River Basin Scale Research Articles

Does the urban sprawl matter in Yangtze River Economic Belt, China? An integrated analysis with urban sprawl index and one scenario analysis model

Urban sprawl is challenging regional sustainability in China due to its complex ecological and environmental impacts. This study aimed to effectively simulate and forecast urban sprawl in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), China. First, we measured the extent of urban sprawl from 1992 to 2015 based on the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) nighttime light data and an urban sprawl index (USI) at the administrative and river basin scales. Then, we established an urban sprawl scenario analysis (USSA) model that considered the extent of urban sprawl, the source level, ecological barriers and ecological resistance. Finally, we defined four scenarios to simulate the boundaries and spatial morphologies of urban sprawl in the YREB. The results indicate that the YREB will continue to spread at different scales and present unbalanced states under all urban area sprawl scenarios. Under the different scenarios, the upper reaches represented the most sprawling basin, the medium cities exhibited the greatest sprawl, and Cheng-Yu (CY) was the most sprawling urban agglomeration. The most sprawling cities were Chongqing, Kunming and Lijiang, accounting for 7.73%, 2.66% and 2.55% of the entire YREB, respectively. The urban land shared a similar sprawl trend across different years, increasing from 40,665 km2 in 2020 to approximately 111,092 km2 in 2035, for an annual growth rate of 6.93%. Thus, it is suggested that effective measures are needed to manage urban sustainability in the YREB, China.

Valuing users’ willingness to pay for improved water quality in the context of the water framework directive

ABSTRACT The Water Framework Directive (WFD) explicitly acknowledges the role of economics in the process of achieving the water quality targets it sets. At the same time, stakeholder participation in water resources management is emphasized in the Directive. In this paper, we examine farmers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for ecological status improvement at a river basin scale. Based on a Contingent Valuation survey aims first to estimate the value farmers place on water quality improvement as it is envisaged by the WFD. Then through the use of different econometric models it was attempted to address zero responses and to find a robust estimate for the mean WTP. In a sample of more than 300 respondents, we found that 64.57% of them expressed zero responses. Further findings indicate that the mean values irrigators are willing to pay, for reaching the water quality targets set by the Directive, range between 11.5€/ha and 22.0€/ha (on an annual basis). Through the present research, farmers’ willingness-to-pay for improvements in water quality directly investigated for the first time in Greece. Therefore, the results are provided can be useful for central decision makers.

Chemical weathering and atmospheric CO2 consumption in the semi-arid Swarnamukhi basin (Peninsular India) estimated from river water geochemistry

A small ephemeral Swarnamukhi River (hard rock) basin, more sensitive to climate change, was sampled and analyzed for various parameters. A total of 66 river water samples (22 of each season) were collected from different sampling stations covering the whole Swarnamukhi River basin in pre- and post- and monsoon seasons. Chemical weathering rate data of the Swarnamukhi River basin is integrated with the available data of other large perennial (Godavari and Krishna) and ephemeral (Kaveri and Periyar) hard rock river basins of Peninsular India. The Peninsular river basins, including Swarnamukhi River basin, are mainly dominated by granitic gneissic terrain. Contribution of inputs through forward modelling shows: silicate > evaporite > carbonate > atmosphere. The mean silicate and carbonate weathering rates in the river basin observed are 27.15 tonnes.km−2.yr−1 and 9.45 tonnes.km−2.yr−1 in pre-monsoon season, whereas 32.73 tonnes.km−2.yr−1and 45.90 tonnes.km−2.yr−1 in post-monsoon season, respectively. The Swarnamukhi river has lower silicate weathering rate (annual average: 30.57 tonnes.km−2.yr−1) than other published river basins data (Narmada: 33.9 tonnes.km−2.yr−1; Nethravati: 42 tonnes.km−2.yr−1; Godavari: 45.6 tonnes.km−2.yr−1) due to different localized geological setting. Mean annual CO2 consumption for the Swarnamukhi River is 6.9 × 105 mol km−2.yr−1 which is comparable to other Peninsular rivers such as the Godavari (6 × 105 mol km−2.yr−1) and Gad (5.7 × 105 mol km−2.yr−1) rivers. The study further provides the inventory for CO2 consumption on river basin scale, which is an important consideration from the global warming point of view.

