Water Resources Systems Research Articles

An information theory-based approach to characterize drivers of upstream salmon migration

The migration timing of Pacific salmon in the Columbia River basin is subject to multiple influences related to climate, human water resource management, and lagged effects such as oceanic conditions. We apply an information theory-based approach to analyze drivers of adult Chinook salmon migration within the spring and fall spawning seasons and between years based on salmon counts at dams along the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Time-lagged mutual information and information decomposition measures, which characterize lagged and nonlinear dependencies as reductions in uncertainty, are used to detect interactions between salmon counts and lagged streamflows, air and water temperatures, precipitation, snowpack, climate indices and downstream salmon counts. At a daily timescale, these interdependencies reflect migration timing and show differences between fall and spring run salmon, while dependencies based on variables at an annual resolution reflect long-term predictability. We also highlight several types of joint dependencies where predictability of salmon counts depends on the knowledge of multiple lagged sources. This study illustrates how co-varying human and natural drivers could propagate to influence salmon migration timing or overall returns, and how nonlinear types of dependencies between variables enhance predictability of a target. This information-based framework is broadly applicable to assess driving factors in other types of complex water resources systems or species life cycles.

Study of Water Resources Optimal Operation Model of Multireservoir: A Case Study of Kuitun River Basin in Northwestern China

Aiming at the problems that need to be solved urgently in the current operation of a multireservoir in Kuitun River Basin, such as the uneven distribution of water resources in time and space, the large workload of manual operation calculation, and low coordination level, the paper takes the optimal operation of water resources in the basin as the main goal and carries out the research on the optimal operation model of the multireservoir in combination with the complex characteristics of local water resources system. Firstly, based on the generalization of hydraulic engineering in Kuitun River Basin, a water resources optimal operation model of the multireservoir is established and is solved by the graph theory. Then, the actual data of typical years were selected to test the model. The test results show that, compared with the actual water distribution, the water shortage rate of 2015 and 2016 in high flow years decreased by 98.57% and 100%, respectively; the water shortage rate of 2013 and 2014 in normal flow years decreased by 92.65% and 96.38%, respectively; and the water shortage rate of 2009 in a low flow year decreased by 87.78%. The model can provide the optimal operation scheme for the optimal operation of the multireservoir in the basin. And it can solve the problems such as the uneven distribution of water resources and the large workload of manual operation calculation and can provide technical support for the optimal operation of water resources of the multireservoir in Kuitun River Basin in the future.

Coupling research on spatio-temporal differentiation of water resources carrying capacity in mature mining cities

Abstract Long-term unreasonable mining has seriously affected the water resources quality of mature mining cities, but mining development is an important economic pillar of those cities. The problems between sustainable development of mining cities and environmental protection of water resources need to be solved urgently. Based on the state-danger-immunity (SDI) conceptual framework, this paper constructs the evaluation system of water resources carrying capacity (WRCC), and calculates the temporal and spatial differentiation of WRCC of mature mining cities from 2013 to 2019 by combining the criteria importance through intercriteria correlation (CRITIC) method, catastrophe progression model and coupling degree model. The results show that: (1) except that the WRCC grade of Bozhou rose to overload, the WRCC grade of other cities remained unchanged. Huainan, Chuzhou and Xuancheng all showed a downward trend, Suzhou and Chizhou were relatively stable, and Bozhou showed an upward trend. (2) The WRCC of mature mining cities showed an oblique N-type fluctuation. The change range of water resources quality state was small, and the changes in water resources security danger and water resources risk immunity were completely opposite. (3) The coordinated development of mature mining cities as a whole with Chuzhou and Xuancheng has changed from primary imbalance to severe imbalance. Other cities have been in severe imbalance.

Construction of Ecological Compensation System for Water Environment Resource in Public Places Using Grey Correlation

In the geographical locations where drinking water sources are available, ecological compensation is a potent environmental economic tool for conservation of the environment. The existing systems cannot analyze the extent of ecological damage to water environment resources due to the increase in compensation cost and reduction in compensation efficiency. Therefore, an ecological compensation system of natural water resources in public places is proposed in this paper for preserving one of the most important natural resources, “water.” The system obstacles in the implementation of ecological resource compensation mechanisms for water protection regions of public places are analyzed using grey relational analysis. The status of payment and benefits in the upstream and downstream sections of public places is determined on the basis of a study of compensation theory. Then, the ecological compensation system of the river basin is established by calculating accommodation of water footprint model. Moreover, the key factors of the extent of ecological damage to water environment resources in public space are analyzed by an improved grey relational analysis method. The water footprint model has analyzed the safety and pressure analysis of water resources in public attractions places. The results are retrieved in a simulated environment which shows that the designed system can effectively enhance the compensation efficiency and reduce the compensation costs. The ecological compensation system is developed to actualize the economy and natural resources for the sustainable growth.

