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Human activities have profound impacts on land use and the supply-demand balance of ecosystem services (ESs). Various activities, such as urban construction, urban and rural planning, and inter-basin water transfer projects, continuously reshape land use patterns. This is a case study of the Anhui section of the Yangtze-Huaihe Water Diversion Project. Data from 2000, 2010, and 2020 is analyzed. Additionally, the patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model is utilized to quantify the specific impacts of the water diversion project construction on the supply and demand of ESs. The results indicate that the comprehensive dynamic attitude of land use during the project construction period significantly increased, rising from 0.16 to 13.79%, and mainly affected forest, water areas, construction land, and unused land. Specifically, the construction of the project led to significant changes in water purification, biodiversity, and, especially, hydrological regulation services. Additionally, the migration of residents significantly impacted the demand for ESs. The study also found a significant correlation between land use changes and the balance of ES supply and demand: the proportion of cultivated land and construction land is positively correlated with the balance, while the proportion of forest, grassland, and water areas is negatively correlated. This study provides empirical data for understanding the environmental and socio-economic impacts of large-scale water diversion projects and offers a scientific basis for local mitigation and control of adverse impacts. Through quantitative analysis and model prediction, this research effectively bridges the gap between theory and practice, providing important references for sustainable regional development.

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Inter-basin water transfer projects are a common method used to balance water resources and meet regional demand, particularly in the drinking water supply sector. The potential failure risk associated with inter-basin water transfer projects was examined using Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Fuzzy Fault Tree Analysis (FFTA) methodologies in this study. Additionally, the conversion of Fault Tree models into Bayesian Network (BN) and Fuzzy Bayesian Network (FBN) models was explored. Ten basic events were identified as factors that could affect the success of inter-basin water transfer plans, including socio-political, environmental, water resource, economic, and technical criteria. Fault Tree and Fuzzy Fault Tree models were utilized to conduct a risk analysis, which was then converted into crisp and fuzzy FTA-BN through an integrated approach. This approach was applied to evaluate inter-basin water transfer scenarios from the Great Karun basin to the Central Iran Plateau. The superior scenario among eight water transfer scenarios was found to be water transfer from the Behesht-Abad Basin to Isfahan province and from the Khersan Basin to Kerman and Yazd provinces, with a failure risk of 0.649 and 0.601 respectively, based on the crisp and fuzzy integrated models. Basic events were ranked based on their contribution to the occurrence of the top event using two FIM and BI indices in the Fault Tree model and two indices of MI and SI in the Bayesian Network. Furthermore, after considering the correlation between basic events and risk factors, the risk obtained by crisp and fuzzy integrated models was found to increase to 0.811 and 0.789 respectively. The results of this study demonstrate that an integrated approach can assist decision-makers and stakeholders in evaluating inter-basin water transfer projects.

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Inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) projects have been widely constructed to alleviate the pressure on water resources in water shortage basins. However, the ecological effects of IBWT projects have often been ignored. Based on the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model and a constructed total ecosystem services (TES) index, the impacts of IBWT projects on recipient basin ecosystem services were analyzed in this study. The results showed that the TES index was relatively stable from 2010 to 2020, but in the wet season it was 1.36 times that of the other months with high water yield and nutrient loads. Spatially, areas with high index values were mainly distributed in the sub-basins around the reservoirs. The IBWT projects had positive impacts on ecosystem services, and the TES index with IBWT projects was 5.98% higher than that without projects. Water yield and total nitrogen were the two most affected indexes, with increased of 5.65% and 5.41%, respectively, under the impacts of IBWT projects. Seasonally, the change rates of the TES index were less than 3% while the change rates of water yield and nitrogen load peaked at 8.23% and 53.42%, respectively, in March, owing to the large amount of water released from the reservoirs. Areas affected by the three evaluated IBWT projects accounted for 61%, 18%, and 11% of the watershed, respectively. Under the impact of each project, the TES index generally increased, whereas the impact decreased as the distance from the inflow location increased. Intense changes in ecosystem services occurred in sub-basin 23, the sub-basin closest to an IBWT project, with water yield, water flow, and local climate regulation increasing the largest.

