Saudi Arabia (SA) faces a water shortage, and it further challenges sustainable agriculture, industrial development and the well-being of people. SA uses more than 80% of its water resources for agricultural purposes. Groundwater extractions account...
Southern Africa faces acute water scarcity challenges due to drought recurrence, degradation of surface water resources, and the increasing demand of water from agriculture, which has to meet the growing food demands of an increasing population. Thes...
Water scarcity is rising as a global issue, because the planet earth is facing a global water crisis, which is considered something that can destroy environmental sustainability of our planet. The fact is that humanity’s demand is depleting nat...
Drought events have affected many regions of the world, having negative economic, environmental and social impacts. When accompanied by increasing water demands, these events can lead to water scarcity. Since droughts can significantly vary in each g...
The irrigated agriculture sector has been facing an increased scarcity of good quality water worldwide. Consequently, the sustainability of water intensive crops, such as avocado, is threatened when water becomes scarce and expensive, or when growers...
Global freshwater demand will likely continue its expansion under current expectations of economic and population growth. Withdrawals in regions which are already water-scarce will impose further pressure on the renewable water resource base threaten...
Sustainable watershed development suffers from severe challenges, such as water pollution and water scarcity. Based on an analysis of water quality and water utilization in the Fenhe River Basin, an inexact two-stage stochastic programming model with...
In recent centuries, water consumption rates have more than doubled and the population growth rate is rising constantly. As a result, water scarcity is now one of the main problems to be faced, mainly in semiarid regions. In light of such a dilemma,...
Water is a critically important element of human life. The best practice of effective water management comes from ancient civilizations that, despite their technologies and practices, were unable to prevent collapse from water scarcity. In the 21st c...
Despite being a natural phenomenon, water scarcity is, to a great extent, human-induced, particularly affected by climate change and by the increased water resources vulnerability. The Water Framework Directive (WFD), an ‘umbrella’ direct...
Water scarcity has become a major bottleneck to global sustainable development, threatening ecosystem security and socio-economic stability. However, previous studies have failed to distinguish regional characteristics of scarcity and to propose cost...
The lack of adequate management programs alongside water resources overexploitation have led to undesirable effects such as water shortages and economic losses in several regions. Optimized water allocation strategies using groundwater and surface wa...
This study investigated the sociological dimensions informing public perceptions of water scarcity during the El Niño drought period in Colombia. We conducted this study in Santa Marta, Colombia, and surveyed 405 urban and rural residents to u...
This paper provides an overview of the Special Issue on water supply and water scarcity. The papers selected for publication include review papers on water history, on water management issues under water scarcity regimes, on rainwater harvesting, on...
The growth in the number of studies applying and expanding the concepts of the water footprint and virtual water trade in Spain has generated a wealth of lessons and reflections about the scarcity, allocation, productive use, and management of water...
This special issue is a collection of recent papers in the field of Water Footprint Assessment (WFA), an emerging area of research focused on the analysis of freshwater use, scarcity, and pollution in relation to consumption, production, and trade. A...
With the pressing challenges of water scarcity and pollution, achieving sustainable water management is imperative for promoting long-term development. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the socio-economic and cultural factors that shape the susta...
Climate change is anticipated to exacerbate the frequency, the intensity, and the duration of droughts, especially in Mediterranean countries. This might lead to more serious water scarcity episodes and fierce competition among water users. Are we re...
Water consumption continues to grow globally, and it is estimated that more than 160% of the total global water volume will be needed to satisfy the water requirements in ten years. In this context, non-conventional water resources are being consider...
Droughts and water scarcity events are predicted to be more frequent and intense in the future, especially in Mediterranean countries. However, are the most recent drought management plans (DMPs) built on the latest technical, engineering, and scient...
Japanese modern irrigation management is considered a successful model of water governance worldwide. However, debates continue over whether this success is due to natural water abundance or to water management practices. This study evaluates pre-mod...
The study area is a densely populated residential zone located in central Mexico, characterized by a semi-arid climate and diverse land uses, including domestic, commercial, and services. In the study area, water demand is assessed based on land use...
This article is a study of water scarcity in Cyprus, examining the implications on the demand and supply side of water under the transformations caused by economic development, urbanisation and environmental changes. Measures and actions taken by wat...
This article develops a systematic literature review with a focus on the optimization of water harvesting through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications. These are framed in the search for sustainable solutions to the growing problem of...
Global warming, while increasing human demand for water, is reducing water availability by reducing runoff flows and the effective amount of water between seasons, making water scarcity a growing problem globally. Water management plays an important...