Online Evaluation Method of Water Resources Recycling Effect in Urban Landscaping Using Fuzzy Approach

The common perception of people about recycling involves reusage of aluminum cans, glass bottles, and newspapers, whereas recycling of water resources is a most important aspect nowadays. Water recycling is known to reuse cleaned wastewater for beneficial applications including agricultural and landscape irrigation, industrial activities, and replenishing a groundwater using the latest technologies. The current methods have some flaws in the evaluations of water resources’ recycling systems such as large mean square error, time complexity, and low-evaluation efficiency; therefore, this paper proposes an online evaluation method for the recycling process of water resources in urban landscaping. The health model of water resources recycling in urban landscaping has been analyzed using fuzzy-based approach. Second, the evaluation index system of water resources’ recycling is also analyzed using the ecological water-level analysis results, water resource quality, water resource abundance, and water resource utilization rate. Then, the extension of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is utilized to calculate the weight of water recycling evaluation index. Then a fuzzy-based comprehensive evaluation method is used to find the online evaluation model of the water recycling. Eventually, the evaluation of the effect of water recycling in urban landscaping is performed and analysis is made for decision-making. The results prove that the proposed AHP and fuzzy method has a low mean square error and high accuracy.

Integrated strategic planning and multi-criteria decision-making framework with its application to agricultural water management

Sustainable water resources management involves social, economic, environmental, water use, and resources factors. This study proposes a new framework of strategic planning with multi-criteria decision-making to develop sustainable water management alternatives for large scale water resources systems. A fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making model is developed to rank regional management alternatives for agricultural water management considering water-resources sustainability criteria. The decision-making model combines hierarchical analysis and the fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The management alternatives were presented spatially in the form of zoning maps at the level of irrigation zones of the study area. The results show that the irrigation management zone No.3 (alternative A3) was ranked first based on agricultural water demand and supply management in five among seven available scenarios, in which the scenarios represents a possible combination of weights assigned to the weighing criteria. Specifically, the results show that irrigation management zone No.3 (alternative A3) achieved the best ranking values of 0.151, 0.169, 0.152, 0.174 and 0.164 with respect to scenarios 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7, respectively. However, irrigation management zone No.2 (alternative A2) achieved the best values of 0.152 and 0.150 with respect to the second and third scenarios, respectively. The model results identify the best management alternatives for agricultural water management in large-scale irrigation and drainage networks.

Measurement of Agricultural Water and Land Resource System Vulnerability with Random Forest Model Implied by the Seagull Optimization Algorithm

To evaluate the state of an agricultural development more comprehensively, a vulnerability assessment is introduced into agricultural water and land resources system, and it is expected that the vulnerability assessment can provide a basis for improving system structure and function and realizing sustainable development. In the study, 27 evaluation indicators are selected from the agricultural water and land resources system (AWLRS), socio-economic system and ecological structure system to construct the evaluation index system for agricultural water and land resource system vulnerability (AWLRSV). Seagull optimization algorithm (SOA) is used to calibrate the parameters of the random forest (RF) model. SOA-RF model is applied to measure the AWLRSV of Heilongjiang Province in China. The results show that the SOA-RF model has higher accuracy and stronger stability than the traditional RF model and DA-RF model. The value of AWLRSV in Heilongjiang Province presents a downward–upward–downward trend from 2008 to 2018. The vulnerability levels are mainly level II and III, and level III is mainly distributed northwest and southeast of Heilongjiang Province. The novelty of this paper is to regard the agricultural water and land resources system as a compound system, put forward the vulnerability assessment framework. The findings may provide reference for regional sustainable development from a new research perspective.