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Inter-basin water transfer projects (IBTs) have significantly increased in number in recent decades due to the unremitting need to solve the problem of global water imbalance. However, given the complex challenges inherent in implementing and maintaining IBTs, there is a need to characterize the multi-faceted aspects of sustainability (or unsustainability) that result from these megaprojects. Through a systematic review of the literature, we sought to identify and characterize the positive and negative impacts that most often influence the sustainability of IBTs, focusing on impacts within the environmental, social, and economic pillars of sustainability. Based on an eligibility criterion, the systematic review selected 68 documents out of an initial total of 1567 for information quality analysis and content evaluation. The qualitative coding of the documents allowed us to characterize the landscape of impacts that result from IBTs across the three pillars of sustainability. The study findings revealed that the most frequently coded positive impacts related to the environmental pillar of sustainability, while the most frequently coded negative impacts related to both social and environmental pillars. In addition, the most frequently coded positive impact overall related to the economic benefits generated by the IBTs. Through a critical analysis of the study findings, we provide an assessment of future IBTs with a focus on the UN sustainable development goals.

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Inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) infrastructure has been expanding to deliver water across China to meet water demands in populated and industrial areas. Water scarcity may threaten the ability to produce and distribute goods through supply chains. Yet, it is not clear if IBWTs transmit or buffer water scarcity throughout supply chains. Here we combine a national database of IBWT projects and multi-region input-output analysis to trace water transferred by IBWT and virtual scarce water (scarcity weighted water use) from IBWT sourcing basins to production sites then to end consumers. The results indicate that production and final consumption of sectoral products have been increasingly supported by IBWT infrastructure, with physically transferred water volumes doubling between 2007 and 2017. Virtual scarce water is about half of the virtual water supporting the supply chain of the nation. IBWT effectively reduced virtual scarce water supporting the supply chains of most provinces, with the exposure to water scarcity reduced by a maximum of 56.7% and 15.0% for production and final consumption, respectively. IBWT Infrastructure development can thus buffer water scarcity risk to the supply chain and should be considered in water management and sustainable development policy decisions.

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BACKGROUND: Benthic macroinvertebrates, encompassing large taxonomic groups of invertebrate organisms, are important components of aquatic ecosystems and play crucial roles in aquatic food webs. These organisms are also extensively used in water quality assessments as bioindicators for a range of stressors. Inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) is the transfer of water from a donor basin to a recipient basin and such transfers have both beneficial as well as adverse environmental and socio-economic impacts. This study attempts to generate baseline information on macroinvertebrates assemblages in glacial-fed (Bheri) and rain-fed (Babai) rivers of west Nepal, where Nepal's first ever inter-basin transfer is in progress and the data can be used to assess the impact of inter-basin water transfer on water quality and aquatic biodiversity after completion. NEW INFORMATION: The dataset includes the records on the taxonomic diversity of macroinvertebrate in the Bheri and the Babai River systems. A total of 56 families of macroinvertebrates belonging to eight classes and four phyla were observed. A significant variation between the glacial-fed and rain-fed and seasons were observed reflecting different ecological zones and abiotic variables in the rivers and their catchments. Hydropsychidae and Baetidae were reported to be the most abundant taxa in the Bheri River system, whereas Gyrinidae, Physidae, Chironomidae and Hydropsychidae were most abundant taxa in the Babai River system.

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Screening priority pollutants from vast anthropogenic contaminants discharged into aquatic environment is urgent for protecting water quality definitely. The multi-criteria scoring method involved in the occurrence (O), persistence (P), bioaccumulation (B), ecological risk (Eco-T), and human health risk (Hum-T), was established for pollutants prioritization in waters and applied in Dongping Lake, the final impoundment reservoir along the eastern route of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP). A total of 170 chemicals including heavy metals (HMs), volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), phthalate esters (PAEs), and antibiotics (ANTs) were investigated as the candidates. Accordingly, 42 chemicals including 8 PAEs, 7 OCPs, 7 PCBs, 5 PAHs, 13 HMs, and 2 VOCs were made up the list of priority pollutants for Dongping Lake, suggesting the necessity of routine monitoring high priority groups and revising the existing list. Multiple risk assessment indicated higher ecological and human health risks induced by HMs than by organic pollutants. Spatial distribution of risks stressed the retention of toxic organic chemicals by the lake body and the accumulation of HMs along the transfer route, respectively, thus triggering ecosystem responses and potential effects on the water-receiving areas as expected.

