Water Resource Management Commons^™

Multiple Secondary Risks Triggered By Rapid Rising Of Groundwater Level And Corresponding Tactics In The North China Plain, Yanjun Shen, Fubao Sun, Congqiang Liu, Fengchang Wu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

In recent years, following the implementation of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project and comprehensive control of groundwater over-exploitation, coupled with natural factors such as more frequent and intensified extreme rainstorms, the groundwater level at large extent of the North China Plain has stopped declining and even started rising, with gradual recovery of groundwater storage. Nevertheless, the rapid rise in groundwater levels has disrupted the long-standing hydrological-geological-ecological balance shaped by prolonged over-extraction, triggering multiple secondary risks. The rebounding water level markedly exacerbates potential seismic liquefaction hazards at construction sites and raises risks of water seepage, anti-float failure, and structural damage for …

The Implementation Of Smart City Initiatives In Addressing Climate Change Challenges For The Transformation Of Jakarta Into A Resilient Global City, Roby Dwiputra, Nurulitha Andini Susetyo, Apriano Hanindito Amanza

CSID Journal of Infrastructure Development

Jakarta, a densely populated delta city and Indonesia's former capital undergoing post-relocation transformation, faces escalating climate change impacts, including land subsidence and tidal flooding. Annual subsidence rates of 5–25 cm in northern areas and recurrent tidal floods, including the December 2025 event, pose significant threats to urban sustainability and economic stability. This study employs a qualitative descriptive–analytic approach using a single-case study of Jakarta. Smart city initiatives are examined as governance instruments for climate resilience, drawing on secondary data from regulatory documents, real-time digital monitoring platforms, and global smart city performance indicators. The analysis applies thematic and comparative techniques supported …

Inconsistencies Emerge Between Regional And Local-Scale Water Security Metrics At Military Installations, Abigail Birnbaum, Michael L. Berg, Caitlin Grady, Daniel J. Weeks, Christopher M. Chini

Faculty Publications

Recent United States federal policy for military installations has emphasized the importance of developing a standardized approach for water security assessment to monitor changes in water resources and the ability for an installation to meet both its civilian and mission needs. For military installations in the United States, these assessments must consider demands both inside and outside the installation’s fence line, as regional resources are required to meet mission readiness. Focusing on physical water scarcity, this study compares four water security metrics with unique formulations and spatial resolutions, including an installation-scale metric and multiple regional metrics defined for either baseline …

Promoting Water Security Of South-To-North Water Diversion Project For National Water Network, Quanfa Zhang, Guihua Liu, Chesheng Zhan, Xiaobo Ren

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The South-to-North Water Diversion Project is a crucial infrastructure initiative aiming at optimizing nation-wide distribution of water resources, meanwhile fostering sustainable economic and social development, and ensuring the well-being of the people. The project, with its extensive scope and high technical complexity, particularly in the middle and west routes located in biodiversity hotspots such as the Qinling Mountains and the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, may alter local microclimates, potentially triggering meteorological disasters such as droughts, thunderstorms, and hail, along with secondary hazards. The implementation of the project may also disrupt the local hydrological conditions, disturb the balance of the existing atmospheric-vegetation-soil system, …

When Words Flow Like Water: How The Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline Environmental Impact Statement Failed To Prevent Hydrogeologic Harm In Minnesota, Carly Gutzmann

Journal of Earth and Life Science

For the aquifers of Minnesota, the environmental impact statement (EIS) was a promise of protection that never left the page. An environmental impact statement is meant to be an aid in the decision making process in order to ensure that projects consider potential environmental harms that may occur. However, they are often used instead as another regulatory box to check, rather than as active considerations when planning. As such, a project plan can be flawed from the start—if project developers only consider environmental impacts after they have already put considerable time, effort, and funding into their project as-is, they may …

Powering The Machine, Draining The Planet: Whether U.S. Environmental Law Is Equipped To Regulate The Energy And Water Demands Of Ai Data Centers, Michael Marcu

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers have become one of the United States' fastest-growing and least-regulated sources of environmental stress. In 2024 alone, U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity more than the entire nation of Pakistan and consumed an estimated 17 billion gallons of water (IEA, 2025; Berkeley Lab, 2024). By 2030, electricity demand from these facilities is projected to reach 426 TWh, a 133% increase in six years (Pew Research Center, 2025). This paper examines whether the existing U.S. environmental regulatory framework put by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and the …

