Search Results (33)

The primary aim of this study is to identify the driving mechanisms behind long-term water-level changes and drought–flood transitions in Dongting Lake. To achieve this, we employed methods including the Improved Standardized Water Level Index (ISWI), Mann–Kendall test, Sen’s slope estimator, and a random forest–SHAP model to analyze hydro-meteorological data from 1992 to 2023. The results demonstrate a significant overall decline and spatial heterogeneity in water levels, alongside a systemic shift in the regional pattern from flood-dominated conditions to frequent droughts with intense drought–flood abrupt alternations. Crucially, during the critical autumn water recession period, runoff anomalies from the Yangtze River’s three outlets emerged as the dominant factor driving water-level changes, far exceeding the influence of local precipitation. Furthermore, a recent downward shift in the water level–discharge relationship indicates that under identical inflow conditions, water levels are now 1.5 to 2.0 m lower than in previous decades. These general findings highlight that critical-period inflow reductions and altered boundary hydrodynamic conditions mutually amplify low-water-level risks, providing a scientific reference for adaptive water resource management in complex river-connected lakes. Full article

Coastal regions in Mexico face significant exposure to hydrometeorological hazards, often resulting in severe flooding and socioeconomic disruption. This study assesses the hydrometeorological resilience of the Veracruz–Boca del Río Conurbation (VBC), a region comprising two coastal municipalities with shared hazard exposure despite distinct governance structures. The hydrometeorological resilience evaluation employs the City Resilience Index (CRI), developed by Bahena which integrates the Technical Resilience Index (TRI) and the Technical Profile of Resilience (TPR) across nine hierarchical indicators. Results reveal moderate resilience levels—59.83% for Veracruz and 58.32% for Boca del Río—with Disaster Risk Reduction Plans and Vital Services indicators as the strongest contributors, while Risk Assessments and Budget Allocation for Emergency Response indicators scored lowest due to limited municipal data. These findings highlight the need for enhanced data transparency, institutional coordination, and resource allocation in disaster management. Beyond its local significance, this study advances the global understanding of resilience assessment frameworks in data-scarce contexts, offering insights applicable to similar regions worldwide. As the first hydrometeorological resilience assessment for the VBC, this research provides a methodological and empirical foundation for future studies and informs targeted resilience strategies for Mexico’s coastal urban areas. Full article

Urban coastal areas are increasingly vulnerable to compound flooding due to the convergence of extreme rainfall, storm surges, and infrastructure aging, especially in high-density settings. This study proposes and empirically validates a multi-scale strategy for enhancing urban flood resilience in the Macau Peninsula, a densely built coastal city with complex flood exposure patterns. Building on a previously developed network-based resilience assessment framework, the study integrates hydrodynamic simulation and complex network analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of targeted interventions, including segmented storm surge defense barriers, drainage infrastructure upgrades, and spatially optimized low-impact development (LID) measures. The Macau Peninsula was partitioned into multiple shoreline defense zones, each guided by context-specific design principles and functional zoning. Based on our previously developed flood simulation framework covering extreme rainfall, storm surge, and compound events in high-density coastal zones, this study validates resilience strategies that achieve significant reductions in inundation extent, water depth, and recession time. Additionally, the network-based resilience index showed marked improvement in system connectivity and recovery efficiency, particularly under compound hazard conditions. The findings highlight the value of integrating spatial planning, ecological infrastructure, and systemic modeling to inform adaptive flood resilience strategies in compact coastal cities. The framework developed offers transferable insights for other urban regions confronting escalating hydrometeorological risks under climate change. Full article

The compounding effects of hydrometeorological hazards are being driven by climate change. As urban areas expand, this leads to degradation of the surrounding environment and exposes more people to hazards. Growing losses show that conventional approaches to addressing these issues can compound these problems. Over the last few decades, nature-based solutions (NBSs) have become an increasingly popular alternative. These measures, inspired by natural processes, have shown potential for reducing hazards by complementing traditional approaches and providing co-benefits in the form of eco-system services. With the adoption of NBSs becoming a more mainstream approach, there is a need for tools that support the planning and implementation of interventions. Geospatial suitability assessment is a part of this planning process. Existing tools are limited in their application for large-scale measures. This paper intends to improve this by building upon a multi-criteria analysis (MCA)-based approach that incorporates biophysical and land use criteria and conditions for mapping the suitability of large-scale NBSs. The methodology was developed and tested on six sites to assess the suitability of floodplain restoration, retention or detention, afforestation, and forest buffer strips. The resulting suitability maps also show potential for combining two or more measures for greater risk reduction. Full article

