Water Resources Research is now a fully open access journal

AGU remains committed to open science and open data. As part of our mission, we are focused on making science available to the widest possible audience. With the growing open access requirements placed by funders on researchers around the world, this transition to an open access model also makes compliance easier.

All articles in the journal are open access as of 1 January 2024. For more information, including funding options for publishing fees, please visit the FAQ.

Browse Articles

Open access

Potential Barriers to Adaptive Actions in Water–Rice Coupled Systems in Japan: A Framework for Predicting Soft Adaptation Limits

  •  5 April 2024

Key Points

  • We present a framework for examining whether societal rules of Japan's matured irrigation systems are potential barriers to adaptation

  • We show that potential barriers to adaptation imposed by water availability will occur if farmers optimize for rice quality

  • We argue that more participatory research with stakeholder engagement is needed to ensure successful adaptation

Open access

Numerical Modeling of Potential Large Wood Entrainment in Rivers: Application of Hybrid Modeling in the Inter‐Dam Reach of the Dyje River, Czechia

  •  5 April 2024

Key Points

  • 2-D hydraulic modeling of LW entrainment for eight flood scenarios showed significant between-site variability in entrainment modes

  • The model results are sensitive to the precision of the digital terrain model and the correct localization of LW in the inundation area

  • The valley-bottom topography affecting flow hydraulics was an important variable affecting the onset of LW transport during model flood scenarios

Open access

Reactive Transport Modeling for Exploring the Potential of Water Quality Sensors to Estimate Hydrocarbon Levels in Groundwater

  •  5 April 2024

Key Points

  • In-situ water quality sensors are highly correlated with petroleum hydrocarbons in groundwater when spatiotemporal variability is considered

  • DO and ORP are important for early detection, while pH and EC for long-term prediction of hydrocarbon contamination in groundwater

  • The aquifer's hydrogeology impacts hydrocarbon-water quality correlations by influencing buffering capacity and flow velocity, among others

Open access

Simulation of Drying‐Rewetting Processes in Numerical Groundwater Models Using a New Picard Iteration‐Based Method

  •  4 April 2024

Key Points

  • A new physically-based method to simulating the drying-rewetting problems of groundwater model, Picard iteration-based always active cell

  • The new method performed robust convergence even with the Picard iteration method and a general PCG solver

  • The new method achieved second-order accuracy

Open access

Deterioration Models and Service Life Prediction of Vertical Assets of Urban Water Systems

  •  4 April 2024

Key Points

  • Physical, operational and environmental factors of asset deterioration are discussed and deterioration models are summarized

  • Predicted service lives are obtained and the effect of maintenance and rehabilitation interventions on asset service life are analyzed

  • The methodology for service life prediction can be applied to other water assets

Open access

Using Baseflow Ensembles for Hydrologic Hysteresis Characterization in Humid Basins of Southeastern China

  •  4 April 2024

Key Points

  • An ensemble-based baseflow simulation method is proposed to characterize the uncertainty of each baseflow separation method

  • The hydrologic hysteresis between baseflow and rainfall was found to be within 1 week in the humid basins of Southeastern China

  • The influence of precipitation on baseflow in the humid basins is significantly stronger in the dry season than in the wet season

Open access

Benefit of Multivariate Model Calibration for Different Climatic Regions

  •  4 April 2024

Key Points

  • Using four different hydrological variables, multivariate calibration and evaluation were undertaken in 550 Australian catchments

  • Benefit of multivariate calibration across non-discharge variables is higher in humid than in (semi-) arid climates

  • Pronounced evaluation cross-benefits between evapotranspiration and total water storage in temperate climates with seasonal soil wetness

Open access

Where in the World Are Vegetation Patterns Controlled by Hillslope Water Dynamics?

  •  3 April 2024

Key Points

  • A catchment-based strategy is proposed to represent explicit land cover heterogeneity using discretized height bands along a hillslope

  • Landscapes shaped by hillslope water dynamics are detected in many regions of the world in diverse climate zones

  • The proposed strategy can concisely resolve land cover heterogeneity in land surface modeling with relatively high accuracy

Open access

Significance of Low‐Velocity Zones on Solute Retention in Rough Fractures

  •  3 April 2024

Key Points

  • Natural fractures are highly heterogeneous, comprising flowing channels and lower-velocity zones

  • We study the effects that diffusion into low-velocity zones has in contaminant transport through rough fractures

  • Accounting for diffusion in low-velocity zones has a relatively modest impact on contaminant retention

Open access

Climate‐Driven Increases in Stream Metal Concentrations in Mineralized Watersheds Throughout the Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA

  •  2 April 2024

Key Points

  • Sulfate, zinc, and copper concentrations are increasing regionally in streams affected by acid rock drainage throughout Colorado

  • Declining streamflows are contributing to increasing concentrations, but increasing loads are likely an equal or greater contributor

  • Trend slopes are positively correlated with mean annual temperature and elevation, suggesting melting of frozen ground is a major driver

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Open access

A Transdisciplinary Review of Deep Learning Research and Its Relevance for Water Resources Scientists