Local environmental factors influence beta-diversity patterns of tropical fish assemblages more than spatial factors.

A major goal in ecology is to understand mechanisms that influence patterns of biodiversity and community assembly at various spatial and temporal scales. Understanding how community composition is created and maintained also is critical for natural resource management and biological conservation. In this study, we investigated environmental and spatial factors influencing beta diversity of local fish assemblages along the longitudinal gradient of a nearly pristine Neotropical river in the Colombian Llanos. Standardized surveys were conducted during the low-water season at 34 sites within the Bita River Basin. Physical, chemical, and landscape parameters were recorded at each site, and asymmetric eigenvector maps were used as spatial variables. To examine the relative influence of dispersal and environmental variables on beta diversity and its components, distance-based redundancy analysis (db-RDA) and variation partitioning analysis were conducted. We proposed that spatial scale of analysis and position within the river network would constrain patterns of beta diversity in different ways. However, results indicated that in this system, high beta diversity was consistent among species assemblages no matter the scale of analysis or position within the river network. Species replacement (turnover) dominated beta diversity, an indication of the importance of species sorting. These findings suggested that conservation of fish diversity in tropical rivers requires maintenance of both habitat heterogeneity (spatial variation in habitat conditions) and connectivity at the scale of entire river basins.

Hydrological Modeling Response to Climate Model Spatial Analysis of a South Eastern Europe International Basin

One of the most common questions in hydrological modeling addresses the issue of input data resolution. Is the spatial analysis of the meteorological/climatological data adequate to ensure the description of simulated phenomena, e.g., the discharges in rainfall–runoff models at the river basin scale, to a sufficient degree? The aim of the proposed research was to answer this specific question by investigating the response of a spatially distributed hydrological model to climatic inputs of various spatial resolution. In particular, ERA-Interim gridded precipitation and temperature datasets of low, medium, and high resolution, i.e., 0.50° × 0.50°, 0.25° × 0.25°, and 0.125° × 0.125°, respectively, were used to feed a distributed hydrological model that was applied to a transboundary river basin in the Balkan Peninsula, while all the other model’s parameters were maintained the same at each simulation run. The outputs demonstrate that, for the extent of the specific basin study, the simulated discharges were adequately correlated with the observed ones, with the marginally best results presented in the case of precipitation and temperature of 0.25° × 0.25° spatial analysis. The results of the research indicate that the selection of ERA-Interim data can indeed improve or facilitate the researcher’s outputs when dealing with regional hydrologic simulations.

Introduction to the Water‐Soil‐Air‐Plant‐Human Nexus: Modeling and Observing Complex Land Surface Systems at River Basin Scale

AbstractBidirectional coupling of complex human‐nature system can be referred to as water‐soil‐air‐plant‐human nexus, and integrated studies of this nexus have been carried out in many river basins around the world. This special issue reports contributions for modeling, observing, and understanding of water‐soil‐air‐plant‐human nexus at river basin scale, particularly those from the “Integrated research on the eco‐hydrological process of the Heihe River Basin” program. This paper highlights key results as an introduction to the special issue.

Sensitivity of soil moisture to precipitation and temperature over China: Present state and future projection

Soil moisture (SM) is a key variable in the climate system as it regulates the latent and sensible heat partition and influences eco-hydrological processes. A few studies have highlighted the increasing frequency of SM droughts at the river basin scale in China, however, little is known about the SM response to precipitation (P) and near-surface temperature (T) at national and regional scales. In this study, the long-term SM dynamics based on a sophisticated land surface hydrological model (i.e., the Variable Infiltration Capacity, VIC) were identified after model evaluation. A simple but effective sensitivity-based approach was developed to quantify the elasticity (ε) and sensitivity (S) of SM to P and T, and the SM was projected for the near future at the regional scale. The results indicate that China has experienced slightly wetter soil conditions during the past five decades and the SM has increased in the arid and semi-arid regions of China, i.e., the North East (0.11 mm/yr) and the North West (0.047 mm/yr). The elasticity and the sensitivity of SM are the highest in the humid region (i.e., South East China), indicating that small increases of P and T are likely to induce considerable changes in the SM relative to other regions. The sensitivity-based approach could perform SM estimation similar to the complex VIC modeling. This approach projected that North China (−5.05 ± 2.31%) and South West China (−5.95 ± 2.04%) are likely to experience drying with a considerable decline in SM due to reduction in P and rise in T in the near future period from 2020 to 2050. The slightly wet soil conditions in the past and a drying future scenario may imply a contrasting consequence for the regional-scale hydrological cycles.

