Ilyas Masih

Dr. Masih is working at IHE Delft since 2011. He currently holds a position of Associate Professor of Water Resources Planning at the Department of Water Resources and Ecosystems. His educational activities include teaching and coordinating courses related to water resources planning, river basin development and environmental impact assessment, water systems modeling, and drought management and reservoir operations. He was the coordinator of water management and governance MSc programme at IHE from 2015-2018. As a programme coordinator he was actively engaged in coordinating the development and smooth delivery of MSc curriculum. He has been interacting with student on various educational matters including career coaching. He is actively involved in training and capacity building activities (of individual & water related organizations) in the field of hydrological modeling and integrated water resources planning and management. He has conducted a number of trainings and capacity building activities in the Netherlands and abroad (Ethiopia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam).

He has been engaged in several research projects related to wide range of hydrology and water management issues, and has supervised several MSc and PhD research fellows. He has been engaged in research activities in many countries of Asia and Africa (e.g. the Gash Basin Sudan, Incomati Basin South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique, Indus Basin Pakistan, Karkheh Basin Iran, Mekong Basin mainly in Sesan and Srepok sub-basins in Vietnman, Sindh and Chambal sub-basins Madhya Pradesh, India, Upper Blue Nile and Awash Basins in Ethiopia). His current research engagements are mainly focused on impact of global changes (e.g. land use, climate change, water infrastructure development, and pollution) on hydrology and water resources, drought assessment and management, assessment of spatial and temporal variability of hydrology and water resources in river basins, use of global data sets (e.g. remote sensing data) for hydrological modelling, water allocation and reservoir operations, evaluation of water treatment technologies, application of hydrological data analysis and modelling tools for better understanding of the hydrological processes underpinning the formulation of integrated water resources planning and management strategies.

While working at International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Pakistan, Iran and Sri Lanka during 2001 to 2011, Dr. Masih has worked on water saving and water productivity assessment at various scales of rice-wheat systems, groundwater assessment, utilization and management, conjunctive management of surface and groundwater resources to reduce soil salinity and improve land and water productivity. His PhD research was on understanding hydrological variability for improved water management in the semi-arid Karkheh Basin, Iran.

Dr. Masih has co-authored a number of scientifically important and practically relevant research papers and project reports. He has presented his research work at various international workshops and conferences.

Main Research Fields:

• Hydrology and water systems modelling (rainfall-runoff, water allocation and integrated catchment modelling);
• Impact assessment of global changes (climate, land use and water infrastructure) on hydrology and water resources;
• Water resources assessment including spatial and temporal variability;
• Assessment of climate change impact on hydrology and water resources;
• Agricultural (Irrigation) water management (both surface and groundwater);
• Water resources planning;
• Integrated water resources management;
• Drought assessment and management;
• Water treatment and quality management.