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To overcome water scarcity and increasing water demands, achieving economic and social development, and to make regional equilibrium especially in countries with climate variations such as Iran, the inter-basin water transfer is considered as one of the crisis reduction methods. In this study, the COPRAS method, which is one of the new MCDM methods, is used for the first time to evaluate inter-basin water transfer projects in three configurations of integer, fuzzy, and grey (intervals). For this purpose, eight inter-basin water transfer scenarios from the Great Karoon Basin to the Central Iranian Plateau, are determined with the aim of overcoming drinking water scarcity. They are assessed by four important and practical criteria for inter-basin water transfer, including technical risks and the difficulty of execution, political and social problems, environmental problems, and cost per cubic meter of water according to the UNESCO standards. The weights of the criteria were obtained using three methods of AHP, DEMATEL, and Shannon entropy in the integer, fuzzy, and grey ways. Then, scenarios were prioritized using the COPRAS method. Finally, the results were ranked using the Borda count method, which is a method to aggregate the different ranking models. In this study, the results showed that among the criteria, technical risks, and then the cost per cubic meter of water are the essential criteria, respectively. Considering all ranking methods shows that among the scenarios, the eighth scenario, including water transfer from Behesht-Abad basin to Isfahan province and from Kharsan basin to Yazd and Kerman provinces, is superior to the other scenarios. Final COPRAS value of this scenario varies between 0.155 and 0.194 depending on the applied ranking method, and its total Borda score is 63. The findings of this study can help the decision-makers to evaluate the inter-basin water transfer projects in uncertain conditions.

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Water shortages are forecast to affect 50% of the world's population by 2030, impacting developing nations most acutely. To increase water security there has been a significant increase in Inter-basin Water Transfer (IBWT) schemes, engineering mega-projects that redistribute water from one basin to another. However, the implementation of these schemes is often contested, and evaluation of their complex impacts inadequate, or hidden from full public scrutiny. There is an urgent need to develop more integrated, holistic, and transparent ways of evaluating the multiple interlinking impacts of IBWT schemes of this scale. In this paper, we address this gap by outlining an experimental methodology to evaluate IBWT schemes using a multidisciplinary and transparent methodology which utilises publicly available data. We illustrate the method using a case study from the Inter-Linking Rivers Project in Northern India, comparing the results of the experimental approach against the official analysis of the proposed scheme produced by the State Government of Jharkhand. The results demonstrate that the proposed experimental method allows more detailed evaluation of spatial and temporal variability in water availability and demand, as well as holistic evaluation of the functioning of the proposed scheme under different future scenarios. Based on these results we propose a flexible framework for future evaluation of proposed water transfer schemes which embeds the principles of integrated assessment, transparency, and sound science which can be adapted to other IBWT projects across the world.

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Construction of water diversions is a common response to the increasing demands for freshwater, often resulting in benefits to communities but with the risk of multiple environmental, economic, and social impacts. Water-diversion projects can favor massive introductions and accelerate biotic homogenization. This study provides empirical evidence on the consequences of a proposed law intended to divert water from two large and historically isolated river basins in Brazil: Tocantins to São Francisco. Compositional similarity (CS) and ß-diversity were quantified encompassing aquatic organisms: mollusks, zooplankton, crustaceans, insects, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and plants. For CS we (i) considered only native species, and (ii) simulated the introduction of non-natives and assumed the extinction of threatened species due to this water-diversion project. We highlight the environmental risks of such large-scale projects, which are expected to cause impacts on biodiversity linked to bioinvasion and homogenization, and we recommend alternatives in order to solve water-demand conflicts.

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Rapid population growth, rising water demands, inefficient management, and various distributions of water are the major causes of increased pressure on water resources and the consequent increased water-based conflicts especially in arid and semi-arid regions in Iran being a case in point. Iran is the second largest country in the Middle East. The country-wide average annual precipitation is about 250 mm, which is about one third of the world's average. Therefore, Iran is one of the driest countries in the world. The water supply for human activities in Iran's provinces has become an increasingly complex task. One of the conventional methods to supply water to these regions is through inter-basin water transfers, from water-endowed regions to water-scarce regions. For such projects, it is necessary but also difficult and expensive to estimate the total water storage of every province with traditional methods. This study employs the GRACE satellite data for 2002-2016 are used and develops a method to assess the linkage between water scarcity and conflicts in Iran's provinces. In addition, a transferability index is formulated based on population and conveyable water parameters demonstrating the conditions of the provinces in inter-basin water transfer for reaching equitable compromises. This index leads to an evaluation of the possibility of conflicts arising from inter-basin water transfer projects in Iran. This work's results show that the Bushehr region has a significant amount of conveyable water and low population and hence is suitable to be one of the water-exporting provinces in the inter-basin water projects. The results of this work also demonstrate that the western provinces are likely to experience serious depletion of water resources, and conflicts may arise in the western and central basins due to the changes in water quantity exacerbated by the inter-basin transfer projects.