Holistic Approach to Water Resources Development through Generations

Sustainable development of water resources systems must balance between socio-economic development and environmental protection. This is both a technical and governance challenge to reconcile the technical challenge of competing ecological-social-economic objectives and the governance challenge of harmonizing long-term policy frames and short-term management decisions. With climate and ecosystem changes and uncertainty as well as socio-economic and political changes, water resources development has become complex. In view of this, sustainable water resources development requires transdisciplinary approach that combines science-based tools from physical, social, economic, and behavioral sciences and engages stakeholders from various sectors (academics, professionals, government, civil society) to solve problems through an iterative process of collaborative learning, research, and consensus building. This paper discusses holistic approach for sustainable and resilient water resources development in the context of the following items: (1) linking science, policy, and management decisions through decision support systems; (2) sustainability science; (3) transdisciplinary approach; and (4) evolutionary resilience. Then, specific studies and discussions are given showcasing holistic approach for the following water resources systems: 1) Pasig-Marikina River Basin, 2) West Mangahan Lakeshore Road Dike, 3) Marikina River Flood Tunnel to Agos River, 4) New Centennial Water Supply Project for Metro Manila, 5) Pulangi Hydropower Plant IV Reservoir sediment flushing, and 6) Banaue Rice Terraces as an archetype of sustainable design. In conclusion, with climate and ecosystem changes and uncertainty including economic, social, and political changes, sustainable water resources development requires transdisciplinary approach with sustainability science and evolutionary resilience.

Development of an optimal operating policy of multi-reservoir systems in Mahanadi Reservoir Project Complex, Chhattisgarh

Real-world optimization problems are usually non-linear and solving nonlinear problems requires time. Hence heuristic techniques are frequently used. Simulated annealing (SA) is one of the most commonly used heuristic algorithms. SA is useful in the narrow search area. In the present study, simulated annealing has been developed to derive the optimal for multi-reservoir systems. Problem statement: In respect of water release, multi-reservoir system in Mahanadi Reservoir Project is an example of such a complex system, therefore the optimum operation of such a reservoir is one of the complicated and uncertainxs issues water resource management. Approach: Traditional models to optimize water resource systems have proven to be ineffective due to increased decision variables and time constraints. In recent decades, the adaptive random research SA model has shown acceptable performance in solving major problems. Results: The model applies to derive the optimal operating policies of existing multi-reservoirs system in Chhattisgarh, India. The formulated objective function of the present study is to minimize the sum of squared deviation on downstream release and demand and compare the performance of the SA model to the existing reservoir systems operation policy. The overall performance of existing multi-reservoir system has increased on average by, 28.09%, 10.12%, 36.49% in case of reliability, resilience, sustainability respectively, and vulnerability reduced up to 11.83%. Conclusions/Recommendations: The results of these algorithms show that SA can deal with complex problems. SA is a novel promising reservoir optimization search technique. It merits further research for other applications in this field.

Emergy evaluation of positive and negative benefits of agricultural water use based on energy analysis of water cycle

The current assessment of the positive and negative benefits of agricultural water use lacks a depiction of the overall internal energy flow, which lead to the identification and analysis of agricultural water use benefits are not comprehensive enough. Based on the “water supply - water use and consumption - drainage - pollutant carrying” link in the ecological economic system of agricultural water resources, the energy conversion relationship of each link were analyzed, and the main connotation and composition of the positive and negative benefits of agricultural water use were raised, then a set of emergy quantitative method system of the positive and negative benefits of agricultural water use was built. Taking Zhengzhou city as an example, the positive and negative benefits of agricultural water use in 2017 were calculated. The research results show that the negative benefits of agricultural water resources eco-economic system production account for 37.93% of the positive benefits. The main reason for the negative benefits is non-point source pollution caused by TN, TP and COD.Consequently, developing production and social policies to limit the amount of non-point source pollution caused by pollutants in agricultural production is an effective way to increase the efficiency of agricultural water production while reducing the negative benefits generated.

Multi-objective optimal water resources allocation in the middle and upper reaches of the Huaihe River Basin (China) based on equilibrium theory

In the river basin water resources allocation (WRA) problem, an unbalanced WRA poses challenges to water resources management departments. Many studies focus on achieving a lower water shortage rate while ignoring the equilibrium relationship among the socio-economic system, water resources system and eco-environmental system, as well as the equilibrium relationship among different regions. In this study, a water resources allocation model(WRAM) based on equilibrium theory is constructed to achieve the balance between different systems and different spaces in a basin. First, the relationship among the water resources system, socio-economic system and eco-environmental system is described. Then, the regional equilibrium index and system equilibrium index are constructed. Finally, the first model based on equilibrium theory is constructed. The results show that: (1) the Pareto Front reflects the contradictory relationship between economic development and environmental sustainability; (2) with the restructuring of industry and cropping, both economic efficiency and water shortage rates improve; (3) the equilibrium of the basin could also be further improved if water resources utilisation is further improved. Therefore, this study improves the existing WRAM, which can be applied to guide the water resources management of river basin.