Under the influence of global climate change, water conservancy projects located in the high-latitude cold regions of the world are facing severe challenges. This study addresses the contradiction between water supply stability and ecological flow during the dry season in cold regions. Taking Linhai Reservoir as the core, it integrates the HEC-RAS hydrodynamic model with multi-source data such as basin topography, hydro-meteorological data, and water conservancy project parameters to construct a multi-scenario water supply scheduling model during the dry season. The aim is to provide scientific recommendations for different reservoir operation strategies in response to varying frequencies of upstream inflow, based on simulations conducted after the reservoir’s completion. Taking into account winter runoff reduction characteristics and engineering parameters, we simulated the relationships between water level and flow, ecological flow requirements, and urban water shortages. The results indicate that in both flood and normal years, dynamic coordination of storage and discharge can achieve a daily water supply of 120,000 cubic meters, with 100% compliance for the ecological flow rate. For mild and moderate drought years, additional water diversion becomes necessary to achieve 93.5% and 89% supply reliability, respectively. During severe and extreme droughts, significantly reduced reservoir inflows lower ecological compliance rates, necessitating emergency measures, such as utilizing dead storage capacity and exploring alternative water sources. The study proposes operational strategies tailored to different drought intensities: initiating storage adjustments in September for mild droughts and implementing peak-shifting measures by mid-October for extreme droughts. These approaches enhance storage efficiency and mitigate ice blockage risks. This research supports the water supply security and river ecological health of urban and rural areas in Mudanjiang City and Hailin City and provides a certain scientific reference basis for the multi-objective coordinated operation of reservoirs in the same type of high-latitude cold regions. Full article

The southern Baltic Sea is characterized by highly variable weather conditions, particularly in autumn and winter, when storms, strong westerly winds, and temporary sea ice formation disrupt maritime operations. This study presents a climatographic overview and evaluates key hydrometeorological factors that influence the safe and efficient use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as bunkering fuel in the region. The analysis draws on long-term meteorological and hydrological datasets (1971–2020), including satellite observations and in situ measurements. It identifies operational constraints, such as wind speed, wave height, visibility, and ice cover, and assesses their impact on LNG logistics and terminal functionality. Thresholds for safe operations are evaluated in accordance with IMO and ISO safety standards. An ice severity forecast for 2011–2030 was developed using the ECHAM5 global climate model under the A1B emission scenario, indicating potential seasonal risks to LNG operations. While baseline safety criteria are generally met, environmental variability in the region may still cause temporary disruptions. Findings underscore the need for resilient port infrastructure, including anti-icing systems, heated transfer equipment, and real-time environmental monitoring, to ensure operational continuity. Integrating weather forecasting into LNG logistics supports uninterrupted deliveries and contributes to EU goals for energy diversification and emissions reduction. The study concludes that strategic investments in LNG infrastructure—tailored to regional climatic conditions—can enhance energy security in the southern Baltic, provided environmental risks are systematically accounted for in operational planning. Full article

In this study, we selected a series of pothole wetlands to investigate their nucleation, evolution, and recent anthropogenic degradation in the Alcores Depression (AD), southern Iberian Peninsula, where over 100 closed watersheds containing shallow, ephemeral water bodies up to 2 hm² have been identified. We surveyed the regional geological framework, utilized digital elevation models (DEMs), orthophotos, and aerial images since 1956. Moreover, we analyzed precipitation and temperature data in Seville from 1900 to 2024, collected hydrometeorological data since 1990 and modelled the water level evolution from 2002 to 2025 in a representative pothole in the area. Our observations indicate a flooded surface reduction by more than 90% from the 1950s to 2025. Climatic data reveal an increase in annual mean temperatures since 1960 and a sharp decline in annual precipitation since 2000. The AD’s inception due to tectonic isolation during the Quaternary favoured the formation of pothole wetlands in the floodplain. The reduction in the hydroperiod and wetland degradation was primarily due to agricultural expansion since 1950, which followed an increase in groundwater extraction and altered the original topography. Recently, decreased precipitation has exponentially accelerated the degradation and even the complete disappearance of many potholes. This study underscores the fragility of small wetlands in the Mediterranean basin and the critical role of human management in their preservation. Restoring these ecosystems could be a highly effective nature-based solution, especially in semi-arid climates like southern Spain. These prairie potholes are crucial for enhancing groundwater recharge, which is vital for maintaining water availability in regions with limited precipitation. By facilitating rainwater infiltration into the aquifer, recharge potholes increase groundwater levels. Additionally, they capture and store run-off during heavy rainfall, reducing the risk of flooding and soil erosion. Beyond their hydrological functions, these wetlands provide habitats that support biodiversity and promote ecological resilience, reinforcing the need for their protection and recovery. Full article