Swimming In Uncertainty: Filling Data Gaps And Providing An Educational Platform For Beach Water Quality At Tybee Island, Georgia, Lukas Roberson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

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Swimming in beaches water contaminated with high levels of bacteria can make you sick. Current monitoring at the public beaches on Tybee Island consists of weekly monitoring and enumeration of fecal indicator bacteria that takes 24 hours for results. If the number of bacteria exceed regulatory limits, a public health advisory is issued, and affected waters are retested until …

Spatial Resilience Of Coastal Zones From Landscape Pattern Perspective: Connotation, Characteristics, Key Elements, And Pathways For Enhancement, Haixing Meng, Congchun Wang, Shufeng Ye

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The coastal zone is a critical ecological barrier at the land–sea interface. Nevertheless, its defensive and regulatory functions have been severely undermined by climate change and intensified human activities, which have caused landscape fragmentation and reduced connectivity. From the perspective of landscape pattern, this study defines the concept of coastal zone spatial resilience and develops a three-dimensional framework of “structure–process–function”, elucidating its attributes of stability, adaptability, recoverability, and dynamic evolution. By coupling ecological spatial resilience theory, the study identifies key landscape elements shaping spatial resilience and proposes an assessment framework consisting of sensitivity, structure, and ecological vitality and services. Building …

Coastal Zone Ecological Barrier Construction: Holistic Governance And Its Promotion Path, Xiurong Huang, Aihua Jiang, Dou Xiaodong Dou

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The coastal zone is the frontier of the interaction between sea and land. As a special geographical unit, it has dual values of ecological security and economic development. It has become an important proposition to promote the resilience construction of coastal zone ecological barrier. In response to the current regulatory dilemma of “Kowloon Sea Governance”, structural contradictions in laws and norms, and complex conflicts of related interests, the construction of coastal zone ecological barrier must move from static protection to dynamic governance. In the goal dimension, the shift from “passive defense” to “resilient system construction” should be realized; in the …

Exploring Ecological Zonation Of The Yellow River Estuary Coastal Zone Based On Nitrogen And Phosphorus Criteria, Dejuan Jiang, Song Qin, Zhengyi Liu, Ruiteng Sun, Xiaoshuai Hang, Tao Zou, Xiaoguang Li, Lijuan Li, Shichao Tian, Yanfang Li, Yongming Luo, Chuanyuan Wang, Yuan Li

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Estuaries, as ecologically sensitive brackish water mixing zones, face a critical bottleneck in refined management because traditional zonation based on socioeconomic attributes overlooks the ecological heterogeneity driven by salinity gradients and nutrient stoichiometry, leading to a disconnect between management measures and conservation needs. This study proposes a novel approach to coastal zonation using nitrogen and phosphorus nutrient criteria as an ecological benchmark. Overall ecological criteria are established for the Yellow River estuary (dissolved inorganic nitrogen: 0.258 mg/L; phosphate: 0.015 mg/L) and a differentiated management scheme is constructed based on a salinity gradient (26.5 PSU boundary). It is recommended to integrate …

Ecological Barrier Of Coastal Zone In China: Concept, Functions, And Construction Theory, Guangxuan Han, Xiaoli Bi, Xiyong Hou, Xiaoli Zhang, Qianguo Xing, Yuan Li, Haiqing Ma, Ting Wang, Song Qin

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The ecological barrier of coastal zone serves as a critical defense line for safeguarding coastal ecological security and sustainable socio-economic development, with multifaceted functions including wave attenuation, shoreline stabilization, and climate regulation. This study systematically elaborates on the concept and essence of ecological barriers of coastal zone, highlighting their core as land-sea continuums that synergistically leverage ecosystem integrity, hydrological connectivity, and biodiversity to provide systemic deliver protective functions. Nevertheless, China’s coastal ecological barrier construction faces four major challenges, namely, (1) theoretical frameworks, often derived from inland models, inadequately represent the complex land-sea interactions and socio-economic drivers; (2) the absence of …

Institutional Safeguards And International Experience For Construction Of Coastal Ecological Barrier, Jiayu Bai, Yalei Qing, Shufeng Ye