Study on water resources carrying capacity in Zhuanglang River Basin

With the rapid development of China’s social economy, the phenomenon of unbalanced regional economic development is increasingly obvious. The shortage of water resources in northwest China is an important constraint to local development. The study on the water resources carrying capacity of the Zhuanglang River Basin plays an important role in the development of local economy; thus, we evaluate the water resources situation of Zhuanglang River Basin by using hydrology-related calculation method, combining with field investigation, visiting relevant departments, and referring to relevant data. Meanwhile, the water resources carrying capacity of 3 counties and 12 townships in the Zhuanglang River Basin in the current year are studied and analyzed based on methods such as fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model and quantitative calculation. Results indicate that the carrying capacity of water resources in Zhuanglang river basin can mostly meet the needs of township, but it is necessary to further optimize the water resources carrying capacity of the Zhuanglang River Basin from the four systems of water resources, society, economy, and ecology in the future. Besides, the results of quantitative calculation show that the maximum economic scale that water resources can withstand in most areas of the Zhuanglang River Basin is the overall well-off level, that is, the per capita domestic water is 80L/(d· person), and the per capita GDP is 10000 yuan/person. But there is still a certain gap to achieve the level, when the people are well-off in an all-round way, the two indexes are correspondently raised to 120L/(d· person), and the per capita GDP is 30,000 yuan/person.

A stochastic simulation-based risk assessment method for water allocation under uncertainty

Abstract There are a lot of uncertainties in the water resources system, which makes the water allocation plan very risky. In order to analyze the risks of water resources allocation under uncertain conditions, a new methodology called the stochastic simulation-based risk assessment approach is developed in this paper. First, the main hydrological stochastic variable is fitted by a proper probability distribution. Second, suitable two-stage stochastic programming is constructed to obtain the expected benefit and optimized water allocation targets. Third, the Monte Carlo method is used to obtain a suitable stochastic sample of the hydrological variable. Fourth, a pre-allocated water optimization model is proposed to obtain optimized actual benefit. The methodology can give a way for risk analysis of water allocation plans obtained by uncertain optimization models, which provides reliable assistance to water managers in decision-making. The proposed methodology is applied to the Zhanghe Irrigation District and the risk of the water allocation plan obtained under the randomness of annual inflow is assessed. In addition, three different division methods of the annual inflow are applied in the first step, namely three levels, five levels and seven levels, respectively. From the results, the risk of the water allocation scheme obtained by the TSP model is 0.372–0.411 and decreases with the increase of the number of hydrological levels. Considering both the risk and model complexity, seven hydrological levels are recommended when using the TSP model to optimize water allocation under stochastic uncertainty.

Coupling reconstruction of atmospheric hydrological profile and dry-up risk prediction in a typical lake basin in arid area of China

Arid area is very sensitive to global warming and are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Moreover, the water resources system in the arid area is fragile and will undergo tremendous changes with climate change. Therefore, the interaction of climate and hydrology in arid area has an important impact on the formation of regional microclimate and hydrological changes. Daihai Lake is a typical closed inland lake in arid area of China, and a key area for ecological protection in North China. In this paper, WRF-Hydro model is used to simulate the climate hydrological coupling situation of Daihai Basin from 1980 to 2020, and the coupling results are verified and calibrated by meteorological statistics, runoff calculation and remote sensing analysis. Based on the synopsis of climate and hydrology in the past 40 years, the causes and future trends of the hydrological elements in Daihai Basin are analyzed. Through the analysis, it is found that the interannual variation of precipitation in Daihai Basin is sharp, with 401.75 mm as the average from 1980 to 1994; and drastic fluctuations from 1995 to 2011, with a difference of nearly 400 mm between the interannual maximum and minimum; From 2012 to 2020, the fluctuation is small. Although the interannual variation of evaporation fluctuated, it showed an upward trend with a slope of 8.855 mm/year. The annual average temperature showed an obvious upward trend with a slope of 0.040 °C/year. From 1980 to 2020, the inflow of Daihai Lake shows a downward trend; Since 2013, the runoff into the lake has tended to be flat. Climate change and human activities are the decisive factors leading to the change of water quantity in Daihai, among which human activities play a greater role. Cultivated land irrigation and industrial water use are highly correlated with the lake discharge, and these two factors have a great influence on the lake discharge. If the current agricultural and industrial water consumption does not increase, Daihai still has a lifespan of nearly 120 years. If human activities do not change and any protective measures are not taken in time, under the background of global climate change, the flow of the Daihai Lake into the lake will be reduced to zero in 2025, and the Daihai Lake will completely dry up in 2031–2033. The study of climate hydrological coupling of long time series in Daihai Basin can not only make up for the lack of runoff data, but also provide the basis for water resources management, disaster prevention and mitigation.

