Transboundary waters encompass aquifers, lakes, and river basins shared by two or more countries. These waters do not adhere to political boundaries, meaning that pollution or overexploitation in one region can have far-reaching consequences beyond borders. Effective transboundary water management is crucial to address pressing issues from water scarcity and biodiversity protection to economic growth and peacekeeping. Over half of the global population resides in transboundary basins. With 286 transboundary river and lake basins covering nearly half of the Earth’s surface, and 592 identified transboundary aquifers, the need for cooperative management is urgent. Given the diverse physical, political, and socio-economic contexts of these shared water bodies, no single approach can solve transboundary water issues. Instead, a suite of practices is required to foster cooperation and ensure sustainable management.
We invite submissions with a focus on (but not limited):
1. Approaches to Assessing Water Quantity and Quality: methods ranging from traditional hydrological models to innovative AI approaches and hybrid applications. We encourage case studies that demonstrate successful application in various transboundary contexts.
2. Remote Sensing Technology Applications: We seek contributions that explore how remote sensing can help close the transboundary water data gap, offering cost-effective, scalable solutions for monitoring and assessing water resources across borders.
3. Development of Joint Monitoring and Information Systems: submissions creating and implementing joint monitoring systems, such as GIS-based databases, that facilitate effective cooperation in water-related risk reduction and transboundary resilience modeling.
4. Water Resources Management Strategies: development and follow-up of water management strategies in transboundary basins. This includes experiences with joint problem definition, creating a common understanding, and evaluating the effectiveness of implemented strategies.
5. Multi-Level Stakeholder Involvement: experiences highlighting multi-level stakeholder engagement in shared water management. This includes capacity development, voluntary data collection through citizen science, participatory modeling, trust-building, and science-policy-driven decision-making.
The session is organized by the GRANDE-U team “Groundwater Resilience Assessment through iNtegrated Data Exploration for Ukraine” (NSF Awards No. 2409395 and 2409396).