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The coastal zone is a transitional area shaped by the interaction between land and sea, and it holds significant importance for national ecological security as well as economic and social development. Against the backdrop of advancing Chinese modernization, the research on institutional safeguards for the construction of coastal ecological barrier is essential for building a comprehensive framework for ecological conservation from the mountaintop to the ocean, implementing the major projects to protect and restore key ecosystems and the “dual carbon” goals, and promoting ecological civilization and the construction of a Beautiful China. At present, China’s institutional safeguards for coastal ecological …

Evaluating The Preparedness Of Local Zoning Regulations For Flood Risk Reduction In The Most Affected Local Jurisdictions In Nebraska, Md Asaduzzaman Noor

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Flooding has profound social, economic, and environmental impacts on local communities, and zoning plays a critical role in mitigating these risks. The 2019 Nebraska floods, among the most severe in the state’s history, highlighted the urgent need to strengthen local preparedness and mitigation strategies. This study assesses the extent to which local zoning regulations in Nebraska’s most affected jurisdiction, including rural areas, address flood risk reduction. A systematic review of 117 zoning ordinances from counties, cities, towns, and villages, we applied a structured analytical framework encompassing regulatory and permitting policies, voluntary and incentive-based measures, and nature-based solutions. The results show …

Bridging Conservation And Disaster Recovery: A Dual Study On Wetland Program Plans Evaluation And Midwest Post Disaster Recovery Assessment, Rao Nargis Jahan

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Wetlands provide essential ecological, social, and economic benefits for our society. In the United States, states and tribes play crucial roles in wetland protection, restoration, and management. However, no research has systematically measured state-level wetland planning efforts towards national conservation goals. This study is the first to comprehensively evaluate how state-level Wetland Program Plans (WPPs) align with national missions, particularly the "no-net-loss" of wetlands goal. Our research assesses the EPA-approved state-level WPPs from 42 out of 50 states in the United States during the period from 2015 to 2024. Using a protocol of 30 indicators across five categories, this study …

U.S. Water Infrastructure: Diving Into Needs And Recent Policy Developments, Joseph Kane

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West presents a lecture titled, "U.S. Water Infrastructure: Diving Into Needs and Recent Policy Developments" by Brookings fellow in Brookings Metro, Joseph Kane. Whether providing drinking water, treating wastewater, or managing stormwater, water infrastructure in the United States spans a wide range of human-made and natural systems. In turn, the enormous scale and variety of these systems is leading to an array of challenges: aging and vulnerable infrastructure; fragmented governance and siloed planning across different geographies; a lack of financial, technical, and managerial capacity; difficulties adapting to new industrial and …

Resilience Of Interdependent Transportation And Healthcare Systems: A Simulation-Driven Framework Incorporating Social Equity And Facility Optimization, S. Yasaman Ahmadi

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The overarching goal of this dissertation is to develop an integrated, simulation-driven framework to assess and enhance the resilience of interdependent transportation and healthcare systems before, during, and after natural hazards. By examining how spatial disruptions, social vulnerability, operational constraints, and infrastructure interdependencies affect access to and functionality of hospitals, this research offers a multifaceted evaluation of system performance under stress. This dissertation examines the impact of natural hazards, particularly floods, on the interdependent transportation and healthcare systems. The proposed approach combines and advances GIS-based network analysis, graph-theoretical modeling, and discrete-event simulation to evaluate system performance under different scenarios. The …

Flooding: Risk Assessment And Its Interaction With Population & Environmental Health, Shivendra Srivastava

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Flood events have significant implications for both population and environmental health. This dissertation aims to explore flood risk and its interaction with humans and the environment. The key questions addressed in this dissertation include improving the existing flood risk framework to better assess population vulnerability and associated risk. Additionally, it explores how interactions among risk components vary across spatial scales and regions, and how these variations influence overall flood risk. The dissertation also investigates how to design a vulnerability component specific to flooding within flood risk estimation. Finally, it answers whether flood-specific vulnerability differs for a population compared to vulnerability …

Adaptation Planning To Mitigate Flood Risk: Bellevue, Nebraska As A Case Study, Michael Nti Ababio

