HS2.1.7 | Water balance and integrated water management in trans-boundary systems
EDI
Water balance and integrated water management in trans-boundary systems
Convener: Peter Burek | Co-conveners: Inga RetikeECSECS, Agnes Tahy, Ilya Zaslavsky, Nicu CiobotaruECSECS

Transboundary waters encompass aquifers, lakes, and river systems shared by two or more countries. These waters do not adhere to political boundaries, meaning that water use, pollution or overexploitation in one region can have significant consequences downstream. Effective transboundary water management is thus 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. Given the diverse physical, political, and socio-economic contexts of these shared water bodies, integrated approaches and practices are needed to solve transboundary water problems, to foster cooperation and to ensure sustainable management.

We welcome contributions demonstrating:
(1) Modeling and inter-comparison of different models (ranging from traditional hydrological models to innovative AI approaches and hybrid applications) for simulating water balance components and water quality including climate change impact studies, sensitivity analyses, uncertainty evaluations.
(2) Evaluation of performance and uncertainty of transboundary datasets of climate and hydrological characteristics, including remote sensing products and climate projections. We seek contributions that explore how remote sensing can help close the transboundary water data gap, offering cost-effective, solutions for monitoring and assessing water resources across borders.
(3) Applications supporting sustainable management of transboundary water including water abstractions, water-savings or water retention solutions in agriculture and industry.
(4) Development and implementation of Joint Monitoring and Information Systems, such as GIS-based databases, that facilitate effective cooperation in water-related risk reduction and transboundary resilience modeling. These include experiences with joint problem definition, creating a common understanding, and evaluating the effectiveness of implemented strategies.
(5) Involvement of 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 Danube Water Balance (DRP0200156 Danube Region Interreg Programme) and GRANDE-U “Groundwater Resilience Assessment through iNtegrated Data Exploration for Ukraine” (NSF Awards No. 2409395 and 2409396) teams.