Iraq has faced escalating water scarcity over the past two decades, driven by climate change, upstream water withdrawals, and prolonged economic instability. These factors have caused deterioration in irrigation systems, inefficient water distribution, and growing social unrest. As per capita water availability falls below critical levels, Iraq is entering a period of acute water stress. This escalating water scarcity directly impacts water and food security, public health, and economic stability. This study aims to develop a general framework combining decision support systems (DSSs) with Integrated Comprehensive Water Management Strategies (ICWMSs) to support water planning, allocation, and response to ongoing water scarcity and reductions in Iraq. Implementing such a system is essential for Iraq to alleviate its continuing severe situation and adequately tackle its worsening water scarcity that has intensified over the years. This integrated approach is fundamental for enhancing planning efficiency, improving operational performance and monitoring, optimizing water allocation, and guiding informed policy decisions under scarcity and uncertainty. The current study highlights various international case studies that show that DSSs integrate real-time data, artificial intelligence, and advanced modeling to provide actionable policies for water management. Implementing such a framework is crucial for Iraq to mitigate this critical situation and effectively address the escalating water scarcity. Furthermore, Iraq’s water management system requires modifications considering present and expected future challenges. This study analyzes the inflows of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from 1933 to 2022, revealing significant reductions in water flow: a 31% decrease in the Tigris and a 49.5% decline in the Euphrates by 2021. This study highlights the future 7–20% water deficit between 2020 and 2035. Furthermore, this study introduces a flexible, tool-based framework supported by a DSS with the DPSIR model (Driving Forces, Pressures, State, Impacts, and Responses) designed to address and reduce the gap between water availability and increasing demand. This approach proposes a multi-hazard risk matrix to identify and prioritize strategic risks facing Iraq’s water sector. This matrix links each hazard with appropriate DSS-based response measures and supports scenario planning under the ICWMS framework. The proposed framework integrates hydro-meteorological data analysis with hydrological simulation models and long-term investment strategies. It also emphasizes the development of institutional frameworks, the promotion of water diplomacy, and the establishment of transboundary water allocation and operational policy agreements. Efforts to enhance national security and regional stability among riparian countries complement these actions to tackle water scarcity effectively. Simultaneously, this framework offers a practical guideline for water managers to adopt the best management policies without bias or discrimination between stakeholders. By addressing the combined impacts of anthropogenic and climate change, the proposed framework aims to ensure rational water allocation, enhance resilience, and secure Iraq’s water strategies, ensuring sustainability for future generations. Full article

Cities face complex challenges, including climate change, population growth, urbanization, natural hazards, pollution, biodiversity degradation, and inadequate public services. Hydro-meteorological hazards such as floods, landslides, droughts, and heat waves are among the most significant risks, with floods often causing severe impacts and loss of life. Traditional responses, typically hard engineering infrastructures, dominate mitigation efforts. However, green infrastructures (GIs) offer sustainable, cost-effective solutions with added benefits, enhancing ecosystem services and societal well-being. Despite their effectiveness, GI implementation is slow, particularly in developing countries, due to the complex construction, operation, and maintenance processes, alongside knowledge gaps. This study proposes an assessment framework to evaluate GI performance in mitigating hydro-meteorological hazards. By integrating hydrologic–hydraulic modeling, the framework analyzes baseline and post-intervention conditions, offering valuable insights into hazard reduction and cost-effectiveness. Key indicators for assessing GIs include runoff volume reduction, peak flow reduction, flood node mitigation, and increased time to peak flow. Studies show that GIs can achieve reductions of 30–90%. This framework aims to advance the adoption of GIs by providing practical tools to assess and monitor its performance in hazard management. Full article

