Articles | Volume 25, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1883-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1883-2021
Research article
 | 
09 Apr 2021
Research article |  | 09 Apr 2021

Socio-hydrologic modeling of the dynamics of cooperation in the transboundary Lancang–Mekong River

You Lu, Fuqiang Tian, Liying Guo, Iolanda Borzì, Rupesh Patil, Jing Wei, Dengfeng Liu, Yongping Wei, David J. Yu, and Murugesu Sivapalan

Related authors

HESS Opinions: Operationalizing sociohydrology from systems thinking to systems doing for sustainable and resilient water management
Fuqiang Tian, Murugesu Sivapalan, Sondoss El Sawah, Melissa Haeffner, Anthony Jakeman, Heidi Kreibich, Leyang Liu, Haoyang Lyu, Ana Mijic, Jiale Wang, Jing Wei, and Günter Blöschl
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1727,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1727, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Runoff thresholds as state-dependent connectivity transitions: A global synthesis across diverse catchments
Zhen Cui and Fuqiang Tian
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1265,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1265, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Mitigating the impact of increased drought-flood abrupt alternation events under climate change: the role of reservoirs in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin
Keer Zhang, Zilong Zhao, and Fuqiang Tian
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 671–691, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-671-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-671-2026, 2026
Short summary
What can hydrological modelling gain from spatially explicit parameterization and multi-gauge calibration?
Xudong Zheng, Dengfeng Liu, Hao Wang, Chuanhui Ma, Hui Liu, Guanghui Ming, Qiang Li, Mohd Yawar Ali Khan, and Fiaz Hussain
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6543,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6543, 2026
Short summary
Climate change and irrigation expansion reshape the water pressure and upstream–downstream interactions in the Lancang–Mekong River Basin
Hongling Zhao, Zilong Zhao, and Fuqiang Tian
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-537,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-537, 2026
Short summary

Cited articles

Abdul, G. N., Suraya, H., Abaker, T. H. I., and Ejaz, A.: Social Media Big Data Analytics: A Survey, Comput. Human Behav., 101, 417–428, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.08.039, 2019. 
Allen, R. G., Pereira, L. S., Raes, D., and Smith, M.: Crop evapotranspiration – Guidelines for computing crop water requirements, FAO Irrigation and drainage paper 56, FAO, Rome, 87–210, 1998. 
Arjoon, D., Tilmant, A., and Herrmann, M.: Sharing water and benefits in transboundary river basins, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 2135–2150, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-2135-2016, 2016. 
Baran, E. and Cain, J.: Ecological approaches of flood-fish relationships modelling in the Mekong River, in: Proceedings of the National workshop on Ecological and Environmental Modelling, 3–4 September 2001, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia, 2001. 
Basheer, M., Wheeler, K. G., Ribbe, L., Majdalawi, M., Abdo, G., and Zagona, E. A.: Quantifying and evaluating the impacts of cooperation in transboundary river basins on the Water-Energy-Food nexus: The Blue Nile Basin, Sci. Total Environ., 630, 1309–1323, 2018. 
Download
Short summary
The upstream countries in the transboundary Lancang–Mekong basin build dams for hydropower, while downstream ones gain irrigation and fishery benefits. Dam operation changes the seasonality of runoff downstream, resulting in their concerns. Upstream countries may cooperate and change their regulations of dams to gain indirect political benefits. The socio-hydrological model couples hydrology, reservoir, economy, and cooperation and reproduces the phenomena, providing a useful model framework.
Share