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The objective of the WAT Group is to provide the scientific foundation needed for addressing the quest for water security across scales and to help bridge science-policy-practice gaps related to water management by leading global efforts on integrated assessment of water resources and exploring transformation pathways towards a water secure future.
Water plays a central role in all human activities and needs to be managed efficiently and sustainably. The WAT Group pushes the boundary of transdisciplinary water science enabled by the institute’s recognized expertise in systems science approaches, to provide the scientific knowledge needed to address the quest for water security. The group aims to lead global efforts on integrated assessment of water supply and demand and identify solutions options that improve water scarcity, ameliorate water quality, and enhance resilience to extreme events, while at the same time engaging with key stakeholders at different levels to translate science into policy.
The group’s research has informed the development of various widely used models, which will continually be refined and extended to enable application and analysis at policy-relevant spatial scales. The group contributes to several IIASA research themes including biodiversity and ecosystem services, production and consumption, technology and innovation, and governance and institutions, by providing the water resources research expertise required for the development of a systemic approach to resolving sustainability issues.
Models, tools, datasets
Community Water Model (CWatM)
Global Hydro-economic Model (ECHO)
Global Agro-Ecological Zones (GAEZ)
Soil and Water Assessment Tool at IIASA (SWAT+)
Projects
Creating and Upscaling Sponge Landscapes Working with Natural Water Retention and Sustainable Management (SpongeWorks)
Nature Based Smart Water Grids for Integrated Water and Drought (WATERGRID)
Establishing a Safe Operating Space for the global water resources system (SOS Water)
Resilience to Extreme Drought Events in East Africa (INTERVENE)
Staff
Keerthana Suresh
Guest Researcher (WAT)
Emilio Politti
Research Scholar (WAT)
Peter Burek
Senior Research Scholar (WAT)
Harrij van Velthuizen
Guest Senior Research Scholar (WAT)
News
27 October 2026
IIASA and Kazakhstan strengthen scientific cooperation through new agreement
IIASA and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance joint research, academic exchange, and capacity development.
01 October 2026
Where the waters meet: Connecting global limits and local water management
Human activity and climate change are putting growing pressure on water resources, disrupting the predictability of the water cycle, and changing the availability and quality of freshwater. IIASA researchers and partners have developed a new framework for guiding water management and planning at the river-basin level, derived from the existing Global Water Planetary Boundary.
23 September 2026
Global water report warns of increasingly erratic freshwater conditions
IIASA water-quality modeling has contributed to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) State of Global Water Resources 2025 report. The assessment shows that the global water cycle is becoming increasingly erratic, with serious implications for people and economies worldwide.
Events
IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria and online
SOS-Water final conference: Defining safe operating spaces for water-resilient futures
Austrian Academy of Sciences and ISTA
IIASA at Austria's Long Night of Research
Focus
16 October 2026
Uganda-Austria water partnership leaves scientific legacy for water management
IIASA Journalist in Residence Lisa Palmer's latest article in the Science Diplomat highlights an IIASA-led partnership which found about 60% of Uganda’s rivers in good condition while building national capacity to track pollution and manage growing risks.
26 August 2026
When the Rock of Starvation appears: How drought is tightening its grip on the Danube
The reappearance of Budapest's “Rock of Starvation” is a visible sign of a drought months in the making. IIASA researchers have traced its progression from missing rainfall and parched soils to exceptionally low flows across the Danube basin.
Publications
Kim, M., Duijndam, S., Aerts, J.C.J.H., de Bruijn, J. , Lupi, V., & Botzen, W.J.W. (2027). Residential relocation decisions under sea level rise and incentives from insurance: A discrete choice experiment study of France. Ecological Economics 251 e109190. 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2026.109190.
Wang, M., Bak, M.P., Micella, I., Tilahun, A.B, Dürr, H.H., Kumar, R., Liu, X., Nkwasa, A. , Nakkazi, M.T., Strokal, M., Strokal, V., Teuling, F.S.R.S.R, & Beusen, A. (2026). Identifying dark spots and bright spots of nutrients in rivers by global models. Environmental Research: Water 10.1088/3033-4942/aeb047. (In Press)
Yokomatsu, M. (2026). Disentangling the impact of disaster risk reduction on human capital formation and its non-uniform policy effects: Implications for the Global South. Economic Modelling 163 e107740. 10.1016/j.econmod.2026.107740.
Politti, E., Artuso, S., Calamita, E., Castelletti, A., Cetinic, K.A., Domisch, S., Giuliani, M., Macian-Sorribes, H., Smilovic, M.M. , Garcia Marquez, J., Odermatt, D., Pulido-Velazquez, M., Ricart, S., Steyaert, J.C., Tramberend, S. , Wanders, N., Xia, W., & Kahil, T. (2026). Review and reframing of the operationalisation of the water planetary boundary for river basin planning. Environmental Research Letters 10.1088/1748-9326/aea919. (In Press)
Sadana, T., Aerts, J.C.J.H., Eilander, D., Merz, B., de Moel, H., Busker, T., Bril, V.C., & de Bruijn, J. (2026). Validation of the open-source hydrodynamic model SFINCS on historical river floods at the global scale. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 30 (17) 5491-5519. 10.5194/hess-30-5491-2026.