Due to growing water demands and changing hydro-meteorological variables brought on by climate change, drought is becoming an increasingly serious climate concern. The Al-Baha region of Saudi Arabia is the subject of this study because it is susceptible to both agricultural and meteorological droughts. This study investigates how climate change affects patterns of drought in Al-Baha by analyzing four drought indices (Agricultural Standardized Precipitation Index (aSPI), the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), the Rainfall Deficiency Index (RDI), and the Effective Reconnaissance Drought Index (eRDI)) for the years 1991–2022. Analysis of rainfall data was carried out to classify drought events according to their duration, frequency, and severity. Results showed that severe droughts occurred in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2022, with 2010 being the worst year. Results also indicated a notable decrease in precipitation, which has resulted in extended dry spells. Several indices indicate that this tendency has significant ramifications for agriculture, particularly in areas where farming is a major economic activity. In addition, the possible occurrence of hydrological drought was also observed based on the negative values for the Reservoir Storage Index (RSI) in Al-Baha. Projections for the future under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) showed notable variations in temperature and precipitation. Both the RCP4.5 (low emission) and the RCP8.5 (high emission) projection scenarios indicate that drought conditions will likely worsen further. Depending on the emission scenario, it is projected to show a temperature increase of 1–2 °C, whereas the variability in precipitation projections indicates significant uncertainty, with a reduction change in the range of 1.2–27% between 2050 and 2100. The findings highlight the urgent need for proactive adaptation strategies, effective water resource management, and the development of sophisticated drought prediction tools. Addressing these challenges is crucial for sustaining agriculture and managing water scarcity in Saudi Arabia in the face of increasing drought risk. Full article

Floods are a widespread natural disaster that occur in most areas of the world, except for the polar regions. To minimize the damage caused by floods, effective management strategies and policies must be implemented. Petra and Wadi Musa areas are prone to floods, which happen every 2–3 years and result in significant harm to both lives and properties. To address this issue, a composite hazard and vulnerability index is commonly utilized to evaluate flood risk and guide policy formation for flood risk reduction. These tools are efficient and cost-effective in generating accurate results. Accordingly, the present study aims to determine the morphological and hydrometeorological parameters that affect flash floods in Petra catchment area and to identify high-risk zones using GIS, hydrological, and analytical hierarchy (AHP) modeling. Nine factors, including Elevation (E), Landuse/Landcover LULC, Slope (S), Drainage density (DD), Flood Control Points (FCP) and Rainfall intensity (RI), which make up the six risk indices, and Population Density (PD), Cropland (C), and Transportation (Tr), which make up the three vulnerability indices, were evaluated both individually and in combination using AHP in ArcGIS 10.8.2 software. These parameters were classified as hazard and vulnerability indicators, and a final flood map was generated. The map indicated that approximately 37% of the total area in Petra catchment is at high or very high risk of flooding, necessitating significant attention from governmental agencies and decision-makers for flood risk mitigation. The AHP method proposed in this study is an accurate tool for flood mapping that can be easily applied to other regions in Jordan to manage and prevent flood hazards. Full article

International organizations like the EU and IUCN are advocating for nature-based solutions (NBSs) as green alternatives for climate change adaptation and mitigation, especially in disaster risk reduction and urban planning. The H2020 OPERANDUM project was designed to address the major hydro-meteorological risks (floods, droughts, landslides, storm surge, and coastal erosions) through the deployment and assessment of NBSs in different contexts and areas affected by specific hazards. Despite growing research and funding, NBSs are still in the early stages of mainstream adoption and face challenges in acceptance and dissemination. Although designed to benefit both social and ecological systems, they remain a niche area with low perceived effectiveness among technicians and decision-makers. Their uptake requires a paradigm shift that includes a change in cultural-cognitive institutions, a different and wider set of knowledge than traditional engineering (ecological, social), and an adaptive management approach, missing within the current governance system. Using a qualitative case study research method, this paper aims to identify barriers in mainstreaming NBSs for DRR (disaster risk reduction) in the Emilia-Romagna region—influenced not only by individual beliefs but also by variables tied to technical culture and local procedural norms—and emphasizing the importance of combining social and ecological indicators in socio-ecological system analysis. Full article