Estimating the disequilibrium in denudation rates due to divide migration at the scale of river basins

Abstract. Basin-averaged denudation rates may locally exhibit a wide dispersion, even in areas where the topographic steady state is supposedly achieved regionally. This dispersion is often attributed to the accuracy of the data or to some degree of natural variability of local erosion rates which can be related to stochastic processes such as landsliding. Another physical explanation of this dispersion is local and transient disequilibrium between tectonic forcing and erosion at the scale of catchments. Recent studies have shown that basin divide migration can potentially induce such perturbations, and they propose metrics to assess divide mobility based on cross-divide contrasts in headwater topographic features. Here, we use a set of landscape evolution models assuming spatially uniform uplift, rock strength and rainfall to assess the effect of divide mobility on basin-wide denudation rates. We propose using basin-averaged aggressivity metrics based on cross-divide contrasts (1) in channel χ, an integral function of position in the channel network; (2) in channel local gradient; and (3) in channel height, measured at a reference drainage area. From our simulations, we show that the metric based on differences in χ is the most reliable to diagnose local disequilibrium. The other metrics are more suitable for relatively active tectonic regions such as mountain belts, where contrasts in local gradient and elevation are more important. We find that the ratio of basin denudation associated with drainage migration to uplift can reach a factor of 2, regardless of the imposed uplift rate, erodibility, diffusivity coefficient or critical hillslope gradient. A comparison with field observations in the Great Smoky Mountains (southern Appalachians, USA) underlines the difficulty of using the metric based on χ, which depends on the – poorly constrained – elevation of the outlet of the investigated catchment. Regardless of the considered metrics, we show that observed dispersion is controlled by catchment size: a smaller basin may be more sensitive to divide migration and hence to disequilibrium. Our results thus highlight the relevance of divide stability analysis from digital elevation models as a fundamental preliminary step for basin-wide denudation rate studies based on cosmogenic radionuclide concentrations.

Coupling scenarios of climate and land-use change with assessments of potential ecosystem services at the river basin scale

Climate and land-use changes are posing increasing threats to freshwater-related ecosystem services, acting both on the supply and the demand side. A better understanding of the dynamics of these potential services, driven by the interactions between the factors mentioned above, could bring benefits to water resources management, the environment, and human well-being. In this work, we developed an integrated modeling approach to assess the conjoined impacts of land-use and climate changes on the potential ecosystem services (i.e. water yield and nutrients retention) until 2050. This approach was applied to the Taro River basin in Italy.Firstly, the results showed a 20% reduction in water yield was driven mainly by the increases in evapotranspiration demand and changes in rainfall patterns. Furthermore, a mean decrease of approximately 3% of the total nitrogen retention and a mean increase of 3% for the total phosphorus retention could be mainly attributed to land-use changes. Secondly, the rate of change would be different over time with the most pronounced differences between 2020 and 2030 and slower variations afterward. Finally, the obtained results could be a valuable support to identify and prioritize the best management practices for sustainable water use, balancing the tradeoffs among services.

Simultaneous Health Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in Soils and Sediments of the Guishui River Basin, Beijing.

Simultaneous ecological and health risk assessments of potentially toxic elements in soils and sediments can provide substantial information on their environmental influence at the river-basin scale. Herein, soil and sediment samples were collected from the Guishui River basin to evaluate the pollution situation and the ecological and health risk of potentially toxic elements. Various indexes were utilized for quantitatively assessing their health risks. Pollution assessment by geo-accumulation index showed that Cd had “uncontaminated to moderately polluted” status in the soils and sediments. Potential ecological risk index showed that the Guishui River basin was at low risk in general, but Cd was classified as “moderate or considerable ecological risk” both in the soils and sediments. Health risk assessment calculated human exposure from soils and indicated that both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of the selected potentially toxic elements were lower than the acceptable levels. Health risks posed by potentially toxic elements bio-accumulated in fish, stemming from sediment resuspension, were also assessed. Non-carcinogenic hazard index indicated no adverse health effects on humans via exposure to sediments; however, in general, Cr contributed largely to health risks among the selected potentially toxic elements. Therefore, special attention needs to be paid to the Guishui River basin in the future.