Water quality assessment and pollution threat to safe water supply for three river basins in Malaysia

Pollution in raw water poses increasing threats to safe water supply in many developing countries. Therefore, a comprehensive water quality assessment is essential to provide various stakeholders the information to deal with this problem. This study applies chemometrics to interpret a recent 10-year water quality data from three major river basins (Selangor River basin, Langat River basin, and Klang River basin) frequented by water supply disruptions in Selangor, Malaysia. We present the application of selected chemometrics approaches, namely agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis, principal component analysis, factor analysis and Man-Kendall trend analysis. The results showed three spatial groups of monitoring stations with similar land use practices and pollution characteristics. Besides spatial differences, periodic variations were observed when similar pollutants exhibited different pollution loads during rainy and dry periods. We found that nitrogen species, total suspended solids, and dissolved solids represented the major pollution loads in the studied basins. The results further confirmed a significant increasing trend in ammonia pollution. Our study demonstrates how ammonia pollutant is likely to pose a threat to water supply and highlights the vulnerability of Selangor's water resource system to water pollution. The results of this study could facilitate decision making towards more holistic strategies, specifically, incorporating ammonia treatment facilities into the conventional water treatment plant will help achieve smooth water supply operations.

Estimating Reservoir Inflow and Outflow From Water Level Observations Using Expert Knowledge: Dealing With an Ill‐Posed Water Balance Equation in Reservoir Management

AbstractQuantifying reservoir water balance is an essential process for the efficient management of water resources. Water level records are often the only data available for reservoir analysis, which causes an ill‐posed problem in water resource system planning. This study proposes an analytical framework to estimate reservoir inflow and outflow from water level observations using hydrological models and reasoning carefully derived from expert knowledge and soft data. Partial reservoir inflow hydrographs were constructed from water level observations using a continuity equation and knowledge‐based constraints developed for periods of no spillway discharge. A bucket‐type rainfall‐runoff model was then calibrated to the partial inflow hydrographs. Finally, a complete reservoir inflow hydrograph was constructed using the calibrated models, which were then employed to estimate detailed reservoir outflow components under a full water balance relationship between inflow, outflow, water levels, and reservoir operation rules. The proposed solution for the ill‐posed water balance equation outperformed conventional (benchmark) approaches in accuracy and uncertainty in its application to agricultural reservoirs. This study demonstrates how hydrological modeling and reasoning, which are discreetly designed based on expert knowledge, can help to solve the ill‐posed water balance equation by creating supplementary information regarding the problem. The proposed framework is expected to assist in reconstructing reservoir routing processes using water level observations for hydrological analysis and water resource management planning.

Sustainable water resources management under population growth and agricultural development in the Kheirabad river basin, Iran

In this study, an integrated system dynamics model was developed for scenario analysis in sub-sectors of the Kheirabad River Basin in southwestern Iran where managing water resources is seriously challenging due to population growth and periodic drought. Afterward, the variability of water demand and supply under baseline scenario and different water demand management policies, including water conservation and water pricing, was evaluated. Findings illustrated that with increasing population and cropland area if no further demand management policies were implemented, the total water demand and withdrawal of water resources increase by more than 0.75% annually. The annual surface water availability during 2018-2030 is expected to decrease by around -1.23%. Under these circumstances, the sustainability index of the water resources system is equal to 0.703, indicating that the water system would not be able to meet the total water demand in the near future. However, the water resource sustainability index increases significantly by improving irrigation efficiency and changing crop patterns at the basin. Also, the reduction in per capita water demand and domestic water pricing under the competition structure would help to improve the sustainability index to 0.963 and 0.749, respectively.

