The Editor-in-Chief and Section Editors-in-Chief online meeting of Water (ISSN: 2073-4441, IF: 3.0) was successfully held on 26 February 2025. It was hosted by the Editor-in-Chief (EiC), Dr. Jean-Luc PROBST, and eleven Section Editors-in-Chief (SEiCs) were in attendance. We are extremely grateful for the strong support of our (S)EiCs and for the opportunity to hold a face-to-face online meeting to have in-depth discussions on journal development and strengthen communication and cooperation among the (S)EiCs.

The following topics were discussed during this meeting: Editorial Board structure and operations, and ways to improve Water’s Impact Factor. The (S)EiCs actively engaged in the discussion, providing important feedback and suggestions on the topics.

For the Editorial Board structure and operations, the Section Editors-in-Chief provided valuable suggestions for specific EBM qualification requirements and mentioned that the need to ensure diversity (gender and geographical balance). Most importantly, they mentioned that young scholars have great potential and that journals should vigorously cultivate and develop them to contribute to journal development.

Regarding how to increase the Impact Factor of Water, the Section Editors-in-Chief mentioned that the journal should continue to maintain strict quality control over the submission and editorial process, as well as the standardization of review reports, to publish more high-quality manuscripts, gradually improving the Water’s influence and IF.

The success of this meeting will surely translate into positive changes for Water in 2025. With the support of the (S)EiCs, Water will continue to grow, enhance its academic quality, and make greater contributions to the scientific community.

Attendee list (in no particular order):

• Jean-Luc PROBST (Editor-in-Chief)—Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Toulouse, France;
• Dr. Prof. Dr. Adriano A. Bordalo (Section Editor-in-Chief)—Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal;
• Dr. Andrea G. Capodaglio (Section Editor-in-Chief)—Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, Italy;
• Dr. Athanasios Loukas (Section Editor-in-Chief)—Department of Rural and Surveying Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece;
• Dr. Enedir Ghisi (Section Editor-in-Chief)—Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Campus Universitario, Brazil;
• Frédéric Frappart (Section Editor-in-Chief)—INRAE, France;
• Dr. Gordon Huang (Section Editor-in-Chief)—Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Regina, Canada;
• Georg Umgiesser (Section Editor-in-Chief)—ISMAR-CNR, ISMAR Istituto di Scienze Marine-Arsenale—Tesa 104, Italy;
• Dr. Steven G. Pueppke (Section Editor-in-Chief)—Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, USA;
• Dr. Vincenzo Romano Spica (Section Editor-in-Chief)—Public Health Unit, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Italy;
• Dr. Yijun Xu (Section Editor-in-Chief)—Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA;
• Dr. Yaning Chen (Section Editor-in-Chief)—Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

Additionally, we are pleased to highlight a number of papers by SEiCs that were published in Water in 2024. These papers cover a variety of areas, including water and One Health, water resources under water scarcity, greywater reuse, groundwater nitrate dynamics, water system connectivity, hydropower operation, oceans, and coastal zones. You are welcome to read them below to gain insights and references to related fields.

“Characterization of Escherichia coli Isolates in Recreational Waters: Implications for Public Health and One Health Approach”
by Lúcia Gomes, Adriano A. Bordalo and Ana Machado
Water 2024, 16(18), 2695; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16182695
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/18/2695

“The Importance of Nonconventional Water Resources under Water Scarcity”
by Andreas N. Angelakis, George Tchobanoglous, Andrea G. Capodaglio and Vasileios A. Tzanakakis
Water 2024, 16(7), 1015; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16071015
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/7/1015

“Economic Feasibility of Rainwater Harvesting and Greywater Reuse in a Multifamily Building”
by Enedir Ghisi and Douglas Ancelmo Freitas
Water 2024, 16(11), 1580; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16111580
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/11/1580

“Climate Change Impacts on Nitrate Leaching and Groundwater Nitrate Dynamics Using a Holistic Approach and Med-CORDEX Climatic Models”
by Aikaterini Lyra, Athanasios Loukas, Pantelis Sidiropoulos and Lampros Vasiliades
Water 2024, 16(3), 465; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16030465
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/3/465

“Evaluation of Water System Connectivity Based on Node Centrality in the Tarim River Basin, Xinjiang, China”
by Junyuan Yu, Yaning Chen, Chenggang Zhu, Yanfeng Di, Zhi Li, Gonghuan Fang, Chuanxiu Liu, Bin Zou and Haodong Lyu
Water 2024, 16(21), 3031; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16213031
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/21/3031

“Consistent Coupled Patterns of Teleconnection Between Rainfall in the Ogooué River Basin and Sea Surface Temperature in Tropical Oceans”
by Sakaros Bogning, Frédéric Frappart, Valentin Brice Ebode, Raphael Onguene, Gil Mahé, Michel Tchilibou, Jacques Étamé and Jean-Jacques Braun
Water 2025, 17(5), 753; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17050753
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17/5/753

“Recovery of Time Series of Water Volume in Lake Ranco (South Chile) through Satellite Altimetry and Its Relationship with Climatic Phenomena”
by Patricio Fuentes-Aguilera, Lien Rodríguez-López, Luc Bourrel and Frédéric Frappart
Water 2024, 16(14), 1997; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16141997
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/14/1997

“Modelling Impacts of Climate Change and Anthropogenic Activities on Ecosystem State Variables of Water Quality in the Cat Ba–Ha Long Coastal Area (Vietnam)”
by Nguyen Minh Hai, Vu Duy Vinh, Sylvain Ouillon, Tran Dinh Lan and Nguyen Thanh Duong
Water 2025, 17(3), 319; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17030319
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17/3/319

“Defining and Mitigating Flow Instabilities in Open Channels Subjected to Hydropower Operation: Formulations and Experiments”
by Miguel Tavares, Modesto Pérez-Sánchez, Oscar E. Coronado-Hernández, Alban Kuriqi and Helena M. Ramos
Water 2024, 16(21), 3069; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16213069
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/21/3069

“Legionnaires’ Disease Surveillance and Public Health Policies in Italy: A Mathematical Model for Assessing Prevention Strategies”
by Vincenzo Romano Spica, Paola Borella, Agnese Bruno, Cristian Carboni, Martin Exner, Philippe Hartemann, Gianluca Gianfranceschi, Pasqualina Laganà, Antonella Mansi, Maria Teresa Montagna et al.
Water 2024, 16(15), 2167; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16152167
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/15/2167