Water Reuse and Land Management: Strategies, Policies, and Integrated Land-Use Approaches

Dear Colleagues,

Water scarcity, climate change, and increasing pressure on land resources pose major challenges, especially in regions where water reuse and land management are closely interconnected. Thoughtful land-use planning can not only enhance the sustainability of water use but also strengthen the resilience of landscapes to droughts, floods, and ecosystem degradation.

While technological advances in water treatment are important, technical solutions alone are not sufficient. Sustainable water reuse requires holistic approaches that integrate water management with spatial planning, land-use strategies, governance frameworks, and socio-economic considerations. Such integrated concepts may include, for instance, the reuse of treated water in agriculture as well as urban or industrial applications, the restoration of landscapes, and water-sensitive urban development.

This Special Issue of Water aims to bring together research that focuses on the interaction between water reuse and land management. We invite researchers to submit studies that explore new pathways for managing urban, peri-urban, and rural land to support circular, efficient, and resilient water use.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Integrated land-use planning to support sustainable water reuse;
• Agricultural applications of reclaimed water: concepts, models, and case studies;
• Use of reused water in urban landscapes, parks, and green infrastructure;
• Governance frameworks, policy instruments, and regulations for “fit-for-purpose” water reuse in land management;
• Ecological restoration and nature-based solutions supported by water reuse;
• Socio-economic dimensions of land management and water reuse;
• Participatory planning and stakeholder engagement in land- and water-management projects;
• Risk assessments, safety considerations, and public acceptance of water reuse in land-use contexts;
• Monitoring, evaluation, and indicators for assessing land-management strategies and reuse practices.

Types of contributions:

We welcome the submission of original research articles, reviews, case studies, short communications, and conceptual papers. Interdisciplinary contributions combining spatial planning, hydrology, environmental policy, agricultural sciences, economics, or social sciences are particularly encouraged.

Target audience:

This Special Issue is intended for researchers, practitioners, planners, agricultural experts, policymakers, and all those working at the water–land nexus. By bringing land-management perspectives to the forefront, we aim to broaden the discussion on water reuse and promote sustainable and socially equitable strategies.

Prof. Dr. Sonja Bauer
Guest Editor

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.