%, 61.07%, 71.26%, and 10.50% for Sunkoshi No.3, Sunkoshi No.2, Sunkoshi No.1, and Dudhkoshi power plants respectively. These results could be helpful for long-term planning, urging policymakers to integrate dynamic rule curve modifications in the broader context of sustainable energy production and climate change adaptation.

Flooded areas can create temporary connections between adjacent drainages and are a relatively understudied pathway for the spread of aquatic invasive species. The Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database’s Flood and Storm Tracker maps were developed to help natural resource managers with post-storm aquatic invasive species detection and assessment efforts. As of the summer of 2023, 16 Flood and Storm Tracker maps have been published from hurricanes and flooding events in the United States and territorial islands. Three regions along the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean had overlapping areas of repeated flood impacts, and fifteen pairs of adjacent river basins were potentially connected during floods. Each map had a median of 77 non-native freshwater taxa and a median of three U.S. prohibited species within their respective flood-impacted area. The Flood and Storm Tracker maps provide resource managers with information about new aquatic invasions due to potential flood dispersal that can assist with early detection and rapid response systems.

The hillslope-riparian-stream continuum (HRSC) may be significantly influenced by interbasin transfer of water. However, the integration processes of transferred water into HRSC and the hydrological and hydrochemical responses of HRSC remain poorly understood. Based on the hydrological observation and hydrogeochemical analyses, we delineate the processes and influences of Yellow River water integration into the HRSC of the Fen River, clarifying the essential mechanisms. Our results indicate that high mixing ratios of transferred water in the channel (94%) and increased recharge into the aquifer are responsible for noticeable hydraulic and hydrochemical influences within the HRSC. Specifically, the hydraulic impact range of the seepage river on adjacent groundwater is much greater than the range of hydrochemical influence. The mixing of river water and groundwater is confined to the riparian zone. Approximately 14% of Na + and K + ions were adsorbed from the percolating river water through ion exchange prior to mixing. During the intervals of the transfer, bank storage backflow persisted for an average of about four weeks, imposing hydrochemical influences on the Fen River similar to those of the transferred water. Additionally, we found that the repelling salts effect of icing induces an overestimation of the proportion of the end member with higher ion concentrations. Our study highlights the importance of anthropogenic water cycle processes on earth system.

: Rapid land development is raising concern regarding the ability of urbanizing watersheds to sustain adequate base flow during periods of drought. Long term streamflow records from unregulated watersheds of the lower to middle Delaware River basin are examined to evaluate the impact of urbanization and imperviousness on base flow. Trends in annual base flow volumes, seven‐day low flows, and runoff ratios are determined for six urbanizing watersheds and four reference watersheds across three distinct physiographic regions. Hydrograph separation is used to determine annual base flow and stormflow volumes, and nonparametric trend tests are conducted on the resulting time series. Of the watersheds examined, the expected effects of declining base flow volumes and seven‐day low flows and increasing stormflows are seen in only one watershed that is approximately 20 percent impervious and has been subject to a net water export over the past 15 years. Both interbasin transfers and hydrologic mechanisms are invoked to explain these results. The results show that increases in impervious area may not result in measurable reductions in base flow at the watershed scale.

In semi-arid environments, the effects of irregularly distributed rainfall, flow regulation and water inter-basin transfer enhance the spread of non-native fish to the detriment of native communities. In the River Segura, since the 1980s the number of non-native fish species has progressively increased, also because of the building of water transfer facility connecting the rivers Segura and Tajo. With the aim of highlighting how man-driven changes in the diversity of fish communities affect the diet of top-predators, we compared Eurasian otter Lutra lutra diet in the span of 20 years, i.e. 1997–98 vs. 2016–19. As habitat quality affects the condition of Andalusian barbel Luciobarbus sclateri, the most widespread native fish, we also compared the size of preyed barbels to point out whether human activities may have lowered their profitability to otters. Fish and introduced red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii formed the bulk of otter diet in both study periods. In 2016–19 the contribution of non-native species to otter diet increased significantly, both for crayfish and fish, which included ten non-native species. Otter feeding habits faithfully mirrored the variation in the composition of the fish community and confirmed the importance of crayfish as alternative-to-fish prey in the Iberian Peninsula. The average length of preyed barbels was significantly lower in the second study period, consistently with a decline in barbel profitability for otters.

Rapid population growth, rising water demands, inefficient management, and various distributions of water are the major causes of increased pressure on water resources and the consequent increased water-based conflicts especially in arid and semi-arid regions in Iran being a case in point. Iran is the second largest country in the Middle East. The country-wide average annual precipitation is about 250 mm, which is about one third of the world’s average. Therefore, Iran is one of the driest countries in the world. The water supply for human activities in Iran’s provinces has become an increasingly complex task. One of the conventional methods to supply water to these regions is through inter-basin water transfers, from water-endowed regions to water-scarce regions. For such projects, it is necessary but also difficult and expensive to estimate the total water storage of every province with traditional methods. This study employs the GRACE satellite data for 2002–2016 are used and develops a method to assess the linkage between water scarcity and conflicts in Iran’s provinces. In addition, a transferability index is formulated based on population and conveyable water parameters demonstrating the conditions of the provinces in inter-basin water transfer for reaching equitable compromises. This index leads to an evaluation of the possibility of conflicts arising from inter-basin water transfer projects in Iran. This work’s results show that the Bushehr region has a significant amount of conveyable water and low population and hence is suitable to be one of the water-exporting provinces in the inter-basin water projects. The results of this work also demonstrate that the western provinces are likely to experience serious depletion of water resources, and conflicts may arise in the western and central basins due to the changes in water quantity exacerbated by the inter-basin transfer projects.

Irrigation effectively increases yields and buffers against intensifying climatic stressors to crop productivity but also produces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through several pathways including energy use for pumping (on farm and for interbasin water transfers), N2O emissions from increased denitrification under elevated soil moisture, and degassing of groundwater supersaturated in CO2. Despite irrigation’s climate adaptation potential, associated GHG emissions remain unquantified. Here we conduct a comprehensive, county-level assessment of US GHG emissions from these irrigation-related pathways, estimating that irrigation produces 18.9 MtCO2e annually (95% confidence interval 15.2–23.5 Mt), with 12.6 Mt from on-farm pumping, 1.1 Mt from pumping for interbasin transfers, 2.9 Mt from elevated N2O and 2.4 Mt from groundwater degassing. These emissions are highly spatially concentrated, revealing opportunities for geographically targeted and source-specific GHG mitigation actions. These findings enable strategic consideration of GHG emissions in decision-making associated with irrigation expansion for climate adaptation.Despite its utility for climate change adaptation, US irrigation produces 18.9 MtCO2e yr−1 from groundwater degassing, elevated N2O and energy use. This county-level analysis reveals opportunities for geographically targeted emissions mitigation.

The Orange-Senqu River Basin, one of the largest in southern Africa, spans about 1 million km2 and includes all of Lesotho and parts of South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia. Originating in the Lesotho Highlands, the river flows westward for 2,200 km, discharging into the Atlantic Ocean. This complex and highly regulated water system features several major inter-basin transfer schemes. It plays a vital economic role, contributing 26% to South Africa's GDP and supplying water to Gauteng province, which generates 33.9% of the national GDP. In Lesotho, the entire country lies within the basin, making it central to all economic activity. Botswana and Namibia also benefit from the basin, particularly in mining and agriculture. Over the last decade, the Orange-Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM), supported by development partners, has focused on evaluating and improving water resource management in the region. The basin's importance lies not only in its scale but also in its critical role in regional economic development and sustainability.