The management of international rivers is subject to two main types of boundary: the physical boundary of the river itself and the socio-political boundaries of the nations and regions that surround it. A new study has compared the impacts of managing rivers according to these different boundaries in Europe and Africa.

A new study has estimated the water consumption and land use for the production of 160 crops that constitute most of the world’s cropland. The results suggest that, collectively, wheat, rice, cotton, maize and sugar cane account for 49% of water scarcity and 42% of land resource stress caused by worldwide crop production.

Collecting, or ‘harvesting’ rainwater may help society cope with a number of problems, such as water shortages, flooding and the degradation of urban streams. Urban roofs make up about half of the total sealed surface (‘unnatural’ surfaces, which cover over natural surfaces, such as soil) in cities and contribute the most to stormwater run-off, which could be harvested for other purposes. To maximise this potential, it is useful to know which type of roof can harvest the greatest amount of good quality water.

New research has examined the impact of Produced Water (PW) discharges from a Norwegian oil field, using mussels to monitor the quality of the environment. The findings indicated the effectiveness of a bio-monitoring approach to study the chemical and biological influences of off-shore exploitation activities.

A new Spanish study has highlighted current developments in the tourism sector that have significant implications for water supply and demand, but are barely addressed in recent land use policies. The findings indicate that any tourist destination that is to follow the ‘quality tourist’ model will have an increased water demand in domestic residential areas, which is one of the biggest threats to sustainable water management.

A better understanding of existing nitrate monitoring systems in European waters could greatly improve efforts to reduce nitrate pollution, a major cause of poor water quality, according to new research from Portugal.

Tiny plastic particles from laundry wastewater are being washed into the marine environment, according to recent research. The plastic, from synthetic clothes cleaned in domestic washing machines, is a significant source of contamination and, unless measures are taken to address the problem, growing coastal populations will only exacerbate the situation.

A new study has investigated the restoration of a damaged estuary in Spain by comparing the costs of installing sewage systems with the associated benefits for water quality and biodiversity in the area. Long-term benefits, particularly in the inner part of the estuary, increased with investment in sewage treatment schemes.

Particles from vehicle emissions are not the only traffic-related factor that causes deterioration of air quality in cities. Suspended road dust, caused by studded tyres, road salt and sand used in winter, may be at least as important in contributing to mortality rates, according to a new study in Stockholm, which suggests that these coarse particles should be controlled separately to fine particles.

Measures designed to reduce levels of methane and black carbon in the atmosphere could help bring climate change under control more quickly than CO2 targeting measures alone, according to a new study. The researchers also predict wider benefits for human health and food security from methane-targeted measures.

Individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) for environmental improvements is influenced by political affiliation. However, the picture is more complex than previous studies suggest according to new research, which concludes that how an environmental programme is delivered, i.e. by private companies or by the government, is more important for right-wing voters than for left-leaning voters.

A recent study suggests that blocking ditches originally dug in peatlands to drain water is an effective restoration method, but is influenced by local conditions. Restoration efforts should therefore be monitored over long periods of time at the landscape level to fully evaluate their impacts.

A recent study suggests that, since forests play a significant role in the regional and global supply of water vapour in the atmosphere, they should be thought of as global public goods and not viewed negatively in terms of water consumption.

Energy production uses large quantities of water and, in turn, water provision requires considerable amounts of energy. A new study has investigated the interconnection between water and energy, the ‘water-energy nexus’, in Spain and found that 5.8% of total electricity consumption is for water-use and 25% of water withdrawals are for energy generation.

The benefits of reusing city wastewater for agricultural purposes can far outweigh the costs involved and reduce overall demand for freshwater, according to a recent study. The researchers calculated that the total benefits to agriculture and a city of a reuse project in Spain outweighed the total costs by €9.5million per year.

A new method of determining water flow in complex river basins has been developed that balances ecosystem protection with the legal rights to use water by hydropower operators, farmers and municipalities. A recent study has applied this method to a new river basin management plan in Spain.

