Review of Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in Water Management

Elgendy, M., Hassini, S., & Coulibaly, P. (2024). “Review of Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in Water Management.” Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 29(1), 03123001. https://doi.org/10.1061/JHYEFF.HEENG-6014 [open access]

Abstract

Climate change (CC) is considered one of the most critical threats to human lives and activities due to dramatic increases in the frequency and severity of droughts and floods under global warming. To alleviate such impacts, many studies on CC adaptation strategies in water management have emerged. This review covers 131 relevant studies published over the past two decades. It aims to robustly synthesize the applied strategies/techniques and identify findings and gaps. In addition, a bibliometric analysis is performed to describe the co-citation network and statistical characteristics of the reviewed papers and identify the related research clusters. A typical procedure for CC adaptation studies is proposed based on previous studies. It is found that systems reoperation was preferred for CC adaptation in water resources management, specifically by updating the reservoir operation curves using optimization algorithms. However, low impact development (LID) measures were favored in storm drainage and flood mitigation systems. As for future relevant research, the main recommendations are integrating environmental, social, and economic aspects in evaluating CC adaptation strategies and incorporating land use and land cover (LULC) and water demand changes in CC adaptation studies. This state-of-the-art review represents essential information for improving CC adaptation strategies in water management.