The Water Program
The IIASA Water Program works across various water-related sectors and management scales. It studies a range of possible future socioeconomic changes and technological innovations.
The program seeks to incorporate water science into assessment and planning studies at the nexus of water, food, energy, and environmental security. Its aim is to establish a critical mass of water knowledge through development of new modeling tools and data collection.
Objectives
- To compile, consolidate, and enhance knowledge of global water supply and demand balances
- To incorporate hydrology and hydrologic uncertainty into integrated assessment modeling efforts and scenario development
- To provide a sound scientific basis for responding to current and future global water challenges by assessing the robustness and complementarity of portfolios of potential solutions.
Latest water news
IIASA researchers among top 1% of most highly cited scientists
Several IIASA researchers from the Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases Program, the Energy Program, the Ecosystems Services and Management Program, and the Water Program, have been recognized again for their outstanding contribution to scientific literature. More
Using mountains for long-term energy storage
The storage of energy for long periods of time is subject to special challenges. An IIASA researcher proposes using a combination of Mountain Gravity Energy Storage (MGES) and hydropower as a solution for this issue. More
Water Program Projects
Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land (ISWEL)
A ground-breaking study into sustainable solutions to jointly meet water, energy and land demands at the global level, and also zooming into two large transboundary basins facing multiple development and environmental challenges: The Zambezi and the Indus. More
Water Futures and Solutions
The Water Futures and Solutions Initiative is a ground-breaking study into sustainable solutions to meet local, national, and global water challenges. It is looking for additional partners from the development, business, and scientific community. More
Water models, Tools and data
Community Water Model
Opensource model to examine how future water demand will evolve in response to socioeconomic change and how water availability will change in response to climate. More
Global Hydro-economic Model
New tool to inform the design of cost-effective and sustainable water policy decisions More
Recent Events
IIASA at EGU 2019
IIASA researchers and staff will participate in the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2019, presenting n... More
IIASA and World Water Day 2019
World Water Day is held annually on 22 March and is about taking actions to tackle global water challenges. IIASA is inv... More
Water research at IIASA
IIASA research programs have continually been active in water science since the Institute's inception in 1972. IIASA played a prominent role in various recent large integrated water projects: WATCH (Water and Global Change); SCENES (Scenarios for Europe and Neighbouring States).
IIASA Water Program researchers have developed a new model to study #water #systems across whole continents. Study published today in @theAGU journal Water Resources Research | https://t.co/lLNS6Nq1pT #watermanagement #waterenergyfood #waterresources #watersystems pic.twitter.com/uFjqsh7GIB
— IIASA (@IIASAVienna) October 12, 2018
PUBLICATIONS
Willaarts B, Lechón Y, Mayor B, de la Rúa C, & Garrido A (2020). Cross-sectoral implications of the implementation of irrigation water use efficiency policies in Spain: A nexus footprint approach. Ecological Indicators 109: no.105795. DOI:10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105795.
Wang M, Tang T 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2867-9241, Burek P ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6390-8487, Havlik P, Krisztin T, Kroeze C, Leclere D, Strokal M, et al. (2019). Increasing nitrogen export to sea: A scenario analysis for the Indus River. Science of the Total Environment 694: e133629. DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133629.
Hu H, Tian Z, Sun L, Wen J, Liang Z, Dong G, & Liu J (2019). Synthesized trade-off analysis of flood control solutions under future deep uncertainty: An application to the central business district of Shanghai. Water Research 166: e115067. DOI:10.1016/j.watres.2019.115067.
He X, Feng K, Li X, Craft A, Wada Y ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4770-2539, Burek P ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6390-8487, Wood E, & Sheffield J (2019). Solar and wind energy enhances drought resilience and groundwater sustainability. Nature Communications 10: e4893. DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-12810-5.
Hunt J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1840-7277, Zakeri B, Falchetta G, Nascimento A, Wada Y ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4770-2539, & Riahi K ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7193-3498 (2019). Mountain Gravity Energy Storage: A new solution for closing the gap between existing short- and long-term storage technologies. Energy: e116419. DOI:10.1016/j.energy.2019.116419. (In Press)
Zhang W, Liu M, Hubacek K, Feng K, Wu W, Liu Y, Jiang H, Bi J, et al. (2019). Virtual flows of aquatic heavy metal emissions and associated risk in China. Journal of Environmental Management 249: e109400. DOI:10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109400.
Bischiniotis K, van den Hurk B, Coughlan de Perez E, Veldkamp T, Nobre G, & Aerts J (2019). Assessing time, cost and quality trade-offs in forecast-based action for floods. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 40: e101252. DOI:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101252.
Lin J, Du M, Chen L, Feng K, Liu Y, V Martin R, Wang J, Ni R, et al. (2019). Carbon and health implications of trade restrictions. Nature Communications 10 (1): e4947. DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-12890-3.