New Special Issue: the use of data & models in transboundary water governance
Newer methods of data collection and processing, including remote sensing and artificial intelligence, are already influencing decisions related to transboundary waters and the way knowledge about such waters is developed. Using these new tools in politically sensitive situations requires conscious engagement. A new Water International Special Issue collects practice-based research to promote learning.
Creating and using data and data-driven tools for transboundary water governance is an everyday practice, but there are few scientific articles about their use. The new Special Issue collects practice-based research articles and technical notes to fill this gap and promote learning from experience.
The issue includes lessons from around the world, including North and South America, Western Europe, Asia and Africa.
The contributions show that the success of data- and modelling-driven project depend on investing in relations between people and institutions, data and models along with critical technologies. The Special Issue’s guest editors, including IHE Delft Affiliate Researcher Rozemarijn ter Horst and IHE Delft Professor Pieter van der Zaag discuss four lessons from the case studies in the Special Issue’s editorial.
- Layer up: When engaging with data and data-driven tools for transboundary water management, include different levels of decision making from the start.
- Communication is key: Investing in communication and data-sharing remains essential, while recognizing that data and data-driven tools are no easy fixes but require careful implementation.
- Engage people first and models second: Early engagements and developing agreements with stakeholders are investments towards success in the longer run and can prevent a future breach of trust.
- Take time for transdisciplinarity: Take time to learn to cross disciplinary boundaries, and connect practice and science, through their practice. Such expertise is a requirement for success in projects on data exchange and modelling for water cooperation.
Open-access papers
IHE Delft researchers co-authored several of the open-access papers in the Special Issue:
- ‘Lake Victoria water levels declining (2000-2006): the role of absent and uncertain data in a transboundary water controversy’, by David Kipyegon Bosuben, Uta Wehn and Pieter van der Zaag
- ‘Open-access remote sensing data for cooperation in transboundary water management’, by Seleshi G. Yalew, Pieter van der Zaag, Bich N. Tran, Claire I. B. Michailovsky, Elga Salvadore, E. Borgomeo, Poolad Karimi, Sajid Pareeth, Solomon D. Seyoum and Marloes L. Mul
- ‘Dam operation using satellite data and hydrological models: the case of Roseires dam and Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Blue Nile River’, by Mohamed A. Hassan, Mahmoud F. Hassan, Yasir A. Mohamed and Wail A. Awad
- ‘Using data collection to build trust and ownership in transboundary water allocation planning: a case study from the Mara River Basin’, by Lauren Zielinski, Michael McClain, William Ojwang, Christian Joseph, David Tickner, Gordon Mumbo, Ali Said Matano, Joel Nobert and Annette Huber-Lee
- ‘Does data lead to cooperation? Lessons from Water Accounting Plus in the Cauvery basin, India’, by Rozemarijn ter Horst, Claire I. Michailovsky, Elga Salvadore and Chaitanya K. S.
One of the Special Issue articles, ‘Data-sharing and decision support system to improve governance in transboundary waters in the La Plata River basin Editors’ by Isabela Battistello Espíndola and Luis Paulo Batista da Silva, was named Editors’ Choice and is free to access for a limited time.
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