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

Flooding remains one of the most pressing natural hazards in the United States, with increasing frequency and intensity driven by climate change. This thesis explores the adaptation planning strategies employed to mitigate flood risks in Bellevue, Nebraska, a city significantly impacted by the 2019 floods in eastern Nebraska. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study combines quantitative analysis of flood vulnerability with a critical review of local planning policies using documents, zoning ordinances and institutional frameworks. Spatial analytical tools such as Global Moran’s I and Hot Spot Analysis (Getis-Ord Gi*) were used to detect clustering of inundated buildings during the 2019 …

Enhancing Water Supply Resilience & Sustainability: Potential Solutions To Address Water Scarcity In Bogotá, Colombia, Sophia Alvarez Wong

Master's Projects and Capstones

Municipal water utilities are in urgent need of adapting to the intensifying impacts of climate change and population growth—key drivers of urban water scarcity worldwide. In rapidly expanding cities like Bogota, Colombia, these pressures have contributed to a severe water crisis driven by prolonged droughts, ecosystem degradation, increasing water demands, and overdependence on limited water sources. This study explores potential adaptation and management strategies that utilities can implement to sustainably strengthen supply system resilience and enhance water security, in the context of low- to middle-income regions. A series of comparative and case study analyses were conducted to assess the feasibility …

Turning Farm Waste Into Energy: Pragmatic Approaches For Cleaner Midwestern American Communities, Rebecca Gaisie

Selected or Submitted Student Research Papers/Projects

Mismanagement of farm waste in the Midwest of the United States has resulted in significant methane emissions, water contamination, and public health concerns. The present manure management rules are still inconsistent, underfunded, and insufficient to motivate individuals to behave in a way that benefits the environment, despite increasing concerns about the environment. This policy study investigates anaerobic digestion as a potential means to convert waste into energy that could support rural and environmental development. Some of the problems with the federal and state legislation examined in this study under an EPI framework are a lack of incentives, inadequate technical support, …

System Change, Not Climate Change: Collaborative Development Of A Few Nexus Experiential Learning Course For A Justice-Centered Comparative Study Abroad Program, Sonya Ahamed

National Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy, and Water Education (NC-FEW)

The International Honors Program (IHP) on Climate Change: The Politics of Land, Water and Energy Justice has been offered by the School for International Training (SIT) since 2013. This thematic multidisciplinary program currently travels to Morocco, Nepal, and Ecuador for one month each, introducing students to local food, water, and energy challenges in the context of a changing climate. In updating the program following its relaunch in 2023, renewed attention was given to the food, energy, and water nexus from a comparative perspective across and within these countries. This presentation will focus on the development of experiential learning cycles for …

The Influence Of The Un Watercourses Convention On The Development Of A Policy Design In The Nile River Basin, Zienab Ali Abdelhady

Theses and Dissertations

The adoption in 1997 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses (UN Watercourses Convention or UNWC) marked a milestone in the codification and progressive development of international water law. Similarly, the signature in 2010 by the majority of the Nile Basin states of the Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) was a major step towards a permanent legal and institutional framework as well as a significant shift from the currently applicable legal regime in the basin. The research concludes that the principles enshrined in the UNWC can assist future regional treaty …

Identifying Intangible And Biocultural Heritage Elements Toward Environmental Understanding: Engaging Stakeholders Through Art, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Grounded in a case study in Barbuda in the Caribbean, this research examines sustainability from the perspective of what arts and heritage can contribute to community engagement and local and broader understandings about the environment. This article documents a growing body of literature recognizing the role of arts and culture, including local knowledge and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), in climate change endeavors. Art and TEK present expansive world views. Contextual information situates research done on the island of Barbuda pre- and post-Hurricane Irma. Visual arts workshops engaged community members in mixed methods research. Results documented cultural elements, particularly intangible and …

The Effectiveness Of The Minnesota Buffer Law And Its Impacts On People, Ellen P. Isakson

Journal of Earth and Life Science

In January 2015, the then-governor of Minnesota Mark Dayton announced new legislation that would require 50-foot vegetation buffers along all waterways in Minnesota; this legislation would come to be known as the Minnesota buffer law, exact requirements being “perennial vegetative buffers of up to 50 feet along lakes, rivers, and streams and buffers of 16.5 feet along ditches” (Albert, 2017; MN Board of Water and Soil Resources [MN BWSR] 4 ). A buffer in the context of vegetation and natural resource management is a strip of vegetation around a body of water “designed to intercept stormwater runoff and minimize soil …