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Often enough, social welfare and private benefit do not align for quasi-public goods/services. The inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) project provides a vivid example of this. In this paper, following the game-theoretical approach, we derive an optimal Ramsey pricing scheme to resolve these conflicts. We try to compare traditional supply chain management models with an optimal Ramsey pricing scheme, with an enforcement of coordination among firms. Using simulation techniques, we compute numerical estimates under three regimes: a standard equilibrium decision framework, a coordination decision model and a coordinated Ramsey pricing scheme. Our results show the relative welfare impact of different settings, revealing that the optimal pricing scheme based on the two-part tariff structure cannot only improve social welfare, but also ensure a target profit for participating firms. Lastly, our findings have strong policy implications for the government with profit regulation and the control of water resources.

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Long-distance inter-basin water transfer solves the problem of unbalanced water resources in different regions. However, it also changes the natural water chemistry characteristics as well as the bioavailability of heavy metals in the receiving water. In this study, taking the South-to-North Water Transfer Project in China as an example, the basic physicochemical characteristics of the source water (in the Danjiangkou (DJK) Reservoir) and receiving water (in the Beitang (BT) Reservoir) were studied. The BLM (biotic ligand model) was used to study the effect of long-distance inter-basin water transfer on the bioavailability of Cu in receiving waters. The results showed that the TOC (total organic carbon) and TDS (total dissolved solids) in the BT Reservoir water were 10 times and 4.6 times greater than those of the DJK Reservoir water, respectively. The ions in the BT Reservoir were mainly (K++Na+)-(SO42-+CI-), while the ions in the DJK Reservoir were mainly (Ca2++Mg2+)-HCO3-. The results from the BLM showed that the main species of Cu in the water was total organic Cu (Torg Cu), which accounted for 98.69% and 99.77% of the Cu in the DJK Reservoir and BT Reservoir, respectively. The LC50 of Cu for Daphnia magna was 1203.40 ± 57.70 µg/l in the BT Reservoir and only 101.93 ± 7.60 µg/l in the DJK Reservoir. The criteria maximum concentration value of the BT Reservoir was 13.75 times that of the DJK Reservoir, while the criteria continuous concentration value of the BT Reservoir was 13.76 times that of the DJK Reservoir. These results showed that the heavy metals content in water bodies should not be used as the only consideration for water ecological security in the inter-basin water transfer process, and that differences in water quality criteria values caused by differing water environmental qualities in the river basins must be taken into consideration.

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The objective reality of uneven water resource distribution and imbalanced water demand of the human society makes it inevitable to transfer water. It has been an age-old method to adopt the inter-basin water transfers (IBTs) for alleviating and even resolving the urgent demand of the water-deficient areas. A number of countries have made attempts and have achieved enormous benefits. However, IBTs inevitably involve the redistribution of water resources in relevant basins and may cause changes of the ecological environment in different basins. Such changes are two-sided, namely, the positive impacts, including adding new basins for water-deficient areas, facilitating water cycle, improving meteorological conditions in the recipient basins, mitigating ecological water shortage, repairing the damaged ecological system, and preserving the endangered wild fauna and flora, as well as the negative impacts, including salinization and aridification of the donor basins, damage to the ecological environment of the donor basins and the both sides of the conveying channel system, increase of water consumption in the recipient basins, and spread of diseases, etc. Because IBTs have enormous ecological risk, it is necessary to comprehensively analyze the inter-basin water balance relationship, coordinate the possible conflicts and environmental quality problems between regions, and strengthen the argumentation of the ecological risk of water transfer and eco-compensation measures. In addition, there are some effective alternative measures for IBTs, such as attaching importance to water cycle, improving water use efficiency, developing sea water desalination, and rainwater harvesting technology, etc.

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