Confusing water bills and complex water tariffs could be making it more difficult for consumers to monitor and manage their own water use, according to a survey of householders on the Portuguese island of Madeira.

A joint water and carbon cap-and-trade system could lead to a more sustainable future, a recent study suggests. Such a system could account for the important links between energy, water and climate change, while at the same time, ensuring economic growth.

To restore a river site to good ecological status involves comparing it to similar sites that have been far less affected by human activity. A recent study has established a set of guidelines that define an acceptable level of human pressure that can be used to identify these minimally disturbed sites and ensure consistent ecological assessment among EU Member States.

A new study from Spain has explored economic degrowth (the scaling back of economic models based on growth) in the water sector and indicates that rainwater harvesting and reclaimed water use are most aligned to degrowth principles.

Whatever form it takes, urban growth leads to reduced groundwater availability, according to a new study. The paper highlights the fact that urbanisation is not always sustainable and recommends that planners consider no-growth scenarios for economic development.

A new study has concluded that the benefits of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to human health and ecosystems from reduced climate change related impacts considerably outweigh any negative impacts from using the technology in power plants. However, CCS has a large impact on the depletion of natural resources.

The global sea level is rising, yet only part of that rise can be attributed to the effects of climate change. New research has calculated that human impacts on terrestrial water storage make up around 42% of total sea level rise, in particular, the extraction of groundwater that eventually makes its way to the ocean.

A new study has compared the water governance and management systems of nearly 30 river basins around the world. Results indicated that governance systems with distributed political power and good co-ordination help to implement the principles of good governance in water management practice, and to adopt more advanced climate change adaptation policies.

Reservoirs of water stored under the earth’s surface, otherwise known as groundwater, are a valuable resource. However, using a footprinting method, a new global study has indicated that about 1.7 billion people live in areas where groundwater is being used more quickly than it can be replenished.

An earthquake that killed nine people in Lorca, Spain, last year could have been triggered by groundwater being drained from the area for use in irrigation, according to scientists. The study found that the ground moved in the same places as subsidence has been occurring since the 1960s, due to the extraction of groundwater.

Desalination technologies could help alleviate water shortages, but they need to have low environmental impact. A new life-cycle analysis of desalination options for water supply in off-grid areas indicates that a photovoltaic-powered reverse osmosis system has the least environmental impact of the three technologies considered by the study.

A new study provides the first global estimates of river and coastal flooding, highlighting past and future trends, and indicates that Asia and Europe are two of the regions that are worst affected. The researchers suggest that their methods could be useful in developing a global framework for flood risk assessment.

Under pressure from rising food prices, many nations have begun to acquire large tracts of agricultural land in foreign countries, a practice known as ‘land grabbing’. New research has now quantified current levels of land grabbing and demonstrated that it is accompanied by concerning levels of ‘water grabbing’ which could affect water supply in the ‘grabbed’ countries.

Sustainable management of phosphorus requires better information on how it flows through the environment via consumption and waste. New research from Sweden has found that 40% of phosphorus released by Gothenburg to the environment is in sewage sludge and a further 40% is in incineration ash. This suggests that phosphorus could be recycled from solid waste as well as from wastewater.

A recent study suggests that a shift to more sustainable development, based on ecosystem services, is needed to support human health and wellbeing. Focusing on ecosystem services provided by river catchments, this study recommends that more needs to be done on a practical level to support decision-makers, in a way that recognises the relationships between different types of ecosystem services.

Improving local water quality could mitigate the damaging effects of rising CO2 on marine ecosystems, new research suggests. Scientists in Australia found that nitrogen pollution in seawater, when acting in combination with heightened CO2 concentrations, had a significant effect on the growth of turfing algae, which displace kelp forest ecosystems.

Applying a low voltage to polluted river sediment can boost microbes’ natural ability to degrade harmful polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminants, according to a new study. The approach could be a cost-effective, sustainable strategy to bioremediate polluted sites.