Multi-Objective Optimization of Hydropower and Agricultural Development at River Basin Scale

The need for achieving efficient, equitable and sustainable use of water resources to meet water demands of different sectors is necessary, particularly in areas where water resources are decreasing. In the basins where water is required for both energy production and irrigation, allocation of water resources must be planned in such a way that both objectives can be achieved. In this research, a simulation-optimization approach has been used to solve the problem of optimal planning at the watershed scale. The water evaluation and planning system (WEAP) simulation model link with the multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) model for optimal long term planning at the basin scale. Therefore, the objective functions of the problem are 1) maximize the cultivation area of agricultural development sectors and 2) maximize the energy produced by the hydropower plant. The developed simulation-optimization model was employed in the problem of optimal water resources planning in the Kashkan river basin in the west of Iran. The Pareto front obtained represents the best trade-off between hydropower and agricultural development in the basin and can be used for water-energy-food nexus planning. For example one of the solutions of Pareto front, in addition to an increase of about 8% of the objective function 2 (generated energy), the value of the objective function 1 (cultivation area) is approximately 5 times higher than the results of previous studies. This demonstrates the proper performance of the simulation-optimization model in the optimal allocation and planning of water resources at the basin scale based on the water-energy-food nexus approach.

Establish data infrastructure to compile and exchange environmental screening data on a European scale

Robust techniques based on liquid (LC) and gas chromatography (GC) coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) enable sensitive screening, identification, and (semi)quantification of thousands of substances in a single sample. Recent progress in computational sciences has enabled archiving and processing of HR-MS ‘big data’ at the routine level. As a result, community-based databases containing thousands of environmental pollutants are rapidly growing and large databases of substances with unique identifiers allowing for inter-comparison at the global scale have become available. A data-archiving infrastructure is proposed, allowing for retrospective screening of HR-MS data, which will help define the ‘chemical universe’ of organic substances and enable prioritisation of toxicants causing adverse environmental effects at the local, river basin, and national and European scale in support of the European water and chemicals management policy.

Evaluating the Willingness to Pay for Using Recycled Water for Irrigation

The present study attempts to estimate individuals’ willingness to pay for recycled water irrigation, in order to enhance the water supply and ensure the continuation of irrigated agriculture in Nestos catchment. Contingent valuation method has been developed for the investigation of farmers’ preferences, in monetary terms, to adopt this alternative water source for irrigation purposes. The applied method is regularly followed in the framework of environmental valuation. The results of the survey are based on data collected from questionnaires, which were answered by respondents at a river basin scale. In a representative sample of 302 farmers, we find that 64.2% of them expressed a positive stance towards using recycled water, a fact that results in lower environmental impacts. However, findings indicate that participants are willing to pay a significantly less amount of money than they already pay, for freshwater. Additionally, the analysis demonstrates that the use of recycled water in agriculture is more acceptable to respondents who are aware of its environmental benefits. Therefore, the provision of complete information on the welfare of using recycled water for irrigation to farmers may lead to greater adoption intention and a greater environmental benefit.

Moving beyond water centricity? Conceptualizing integrated water resources management for implementing sustainable development goals

While the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015, establishes an ambitious set of goals, targets and indicators for supporting global sustainability, greater conceptual clarity is required to measure implementation. A key UN Target (6.5) for implementing sustainable development goal (SDG) 6 is to ‘implement integrated water resources management (IWRM) at all levels’. However, we argue that the current UN emphasis on measuring its implementation through institutional indicators limits our understanding of effectiveness, while ignoring links to other SDGs. While IWRM is often interpreted to mean the integration of water-related management components at the river basin scale, conceptualizations differ significantly. Specifying the critical normative principles of IWRM, therefore, becomes important for measuring its implementation. Drawing upon pre-existing conceptualizations, we consequently identify seven core principles or dimensions (integration; scale; institutions; participation; economic valuation; equity; and, environmental/ecological protection) to re-conceptualize IWRM after the adoption of agenda 2030. These dimensions, we argue, allow more objective measurement of IWRM implementation through the development of Target 6.5 sub-indicators. They also help shift IWRM beyond its current ‘water centric’ emphasis to enhance its contribution to achieving other SDGs such as those for ending poverty, providing clean and affordable energy, achieving gender equality, protecting terrestrial ecosystems, promoting sustainable cities, combatting hunger and climate change, and strengthening the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