Spatial-temporal variation and nonlinear prediction of environmental footprints and comprehensive environmental pressure in urban agglomerations

It is necessary to evaluate the comprehensive environmental pressure (CEP) for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Water-carbon-ecological footprints (named as WF, CF, and EF3D) and Nonlinear Grey Bernoulli projection model are integrated for identifying the CEP in the urban agglomerations of Cheng-Yu district (UAC), middle reaches of the Yangtze River (UAM), and Yangtze River Delta (UAD). Results reveal that the general water resources system is quite satisfactory. The annual growth rate of CF is approximately 4.93%, mostly contributed by raw coal consumption. Natural resources consumption exceeds the ecosystem carrying capacity due to the increased ecological deficit (above 3.0 hm2/cap). The average ecological footprint depth reaches 24.61, 17.59, and 30.89 in the UAC, UAM, and UAD, respectively, implying higher than 17 times its own land area required for supporting regional resource consumption. The growth rates of CEP are 3.53%, 2.86%, and 6.85% in the UAC, UAM, and UAD, respectively, above 80% of which is from carbon and ecological pressure. In terms of the coupling coordination degree of environmental footprints, results disclose that the resources consumption structure is improved in the UAM and UAD, but it is in an unfavorable direction for the UAC. Moreover, the future environmental footprints and CEP will continuously increase. Some measures, such as energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies, thus should be further strengthened.

Assessing the Vulnerability of Water Resources System Using VSD-SD Coupling Model: A Case of Pearl River Delta

Water plays an essential role in social and economic sustainable development, and the relationship between socio-economic development and water resources sustainable utilization has been an important issue in water resources management. We aim to propose a water resources vulnerability assessment index with the dimensions of exposure, sensitivity and adaptability, and establish a water resources system model over the Pearl River Delta network river region based on the Vulnerability Scoping Diagram (VSD) framework and System Dynamics (SD) model. The city of Zhongshan, which is located in the Pearl River Delta is used as a case study. The vulnerability of the water resources in Zhongshan from 2021 to 2050 is simulated in four different scenarios (normal, technical innovation, social economic improvement, and comprehensive development models). The results showed that the vulnerability in all four scenarios span three grades in 30 years, including moderately vulnerable, slightly vulnerable, and not vulnerable. Among them, similar trends were found between scenarios 1 and 3, and between scenarios 2 and 4. Furthermore, the vulnerability level in scenarios 2 and 4 was lower than that in scenarios 1 and 3. The vulnerability of both scenarios 2 and 4 decreased first and then increased, with the average values of 24.64 and 27.63, respectively. Scenario 2 experienced 7 years of not vulnerable (2034 to 2040) and 23 years of slightly vulnerable (2021–2033, 204–2050), scenario 4 experienced 5 years of not vulnerable (2032–2036), 21 years of slightly vulnerable (2021–2031, 2037–2046), and 4 years of moderately vulnerable (2047–2050). Although the vulnerability of scenario 4 was slightly worse than scenario 2, its adaptability to economic and social development, water resources, and water environment was much higher than scenario 2. Considering the extent of socio-economic development and the level of adaptability of the local water resources and water environment, the study concluded that the comprehensive development model is more suitable for cities in the network river area. In this scenario, sustainable water use and management can be made possible through policy regulation that encourages higher water efficiency, sewage reuse rate, and centralized sewage treatment rate.

Comparing the applicability of hydro-economic modelling approaches for large-scale decision-making in multi-sectoral and multi-regional river basins

A traditional engineering-based approach to hydro-economic modelling is to connect a partial equilibrium economic assessment, e.g., changes in sectoral production, to a detailed water resources system model. Since the 1990s, another approach emerged where water data are incorporated into a macro-economic model, e.g., a computable general equilibrium or input-output model, to estimate both direct and indirect economic impacts. This study builds on these different approaches and compares the outcomes from three models in the transboundary Saskatchewan River Basin in Canada. The economic impacts of drought and socioeconomic development are estimated using an engineering-based model, a macro-economic model, and a model that integrates a water resources model and a macro-economic model. Findings indicate that although the integrated model is more challenging to develop, its results seem most relevant for water allocation, owing to capturing both regional and sectoral economic interdependencies and key features of the water resources system in more detail.