Blue-green algae, or ‘aquatic cyanobacteria’, can produce harmful toxins and present a serious health hazard when they bloom in large numbers. Researchers from Germany have now identified plant species that could be used to sustainably treat water by removing such cyanobacterial toxins.

A recent study has revealed how water use has changed across the world over the last 60 years. Growing populations and economic development, particularly in newly-emerging countries, have increased water demand, but technological developments have led to water efficiencies and savings, which moderate these demands.

Population growth of any country is ultimately dependent on that country’s access to freshwater resources, which also determines its capacity to produce food. A new study shows that population growth is expected to decline in countries with low water resources, as water-rich countries reduce food exports in order to feed their own growing populations.

Researchers have proposed a new framework to assess the potential for redeveloping large contaminated brownfield sites. The framework applies a range of spatial assessment methods to analyse remediation costs, economic value and the sustainability of different land-use types, and to recommend suitably mixed land-use options for redevelopment.

Pioneering methods used in the Netherlands combine remediation of brownfield sites with the use of groundwater for heat cold storage (HCS, or ATES: Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage) to achieve both low-cost remediation and sustainable use of energy.

Despite groundwater’s importance to ecosystems, little is known about its global distribution. Researchers have now developed a model to map groundwater, revealing that ecosystems covering 22-32% of the Earth’s surface rely on this important resource.

The majority of respondents to a recent, large-scale European survey claim not to have prepared themselves for floods, even though they know their property is at risk of flooding and they are worried about the effects. A set of key recommendations for flood communications wrer developed from the survey’s findings, intended to improve community preparedness as part of effective flood management plans.

According to a recent study, flood risk management projects should be economically evaluated in terms of their efficiency, i.e. the sum of the costs and benefits of a project over its lifetime. This would capture more fully the value of non-structural measures, such as warning and evacuation systems, that are better in terms of effectiveness related to hydrological protection standards.

Food security is being threatened by loss of soil nutrients that are essential for the high yield of crops. A recent study outlines strategies to ensure the sustainable production of food through a holistic approach to soil nutrient management.

Measures to protect biodiversity can also improve carbon storage and water flow regulation, research indicates. In a Spanish protected area, researchers mapped biodiversity, carbon storage and water flow regulation, and found there was substantial overlap between the three.

A new tool to increase the efficiency of water supply and distribution networks is presented by a new study. By using a framework which encompasses both water sources and demands, researchers have developed an integrated system that has showed promising results when applied to the complex urban water system of Athens.

Water resource management needs to adapt to changes in climate, water demand and land use. A new tool has been developed by the LIFE+ Water Change Project to assess these ‘global change’ impacts on water resources and inform decisions on optimal adaptation strategies. A recent study has applied the tool to a river basin in Spain.

Human water consumption has increased the frequency and intensity of periods of abnormally low flow in streams, new research suggests. The frequency of these events increased by 30% globally, largely due to use of water for irrigation, the researchers conclude.

Improvements to EU water policy have been proposed in a recent study, to help ensure that temporary rivers and streams in the Mediterranean are adequately protected in line with the goals of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The researchers suggest new classifications for river types, and highlight the importance of distinguishing between natural and human-derived causes of intermittent water flow.

The socio-economic costs and benefits of adaptation to river flooding caused by climate change have been assessed in a new study. According to the study, adaptation measures could save €53.1 billion every year in flood-related losses across Europe by 2080.

Factors influencing people’s decisions about how they travel to work are highlighted in a new study on commuting in Europe. Key findings include: cycling rates increase with the length of a city’s bicycle network and public transport use rises with a city’s population and GDP per capita. Based on the findings, the researchers propose policy measures for reducing the number of car journeys.

Investment in cycling initiatives, such as creating new cycle lanes or providing training, can increase the number of people who routinely cycle to work, a new large-scale study in the UK suggests. Town-wide cycling initiatives seemed to be particularly successful when they included workplace measures such as bike lockers, showers and cycle parking.