Critical Review of the Public Participation Process in Drought Management Plans. The Guadalquivir River Basin Case in Spain

In an ever-growing environment of uncertainty, complex interactions and climate extremes, the effective implementation of Public Participation (PP) into water management is sought as a key step to address water challenges and achieve holistic solutions. This requirement was already set out in the EU Water Framework Directive (Art. 14) 20 years ago. However, is PP successfully implemented in water management decisions, practices and policies nowadays? The literature review has revealed that there are few recent and detailed studies that assess this issue at the river basin scale. The aim of this paper is to contribute towards building evidence base on this topic. The learnings could be applied during the current consultation and development of the 3rd cycle River Basin Management Plans across EU. This study presents the complex and paradigmatic case of the Guadalquivir River Basin (GRB) in southern Spain. This work evaluates the real influence of PP on the most recent (2018) GRB Drought Management Plan (DMP) and draws important conclusions and recommendations in this regard. The findings showed that PP had, actually, negligible influence on shaping the final (2018) GRB DMP. In fact, there was a very limited incorporation of the local knowledge and experience received from participants, highlighting the absence of a truly inclusive participation strategy. In contrast to this, PP should proactively involve all interested parties at an early stage when there are still opportunities to alter the strategy. This could bring significant benefits such as taking more ownership and responsibility by water users.

Monitoring of environmental flow outcomes in a large river basin: The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder's long‐term intervention in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

AbstractThe Murray–Darling Basin in south‐eastern Australia contains over 70,000 km2 of wetlands and floodplains, many of which are in poor condition. In response, Australian governments have committed to a major restoration program, the Murray–Darling Basin Plan that includes management of 2,750 Gl of environmental water to protect and restore aquatic ecosystems. The restoration is being undertaken within an adaptive management framework that includes monitoring the outcomes of environmental flows in seven river valleys. This paper provides an overview of the 5‐year monitoring project and some preliminary results. Monitoring design considered the Basin Plan's environmental objectives, conceptual models of ecosystem responses to flow, and an outcomes framework linking flow responses to the environmental objectives. Monitoring indicators includes ecosystem type, vegetation, river metabolism, and fish. Responses are evaluated to identify the contribution of environmental flows to Basin Plan environmental objectives and continual improvements in management. The program is unique in that it seeks to monitor long‐term outcomes of environmental flows at the river basin scale. Despite many challenges, the monitoring has become a key part of the adaptive management of environmental flows in the Murray–Darling Basin.

The role of GRACE total water storage anomalies, streamflow and rainfall in stream salinity trends across Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin during and post the Millennium Drought

By influencing water tables of saline aquifers, multiyear dry or wet periods can significantly delay or accelerate dryland salinity, but this effect remains poorly quantified at the large river basin scale. The Gravity and Climate Recovery Experiment (GRACE) satellite measures changes in the total water storage of river systems, providing a unique opportunity for better understanding connections between stream salinity and changes in catchment water storages at the large river basin scale. Here, we quantified the role of GRACE total water storage anomalies (TWSA) in stream salinity variability across Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin (∼1 million km2), while also accounting for streamflow and rainfall. We used the MERRA-2 global land surface model to i) place our findings in the context of the longer-term hydroclimatology (1980-present) and ii) to decompose TWSA into groundwater storage as an alternative driver variable. Multivariate time series regression models (generalized additive mixed models or GAMM) showed that the driver variables could explain 20–50% of the variability in stream salinity across 8 sub-catchments in the Murray Darling Basin. TWSA commonly explained as much variability as streamflow, while groundwater storage and TWSA had very similar explanatory power and rainfall only negligible contributions. The 2000–2009 Millennium Drought and the subsequent La Nina Floods had a predominantly decelerating and accelerating effect on stream salinity respectively and these trends were partially explained by trends in TWSA. Our study illustrates that GRACE can be a useful addition for monitoring and modeling dryland salinity over large river basins.

