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China is an extremely water-scarce country with an uneven distribution of regional water resources. We define two absolute sustainability indicators, using the multi-regional input‒output (MRIO) model to outline the contribution of China's physical and virtual water transfers in mitigating the problem of regional water boundary-exceeding. Although the overall use of freshwater resources is within the safe operation space, 55% of province's water resource development transgresses the local water planetary boundary. Physical and virtual water transfers effectively mitigate the stress of water supply to the water planetary boundary in China's water-scarce regions. Among them, the role of virtual water transfers occupies the main part. The cost of using physical water in water-receiving regions and the situation of virtual water flowing from water-scarce regions to developed water-rich regions cannot be ignored, and a small number of provinces are responsible for most of the virtual water net imports and exports. The obtained results are helpful for the redistribution of water planetary boundary transgressing responsibilities among provinces and the formulation of absolute sustainable water resources management policies.

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Natural textiles, hair, paper, wool, or bio-based walls possess the remarkable ability to store humidity from sweat or the environment through "bound water" absorption within nanopores, constituting up to 30% of their dry mass. The knowledge of the induced water transfers is pivotal for advancing industrial processes and sustainable practices in various fields such as wood drying, paper production and use, moisture transfers in clothes or hair, humidity regulation of bio-based construction materials, etc. However, the transport and storage mechanisms of this moisture remain poorly understood, with modeling often relying on an assumption of dominant vapor transport with an unknown diffusion coefficient. Our research addresses this knowledge gap, demonstrating the pivotal role of bound water transport within interconnected fiber networks. Notably, at low porosity, bound water diffusion dominates over vapor diffusion. By isolating diffusion processes and deriving diffusion coefficients through rigorous experimentation, we establish a comprehensive model for moisture transfer. Strikingly, our model accurately predicts the evolution of bound water's spatial distribution for a wide range of sample porosities, as verified through magnetic resonance imaging. Showing that bound water transport can be dominant over vapor transport, this work offers a change of paradigm and unprecedented control over humidity-related processes.

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Global warming is already having a negative impact on vital sectors on which human development depends, such as water resource availability. In this study, the changes and abrupt change timing of climatic extreme indices, aridity and drought over the Region of South Aegean are captured using the Mann-Kendall and Pettitt tests, while the latter variables are correlated with the water volume transported by ships to the region as well as the relevant costs. The region's climate is shifting to warmer conditions with less precipitation, since significantly positive trends were noted with regard to the number of tropical nights, warm nights, warm days, the warm spell duration index and the diurnal temperature range; significant negative trends were observed in relation to the number of cool nights, cool days and the cold spell duration index, with the change-point year for the latter variables being 2006. Inaddition, 7/11 precipitation related indices exhibited a downward trend, while significantly negative trends were observed with regard to the number of consecutive dry days, with the timing of the abrupt change being 2001. The Aridity Index (AI) reveals that the region's climate characterization is changing from dry and sub-humid to semi-arid conditions, whilst the Reconnaissance Drought Index standardized (RDIst) and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) indices suggests an amplification of drought phenomena over the Region. The tourism variables illustrated a significant positive trend, with the timing of the abrupt change being registered during 2006-2009, whilst the correlation analysis between tourism variables and water transfers implies that the surge on water transfer by ships to the Region occurred between 1998 and 2008. This can be mainly attributed to the changes in climate patterns. The correlation analysis documents a strong positive correlation between the water transfer dataset and the diurnal temperature range, and a moderately negative association with the precipitation related indices, annual precipitation, drought phenomena and aridity with 7/11.

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RESUMO O artigo avalia a transferência de risco de uma política de alocação de água entre dois setores usuários: abastecimento urbano e irrigação. Para isso, a alocação entre usos foi realizada utilizando dois métodos: rateio linear e rateio com prioridades (adotado em períodos de escassez hídrica). O volume disponível para alocação foi obtido utilizando duas estratégias de operação de reservatórios: vazão afluente zero no segundo semestre do ano e previsão de vazão. Os ganhos e perdas dos setores usuários foram determinados por meio de funções benefícios. Os dois cenários de alocação apontaram garantias e benefícios menores para setor usuário de menor prioridade. O sistema de prioridade revelou que as infraestruturas de transferências hídricas proporcionam ganhos ao garantir a segurança hídrica para o setor prioritário, porém causam perdas quando extinguem o direito de uso da demanda de menor prioridade, indicando que a alocação de água também é um processo de distribuição de risco. A transferência de risco desse setor, tanto volumétrica quanto monetária, pode ser minimizada com o uso da informação climática. Uma alternativa para a alocação de água em ambientes com sistema de transferência hídrica seria definir um risco aceitável com vistas a aumentar o nível atual de benefícios da irrigação e a satisfação do abastecimento urbano. Esse risco pode ser estabelecido com base em modelos de previsão climática sazonal.

ABSTRACT The article evaluates the transfer of risk of a water allocation policy between two user sectors: urban supply and irrigation. The allocation between uses was performed using two methods: linear apportionment and assessment with priorities (adopted in periods of water scarcity). The amount available for allocation was obtained using two reservoir operation strategies: zero inflow in the second half of the year and forecast flow. Gains and losses of the user sectors were determined through benefits functions. The two allocation scenarios pointed to lower guarantees and benefits for user sector with less priority. The priority system revealed that the water transfer infrastructures provide gains for the higher priority sector when guaranteeing water security; however, cause losses when extinguishes the right to use the demand of lower priority, indicating that the allocation of water is also a distribution process risk. The transfer risk of this sector, volumetric and monetary, can be minimized with the use of climate information. Thus, an alternative to the allocation of water in environments with water transfer systems would be an acceptable risk in order to increase the current level of benefits of irrigation and the satisfaction of the urban supply. This risk can be established based on seasonal climate prediction models.

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Many attempts to implement resource management initiatives in Canadian and international communities have been resisted by stakeholders despite inclusion of their representatives in the decision-making process. Managers' failure to understand stakeholders' perspectives when proposing initiatives is a potential cause of this resistance. Our study uses marketing thought to enhance stakeholder theory by bringing in an audience-centric perspective. We attempt to understand how stakeholders perceive their interests in an organization and consequently decide how to influence that organization. By doing so, we investigate whether a disconnect exists between the perceptions of managers and those of stakeholders. Natural resource managers can utilize this knowledge to garner stakeholder support for the organization and its activities. We support this claim with findings from a water transfer plebiscite held in the Canadian province of Alberta. Sixteen personal interviews employing narrative inquiry were conducted to document voters' (i.e., irrigators') interpretations.

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