Cumulative climate and anthropogenic pressures on water systems: Integrated assessment and adaptive management

Water systems are central to human health, food production, economic development, and ecosystem functioning, yet they are increasingly affected by the combined pressures of climate change and human activity. Population growth, urbanisation, intensive agriculture, industrial development, pollution, and unsustainable groundwater and surface-water extraction are reducing water availability and degrading aquatic environments. At the same time, altered precipitation patterns, rising temperatures, glacial melt, sea-level rise, droughts, floods, and other extreme events are making hydrological processes less predictable. These interacting pressures raise critical questions about how water quantity, quality, ecosystem integrity, and equitable access can be protected under rapidly changing environmental and socioeconomic conditions. Recent studies have advanced hydrological modelling, early-warning systems, water-treatment technologies, nature-based solutions, and integrated water-resource management. However, major gaps remain in understanding cumulative impacts, cross-sectoral trade-offs, regional vulnerabilities, and the effectiveness of adaptive strategies over the long term. A more integrated investigation is needed to connect climate projections, anthropogenic pressures, ecosystem responses, technological innovation, and governance.This Research Topic aims to examine the processes through which climate change and anthropogenic activities affect water availability, quality, hydrological regimes, and aquatic ecosystems. It will explore how combined stressors influence groundwater and surface-water resources, pollution dynamics, flooding and drought risk, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. The Research Topic also seeks to evaluate adaptive and sustainable approaches that improve water security while protecting ecological integrity. Particular attention will be given to the effectiveness, scalability, economic viability, and social equity of nature-based solutions, advanced treatment technologies, monitoring systems, restoration approaches, and integrated policy frameworks. Contributions may also assess how decision-support tools, stakeholder participation, and coordinated governance can help water managers and policymakers reconcile competing demands, strengthen resilience, and support vulnerable communities.To gather further insights into the integrated management of water systems affected by climate change and anthropogenic pressures, the Research Topic will focus on studies addressing interactions between environmental stressors, management responses, and long-term sustainability. Relevant themes include, but are not limited to:• Climate-driven changes in precipitation, streamflow, groundwater recharge, evaporation, and water availability• Anthropogenic impacts of urbanisation, industrialisation, agriculture, mining, and over-extractionEmerging contaminants, industrial effluents, agricultural runoff, eutrophication, and water-quality degradation• Groundwater–surface-water interactions and sustainable aquifer management• Droughts, floods, heatwaves, sea-level rise, saltwater intrusion, and other hydrological extremes• Hydrological and water-quality modelling under future climate scenarios• Early-warning systems, risk assessment, and climate-resilient water infrastructure• Nature-based solutions, green infrastructure, wetland restoration, and ecological rehabilitation• Advanced water and wastewater treatment, remediation, and resource recovery• Aquatic ecosystem health, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem-service protection• Integrated water-resource management and decision-support frameworks• Governance, stakeholder engagement, policy coordination, and transboundary water management• Water justice, equitable access, community resilience, and the needs of vulnerable populations• Economic assessments of adaptation, mitigation, and sustainable water-management strategies• Trade-offs and synergies between water security, food production, energy use, public health, and ecosystem conservation Topic editors: Aqil Tariq, Shailesh Kumar Singh, Pradeep Kamaraj Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85033/cumulative-climate-and-anthropogenic-pressures-on-water-systems-integrated-assessment-and-adaptive-management