Analysis of precipitation time series and regional drought assessment based on the standardized precipitation index in the Oum Er-Rbia basin (Morocco)

The Oum Er-Rbia river basin, located in the Midwest of Morocco, is one of the largest watersheds in the country. Owing to its strategic importance, it has attracted important investments in hydraulic infrastructures. However, the variability of the meteorological and hydrological regimes leads to water scarcity in this region. Therefore, it is essential to analyze drought characteristics at the river basin scale. This study intends to analyze a large data set obtained from 25 weather stations during a period of 42 years (1970–2011) and to estimate the regional drought characteristics. We have analyzed precipitation data by linear regression and vector methods to develop a complete and homogeneous rainfall database. Next, we have estimated the drought characteristics, frequency, and duration, using the standardized precipitation index. Results indicate the occurrence of dry periods during the following time intervals 1980–1987, 1991–1995, 1997–2002, and 2006–2008 in the Oum Er-Rbia river basin. They exhibit a relatively high frequency with intensity ranging between moderate and severe. The spatial extent of droughts in the basin has increased over time. This could have impacts on water resource availability.

Hybrid Wavelet-ARX approach for modeling association between rainfall and meteorological forcings at river basin scale

Interaction between meteorological and hydrologic processes is challenging to model owing to their high spatio-temporal variability. The understanding of their associations can help to ensure future fresh water security with changing climate. In this study, due to continuously evolving nature of these interactions, the hydrological and meteorological variables are studied on wavelet component level. Multi-Resolution Stationary Wavelet Transformation (MRSWT) is used to transform the independent (climatic variable) and dependent (hydrological variable) time series into their components. The components of the dependent time series are modeled using a kernel-based auto-regressive (AR) model for separating their memory part. The residuals are hypothesized to be the effect of interaction of predictor variables and thus, are modeled using the MRSWT components of meteorological variables in an auto-regressive model with exogenous inputs (ARX). Finally, the predicted residuals (effect of climatic variables) are added to the component estimated by kernel-based AR estimator (memory of dependent series components) to obtain the predicted components of the dependent hydrologic variable, which are then inverse-transformed to obtain the predicted dependent hydrologic variable. The developed hybrid Wavelet-ARX is found to capture the information about relationship between synthetically generated data better than a simple ARX model. The model is then applied to predict total monthly rainfall over Upper Mahanadi Basin and is found to effectively extract the information from the poorly associated hydro meteorological variables. While the potential of Wavelet-ARX is found to be impressive for hydro meteorological applications, additionally, discarding some climatic inputs on the basis of their relative importance may lead to better prediction by the developed model. The developed model is suitable for extracting climatic forcings and is desirable in a changing climate.

Water diplomacy and nexus governance in a transboundary context: In the search for complementarities

Growing evidence within nexus research has highlighted the importance for sustainable governance of considering the interdependencies between water, energy, food and the environment, whereas water diplomacy has provided the necessary tools to address water conflicts of a transboundary nature. This paper therefore identifies and evaluates unrealised complementarities between nexus governance and water diplomacy, and discusses the benefits of integrating both for improved transboundary basin management. Two case studies - a wastewater treatment plant within the Jordan's nexus vision and a research project into management of the transboundary Zambezi River Basin - illustrate the identified complementarities and their contribution towards collaborative transboundary natural resources management. On one hand, the consideration of synergies and trade-offs between water, energy and food systems and beyond the river basin scale within nexus governance engages a larger diversity of stakeholders and can help realise more balanced agreements between sectors and hence complement water diplomacy goals. The enriched negotiations arising from a nexus approach can facilitate benefits-sharing in water diplomacy due to the broader exchange of experiences across several natural resources systems. Likewise, international nexus development projects involving a diverse range of sectors and stakeholders can ultimately facilitate peace building through inter-state cooperation and reduce the focus on disputed natural resources. On the other hand, water diplomacy provides tools to address complexity and capture political contexts that overcome the traditional technical and ‘most-rational-solution’ methods. With the application of joint fact finding, value creation and collaborative adaptive management, the added value includes the generation of a shared understanding that embeds politics in decision-making and promotes mutual gains. Further collaboration and on-the-ground experiences between researchers, policy makers and the private sector are needed, to acknowledge and act upon the complementarities of nexus governance and water diplomacy, with the final outcome of promoting cooperation in the management of transboundary resources.