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Water
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Resilient Water Management in Arid and Semi-Arid Agroecosystems
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Resilient Water Management in Arid and Semi-Arid Agroecosystems

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water, Agriculture and Aquaculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 July 2026 | Viewed by 892

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Eeswaran Rasu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Water Research, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA
Interests: agronomy; agricultural water management; agricultural system modeling; resilience; soil health
Dr. Prakash Kumar Jha

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA
Interests: agricultural climatology; decision support systems; crop ecophysiology; machine learning and artificial intelligence; geospatial and digital agriculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Arid and semi-arid agroecosystems face increasing challenges in water management due to low rainfall, high temperatures, and fragile soils. As these regions contribute significantly to global food production, achieving resilient water management is essential to sustaining agricultural productivity and mitigating climate-related risks. This Special Issue seeks innovative research that enhances resilient water management through efficient irrigation techniques, conservation agriculture, climate-adaptive cropping systems, stress-tolerant genotypes, and integrated crop-livestock systems. The focus is on how these methods and technologies can be leveraged to enhance water use efficiency, mitigate vulnerability, and build sustainability in dryland farming.

We invite submissions that present recent advancements, technical breakthroughs, and interdisciplinary approaches addressing the complexities of water scarcity and sustainable agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions. Contributions may explore policy frameworks, socio-economic impacts, and emerging decision support tools that guide effective water management decisions. By bringing together novel methodologies and applied solutions, this Special Issue aims to advance research, inform policy, and support adaptive strategies for resilient water management in these challenging agroecosystems.

Dr. Eeswaran Rasu
Dr. Prakash Kumar Jha
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • agricultural water management
  • seasonal climate forecasting and smart irrigation technologies
  • options for water-efficient rainfed agriculture
  • soil moisture sensors and IoT for decision support in irrigation
  • rainwater harvesting
  • reservoirs and tank management for agriculture in arid regions

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

25 pages, 9790 KB  
Article
Coordinated Control of Valves and Protective Devices for Pressure Drop Mitigation in Gravity Irrigation Systems
by Mingshen Wang, Yungang Bai, Zhenlin Lu, Biao Cao, Sanmin Sun, Peng Sun, Qiying Yu and Hongbin Zhang
Water 2026, 18(6), 690; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18060690 - 16 Mar 2026
Viewed by 414
Abstract
To address pressure-drop-induced safety risks in high-drop gravity-fed irrigation pipelines, this study investigates coordinated prevention and control strategies that integrate air release and vacuum valve groups with flow-adaptive valve closure rules. A large-scale self-pressurized irrigation network (1.33 × 108 m2) [...] Read more.
To address pressure-drop-induced safety risks in high-drop gravity-fed irrigation pipelines, this study investigates coordinated prevention and control strategies that integrate air release and vacuum valve groups with flow-adaptive valve closure rules. A large-scale self-pressurized irrigation network (1.33 × 108 m2) in Karamay, Xinjiang, China, is selected as a representative case study. Based on one-dimensional transient flow modeling, pressure drop and negative-pressure characteristics induced by inlet valve closure in the main pipeline are analyzed using wave speed theory, governing differential equations, and the finite difference method. A coordinated protection framework is proposed that explicitly links valve operating patterns with the spatial configuration of protective devices. Unlike conventional schemes that rely on empirical layouts and fixed closure rules, this study introduces a critical-flow-velocity-based valve grouping method combined with flow-dependent valve closure strategies. Simulation results demonstrate that a strategically optimized configuration of air release and vacuum valves along the main pipeline is sufficient to eliminate negative pressure under all operating conditions. For flow rates below 6 m3/s, linear valve closure ensures safe operation, whereas a two-stage closure is required for higher flow rates (6–10 m3/s). As flow increases, reducing the fast-closure ratio and extending the total closure time effectively suppress pressure-drop-dominated transient effects at vulnerable inlet sections. By effectively mitigating transient pressure surges, the proposed coordinated “valve closure-protection device” strategy improves system adaptability to flow variability and provides practical engineering guidance for the safe operation of gravity irrigation systems, particularly high-gradient self-pressurized networks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Water Management in Arid and Semi-Arid Agroecosystems)
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