Three Essays On Sustainability Economics, Hélène Flore Nguemgaing

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As global economies face increasing resource dependencies and supply chain challenges, it becomes essential to understand the vulnerabilities that threaten economic stability. This dissertation investigates three empirical issues in agribusiness and critical minerals using econometric models to estimate the following: 1) the impact of supply chain disruptions on stock market returns during COVID-19; 2) the extraction of rare earth elements from acid mine drainage treatment by investigating the impacts of ownership and legislation in West Virginia and Pennsylvania; 3) China-to�FOBb (Free-on-Board) price transmission in rare earth elements markets: a copula-based dynamic tail dependence analysis.

The first essay evaluates how events …

Scientifically Improving Integrated Water Governance For Resilient Flow Of The Yellow River, Shuai Wang, Shuang Song, Yanxu Liu, Xutong Wu, Enhui Jiang, Bojie Fu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The severe soil erosion and river channel disconnection along the Yellow River have been curbed. Still, the fundamental situation of prominent contradictions in the relationship between humans and water has not changed. Scientifically enhancing comprehensive management capabilities has become an important demand for high-quality development in the Yellow River basin during this new era. This study summarizes the fundamental ecological and hydrological changes in the Yellow River basin, and identifies three main characteristics, namely, sediment transport has significantly decreased, water resource shortages have intensified, and the relationship between humans and water has changed significantly. The four key challenges for sustainable …

Further Developing Drought Early Warning Information Systems Using Mixed-Methods And Multiple Streams Of Data, Caily Claire Schwartz

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Drought is a complex phenomenon with varying degrees of impacts and monitoring methods. No drought is alike, creating a challenge for both water managers and communities. No area is immune to a drought. Due to the cyclical nature of drought events, clear information to those impacted is necessary to reduce risk and move towards proactive responses, as opposed to reactive responses. To better provide communication and mitigation tools, Drought Early Warning Information Systems (DEWIS) have been developed in various regions and contexts. To improve early warning, an understanding of the end user’s perceptions of risk, and the applicability of data …

Applying Circuit Theory To Describe Changes In Structural Landscape Connectivity In Response To Wildfire, Christian Ross Nielsen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Understanding and conserving ecological connectivity is critical to the preservation of vulnerable landscapes. Circuit theory, in which landscapes are imagined as circuit boards with varying resistances to the flow of current, is being increasingly used to model spatially explicit connectivity of landscapes and to inform land management and conservation decision-making. Utilizing continuous, quantitative estimates of percent cover by five land cover functional groups to create a conductance surface, this study expanded upon an established application of circuit theory that used the open-source software Circuitscape to model species-agnostic, omnidirectional connectivity. This model was automated using Python to create time-series connectivity maps …

Analysis Of Drought-Flood Abrupt Alternation Events And Their Impacts In Kenya, Betty Makena

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Drought-Flood Abrupt Alternation (DFAA) is a compound disaster event that refers to the abrupt shift of extreme drought events to extreme floods resulting in exacerbated impacts on already vulnerable communities and hindering their coping abilities. This study aimed to analyze drought-flood abrupt alternation events and their impacts in Kenya. The first chapter aimed to understand historical drought events in the Greater Horn of Africa and their impacts, while drawing comparisons with the recent 2020-2022 drought period, referred to as the ‘triple dip La Niña’. Datasets used in this study include the Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS), Normalized …

Enhancing Water Sustainability In North Africa: Literature Review And Synthesis Of Current Knowledge Gaps In Sudan, Osman M. A. Adam, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Derek M. Heeren, Troy E. Gilmore

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

This study delves into the critical role of groundwater in addressing global water challenges, with a focus on the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) in North Africa. Groundwater constitutes a source of potable water, irrigation, and industrial use, especially in arid regions where surface water is limited. We analyzed the status of water quantity, withdrawals, recharge, and geological characteristics in the NSAS, specifically in Sudan, Egypt, Libya, and Chad. Though the NSAS is largely an untapped resource, we evaluated various scenarios to determine the quantity of cropland that can be sustainably irrigated. The NSAS is located in an arid region, …