Dam re-operation to reconcile agricultural and ecological sustainability in semi-arid river basins

Dam re-operation to reconcile agricultural and ecological sustainability in semi-arid river basins | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Dam re-operation to reconcile agricultural and ecological sustainability in semi-arid river basins Hector Macian-Sorribes, Rafael Muñoz-Mas, Daniele Peano, Manuel Pulido-Velazquez, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7037403/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Changes in hydrological regimes due to climate change and river regulation challenge native fish worldwide, fragmenting habitats and facilitating the development of alien and invasive species. We assess the potential of dam re-operation to balance agricultural revenues, native fish habitat and competition between native and invasive fish to reconcile economic and ecological sustainability. Our analysis reveals a trade-off between economic and ecological sustainability, as well as a synergy between native habitat and competition with alien fish species. Although being unable to counterpart climate change impacts alone, we found that dam re-operation can play a significant role as an adaptation measure without investment costs. Moreover, we have found synergies between dam re-operation and drip irrigation. We can state that dam re-operation could play a significant role towards achieving economic and ecological sustainability against climate change, by its own or boosting the impacts of other options. Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Climate change/Climate-change impacts Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Freshwater ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Hydrology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files 3Supplementarymaterials.pdf Supplementary materials Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7037403","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":484019748,"identity":"310c0149-f103-4d45-b6f8-10c3d1fc2532","order_by":0,"name":"Hector Macian-Sorribes","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAt0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAxiDn3Qtkg0kazE4QKwWc/bmpxt+/LHJN76Re0yCoaKOsBbLnmNmN3vb0iy33chLk2A4c5gIh93IYbvB23DYwOxGjrEBYxsRzjO4/4bt5p8/hw2MZ4C0/CPCYQY3eNhu87AdNjCQyDF8wNjATISWM2lmt2Xb0gwkzrxLfJBwjBi/HD/87OabPzYG/O25Bw58qCHCYUiAh4EhgSQNYC2jYBSMglEwCrABAOl2Oy4JF0h6AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hector","middleName":"","lastName":"Macian-Sorribes","suffix":""},{"id":484019749,"identity":"2d7a3519-34bc-43e6-82f6-c4e84a180c27","order_by":1,"name":"Rafael Muñoz-Mas","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Institut d’Investigació per a la Gestió Integrada de Zones Costaneres (IGIC)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rafael","middleName":"","lastName":"Muñoz-Mas","suffix":""},{"id":484019750,"identity":"c49275f9-a43f-4f51-a86c-5ee1df5ff948","order_by":2,"name":"Daniele Peano","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"CMCC Foundation - 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