Vaccine accessibility and availability has been shown to be one of the key factors to ensure rapid responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased vaccine coverage is, however, dependent on vaccine supply and transportation, in particular ensuring that road networks have as minimal disruption as possible. In Indonesia, the most common and imminent threats affecting transport flows are due to frequent disasters such as floods, landslides, and high rainfall. This research is novel because it fills in the gap between health and disaster studies in COVID-19-related studies published since 2021. This study presents an analysis of susceptibility of various hydro-meteorological disasters on the trans-provincial roads that span over 856.014 km and cover an area of 38,744.23 km² over 13 districts in South Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. The floods that occurred in January and November 2021 inundated an area of around 4000 km² (10 percent of the total study area) that spans along 13 sub-provincial/district areas. Data collected are analyzed using the geographical information system (GIS) to quantify and classify the impacts in the 13 districts, utilizing different indicators such as topography, road conditions and characteristics, amount of rainfall, and types of disasters that occurred (floods and landslides). The results show that the trans-provincial road, which is also the only road available for transporting vaccines in the South Kalimantan Province, was highly susceptible to various hydro-meteorological disasters. Around 20 percent of the total road length was disrupted by the floods, close to 4% of the road section passes through mountainous areas that make it susceptible to landslides, and about 13% to 23% of the road section is vulnerable to slip risks due to the extreme rainfall. The results presented here demand an overarching solution involving multiple stakeholders from public works and local disaster management offices in terms of disaster mitigation and preparedness strategies, and environmental protection in terms of disaster risk reduction implementation. This research contributes to the health sector particularly through future preparedness to pandemics and wider vaccine distribution and coverage through the identification and mapping of sections of roads impacted by multiple disasters. Full article

Climate change has increasing impacts of hydro-meteorological extremes on water resources. Projections indicate a similar trend and challenge in the effectiveness of conventional engineering solutions in climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies. Nature-based solutions (NbSs) have been promoted as viable approaches and measures that complement engineering solutions. While the effects of NbSs have been increasingly demonstrated, their broader implementation can be favoured by NbSs knowledge integration in higher education curricula. Knowledge on how the research practice is translated into the educational landscape is missing. This paper adopts the concept of knowledge translation and analyses the integration of NbSs in the study programs of higher education institutions in three European countries (Croatia, Czechia, and Slovenia). Specifically, it explores the extent, thematic areas, and curricular settings of NbSs related to water resources management in implemented curricula at public universities. The results show that NbSs are integrated in a limited number of courses within the relevant study programs (in the fields of, e.g., natural sciences, geography, and engineering and technology) and represent rather an extension of compulsory curricula. Bibliometric analysis revealed that most courses involving the NbSs approach still represent a personalized knowledge, i.e., developed by professors during their research activities. The barriers impairing a broader integration of NbSs in the studied programs are then discussed. Our results therefore indicate that NbSs do not represent a mainstream knowledge that would proliferate into higher education curricula through accreditations procedures, but that the knowledge that is mostly integrated through direct incremental implementation of NbSs in the individual compulsory lessons or facultative courses. We assert that without broader and systematic NbSs knowledge translation to study programs, the effectiveness of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies cannot be fully achieved. Full article

The impacts of climate change are becoming more widespread across the world, with hydro-meteorological extreme events on the rise, causing severe threats to nature and communities. Increasing trends in the frequency and intensity of floods and landslides have been projected by climate models. This necessitates the development of more effective measures such as nature-based solutions (NBS) which can complement grey infrastructures. Recent studies have identified knowledge gaps and limitations in existing research and tools that aid in spatial planning for the implementation of large-scale NBS and proposed new methodologies for the spatial allocation of large-scale NBS for flood risk reduction. This work presents a novel method for mapping the suitability of NBS addressing geo-hydrological hazards such as shallow landslides, debris flow, and rockfall, which are typically caused due to slope instability. This methodology incorporates landslide susceptibility mapping, and was used to create a toolbox ESRI ArcGIS environment to aid decision-makers in the planning and implementation of large-scale NBS. The spatial allocation toolbox was applied to the case study Portofino promontory, Liguria region, Italy, and 70% of the area was found to be highly susceptible to landslides. The produced suitability maps show that 41%, 33%, and 65% of the study area is suitable for the restoration of terraces, bio-engineering, and vegetative measures such as NBS for landslide risk reduction. Full article