Evolutionary overview of water resource management (1990–2019) based on a bibliometric analysis in Web of Science

Abstract

Globally, only 3% of water is fresh water that can be directly used by people. Limited water resources threaten fields, which are closely associated with social and economic development. Water resource management is an effective way to measure the supply and demand of water resources and improve the efficiency of water resource use and equalize spatial allocation. This article retrieved 1430 water resource management articles published from 1990 to 2019 through the Web of Science Core Collection. Thematic evolution analysis, cluster analysis and SciMAT were used to identify the evolutionary path of water resource management. The results showed that the water resource management studies have increased in the past 20 years, and became a research hotspot, and the number of articles increased considerably after 2011. The water resource management research themes have mainly focused on water supply, ecosystem services, policies, and simulations. The water resource management field has six evolutionary paths in two directions. These results showed that studies on the supply and demand of water resources are the main lines of knowledge and will be research hotspots. In addition, it states that the developed and developing countries have regional differences in theme evolution. This study proposed that issues related to scale, strengthening communication and integration within disciplines, introducing new theories and methods, and sustainable use will become future research directions that require more water resource management attention.