Key Points

  • Deep learning (DL) is transforming many scientific disciplines, but its adoption in hydrology is gradual
  • DL can help tackle interdisciplinarity, data deluge, unrecognized linkages, and long-standing challenges such as scaling and equifinality
  • The new field of AI neuroscience opens up many opportunities for scientists to use DL as an exploratory tool for scientific advancement

Open access

MERIT Hydro: A High‐Resolution Global Hydrography Map Based on Latest Topography Dataset

Key Points

  • A global hydrography map was generated using the latest topography dataset
  • Near-automatic algorithm applicable for global hydrography delineation was developed
  • Adjusted elevation and river width layers consistent with flow direction map are provided

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Open access

Toward an Integrated Probabilistic Coastal Vulnerability Assessment: A Novel Copula‐Based Vulnerability Index

Key Points

  • Introduction of a new Probabilistic Coastal Vulnerability Index (PCVI), which contains various socio-economic and biophysical factors

  • Using joint-probability analysis of vulnerability factors using copula functions to preserve simultaneous information about various factors

  • Benchmarking PCVI against post-hazard flood maps and the cost of fatalities from Hurricane Florence (2018) and Hurricane Matthew (2016)

free access

Investigating the Propagation From Meteorological to Hydrological Drought by Introducing the Nonlinear Dependence With Directed Information Transfer Index

Key Points

  • Directed information transfer index was introduced in drought propagation study to build a new drought response time evaluation system for the first time

  • Trigger thresholds from meteorological to hydrological drought were determined by a drought propagation model

  • Sub-regions with smaller meteorological drought trigger thresholds had longer durations of hydrological drought events

Open access

Aridification of Colorado River Basin's Snowpack Regions Has Driven Water Losses Despite Ameliorating Effects of Vegetation

Key Points

  • A 10.3% reduction in Colorado Basin's present-day natural flow exists due to anthropogenic warming despite vegetation response to CO2

  • Anthropogenic warming reduced Colorado Basin's natural flow by roughly the storage of Lake Mead during the ongoing megadrought (2000–2021)

  • Greater aridification in snowpack regions is causing water losses to occur roughly twice as fast compared to non-snowpack regions

Plain Language Summary

The Colorado River Basin provides a crucial source of water for an expansive water-limited region covering the southwestern US and its major cities. Several studies have demonstrated that this basin has experienced substantial reductions in water availability due to warming. Here, we quantify how reductions in water availability have varied from 1954 to 2021 across this basin due to human-driven warming that has occurred since 1880. As a part of this analysis, we include how the vegetation response to historical increases in CO2 has impacted water losses. We find that the basin has roughly 10% less water available under present-day conditions due to warming since the 1880s. The majority of water loss has occurred due to a heightened sensitivity to warming in the basin's regions associated with snowpack, compared to regions without snowpack. We also demonstrate that without this warming, the Colorado Basin would have had significantly larger amounts of water available, equal to the size of Lake Mead, over the duration of the 2000–2021 megadrought.

free access

ChatGPT in Hydrology and Earth Sciences: Opportunities, Prospects, and Concerns

Key Points

  • Large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, are new technological tools that might fundamentally change academia

  • ChatGPT can assist in academic writing but should not be relied on as the only source of information in hydrology and Earth Science studies

  • Authors should exhibit transparency in their utilization of LLMs and uphold ethical responsibility

free access

A new drought index that considers the joint effects of climate and land surface change

Key Points

  • Newly developed drought index SWI considers the joint effects of climate and land surface change (variability)
  • SWI has potential to evaluate the impacts of climate and land surface changes (variability) on dryness/wetness
  • Land surface change has larger (less) impacts on drought conditions in water-limited Wuding (energy-limited Poyang) catchment

free access

Status of CO2 storage in deep saline aquifers with emphasis on modeling approaches and practical simulations

Key Points:

  • Carbon storage in deep saline aquifers is a viable carbon mitigation option
  • A wide range of modeling approaches can provide practical simulation results
  • Field-scale observations and modeling enhance system understanding

Open access

Water Use in Global Livestock Production—Opportunities and Constraints for Increasing Water Productivity

Key Points

  • Annually, 4,387 km3 of water is required to produce the feed consumed by the global livestock sector, of which 94% is green water
  • Opportunities for increasing livestock water productivity exist for all livestock types but are particularly large for ruminants
  • Water productivity improvements for ruminants through supplementation with feed crops are constrained by high water cost to produce crops

free access

The science and practice of river restoration

Key Points

  • River restoration is a prominent area of applied water-resources science
  • restoration includes connectivity, physical-biotic interactions, and history
  • effective restoration requires collaboration among scientists and practitioners

Open access

Estimating Reservoir Inflow and Outflow From Water Level Observations Using Expert Knowledge: Dealing With an Ill‐Posed Water Balance Equation in Reservoir Management

Key Points

  • This study proposed an analytical framework to determine daily reservoir inflow and outflow from reservoir water level observations

  • An ill-posed reservoir water balance equation was solved by carefully combining water level data, expert knowledge, and modeling

  • The proposed framework outperformed conventional (benchmark) approaches in accuracy and uncertainty

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