Rainfall variability, exacerbated by climate change, poses significant challenges to water resource management, particularly in regions prone to intense droughts and floods. The Greek islands, characterized by poor water potential, face interannual w...
Droughts affect all socio-economic sectors and have negative impacts on the environment. Droughts are expected to increase in frequency and severity due to climate change, which makes their effective management a high priority for policy makers and w...
Irrigation scheduling under seasonal water-use restrictions is a pressing challenge in water-scarce agricultural regions, where finite volumetric allocations demand careful timing and depth decisions to sustain profitability. Deep reinforcement learn...
Promoting sustainable water management (SWM) practices among farmers is essential in order to ensure water sustainability. This study aimed to analyze patterns in the adoption of SWM practices by farmers at the farm level, and how their awareness reg...
Crete, located in the South Mediterranean Sea, is characterized by long coastal areas, varied terrain relief and geology, and great spatial and inter-annual variations in precipitation. Under average meteorological conditions, the island is water-suf...
Islas Huichas, located in Chile’s remote Aysén region, has long faced water scarcity due to a lack of natural sources. The community relies on rainwater collection pools managed by the Rural Drinking Water Committee (RDWC), which face in...
Climate change is predicted to drive various changes in hydrology that can translate into risks for river ecosystems and for those who manage rivers, such as for hydropower. Here we use the WWF Water Risk Filter (WRF) and geospatial analysis to scree...
Population growth, climate change, pollution, and prolonged droughts are contributing to increasing water scarcity, which poses a significant challenge to global sustainable water management. Among the available adaptation strategies, potable water r...
Since 2010, Chile has experienced one of the most severe droughts over the last century, the so-called mega-drought (MD). The MD conditions, combined with intensive agricultural activities and the current water management system, have led to water sc...
The increasing use of photovoltaic (PV) systems necessitates ecologically responsible end-of-life management techniques to reduce resource depletion and environmental consequences. The ReCiPe 2016 life-cycle impact assessment technique is used in thi...
Water scarcity has become a critical global challenge, particularly in rapidly developing regions where water demand often exceeds sustainable supply capacities. Traditional “demand-driven” water management approaches have proven inadequa...
Northern Cyprus (NC) is suffering from limited water resources and reiterated drought condition experiences due to global warming effects. Previous studies revealed that the water management policy in the country is not sustainable from the perspecti...
Growing water scarcity, climate change, and increasingly stringent environmental regulations have intensified the need for advanced wastewater treatment technologies capable of removing emerging contaminants and enabling safe water reuse. This review...
This study demonstrates a new nature-based solution (NBS) project in agriculture, the ‘Karla’ reservoir in Central Greece, a unique example at European scale, of a lake ecosystem which was dried and is now restored with the purpose to max...
Tourism development in coastal Mediterranean regions has posed a significant pressure on water local resources, particularly the extensive use of water-intensive recreational infrastructures. This study investigates the spatial distribution and water...
Optimisation tools are a practical solution to problems involving the complex and interdependent constituents of water resource systems and offer the opportunity to engage with practitioners as an integral part of the optimisation process. A multiobj...
Integrated Water Resources Management requires decision-support approaches capable of combining hydrologic, climatic, social, economic, technical, and governance dimensions. This effort evaluates the transferability and structural robustness of an al...
An analysis of the following aspects of water economics was undertaken: Water as an Economic and Social Good, Modes of Government Intervention, Water Scarcity in Economic Theory and Agricultural Water Management Changes, with the support of over 300...
Global drylands, covering about 41% of Earth’s surface and inhabited by 38% of the world’s population, are facing the stark challenges of water scarcity, low water productivity, and food insecurity. This paper highlights the major constra...
Mediterranean agriculture is increasingly constrained by severe and recurrent water scarcity. Rising temperatures, declining precipitation, and more frequent droughts are driving higher crop water demand and reducing rainfall reliability. Combined wi...
Water use behaviour and efficiency are essential topics regarding water scarcity. Water is a life-sustaining resource used for various activities within the three primary sectors: agricultural, industrial, and domestic. Increasing competition among t...
Water management is a significant aspect of sustainable vegetable farming, especially in water-scarce regions. This, in addition to weed infestations, limits vegetable yields, which negatively affect food security in developing regions, particularly...
Household rainwater tanks (HRWTs) have re-emerged globally as a decentralised strategy to address water scarcity, climate variability, and increasing urban water demand. In several jurisdictions, including New South Wales, Australia, rainwater tanks...
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 suscepti...
In many river basins worldwide, decision-making depends on limited data and information. Yet, decisions, like the planning of a new multi-purpose dam, must be taken relying on available data. The incorporation of socio-economic developments, climate...
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