Relevance of Reservoirs in Adapting to Climate Change in Sustainable Water Systems

Reservoir management lies at the heart of sustainable water resource systems, balancing the demands of human society with the dynamics of natural hydrological cycles. Traditionally, reservoirs have served as critical infrastructure for flood mitigation, hydropower generation, irrigation, and municipal water supply, offering stability against varying environmental conditions. However, intensified climate change has introduced greater uncertainty and non-stationarity into hydrological regimes, leading to altered inflow patterns, increased evaporation losses, and accelerated sedimentation. These shifting drivers have exposed limitations in conventional reservoir design and operation, spurring debate around the adequacy of existing models and the need for adaptive strategies. Recent studies spotlight the impacts of extreme weather, declines in storage capacity, and the emerging trade-offs between energy, food production, and ecosystem services, yet integrated frameworks for adaptation remain limited in both scope and practical application.

This Research Topic aims to advance our scientific and technical understanding of reservoir adaptation in the context of non-stationary hydrological regimes and multifaceted water system demands. It seeks to identify and evaluate operational and structural measures that enhance reservoir system resilience in the face of climatic, hydrological, and socio-economic uncertainties. Researchers are encouraged to contribute work that develops state-of-the-art hydrological and hydraulic models, applies multi-objective and risk-informed optimization methods, and innovates with monitoring and data-driven control technologies. The goal is to uncover approaches that sustain reservoir performance—balancing flood control, water supply, energy production, and environmental stewardship—while offering robust pathways for the adaptive planning and retrofitting of critical water infrastructure.

Within the boundaries of engineering, hydrology, and interdisciplinary water systems analysis, this Research Topic welcomes submissions that explore adaptive reservoir design, management, and governance from both scientific and practical perspectives. Articles may focus on, but are not limited to, the following themes:

- Multi-objective optimization and stochastic modeling for non-stationary operations
- Climate change impacts and evaporation loss assessments on reservoir function
- Sediment management, water quality, and dam retrofitting strategies
- Coupling hydrological, hydraulic, and ecological models for integrated analysis
- Data-driven, AI-based, and digital twin approaches for forecasting and adaptive control
- Inventive, nature-based, and hybrid solutions for storage and flood mitigation
- Management of transboundary, multi-reservoir, or cascade systems
- Risk assessment, dam safety under extreme events, and adaptive frameworks for decision support
- Interdisciplinary integration of engineering and socio-environmental analysis at the basin or system scale

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Reservoir Management; Storage Capacity; Water Systems; Climate Change; Adaptation Measures; Demand Supply; Environmental Requirements; Water Availability

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.