Research

Transboundary basins

Of over 200 global transboundary river basins, less than half are formally governed by international treaty. Our research develops new approaches and datasets to support cooperative transboundary watershed governance, especially in South and Southeast Asia.

Agricultural systems

Agricultural intensification and climate change create a rapidly changing landscape with increasing competition for scarce water resources. Our work demonstrates how river basins evolve to shape water management in agricultural watersheds.

River deltas

River deltas are threatened by rising sea levels, increasing salinity, and a reduction in sediment imports. Our research demonstrates the failures of traditional engineering approaches to delta management and suggests new approaches to sustainably manage human-delta systems.

Publications


  1. Mullen, C., Müller, M.F., Penny, G., Hung, F., Bolster, D., 2022. Hydro economic asymmetries and common-pool overdraft in transboundary aquifers. Water Resources Research. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022wr032136

  2. Kryston, A., Müller, M.F., Penny, G., Bolster, D., Tank, J.L. and Mondal, M.S., 2022. Addressing climate uncertainty and incomplete information in transboundary river treaties: A scenario-neutral dimensionality reduction approach. Journal of Hydrology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128004

  3. Penny, G., Bolster, D., Müller, M.F., 2022. Social dilemmas and poor water quality in household water systems. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1187-2022

  4. Chiarelli, D. D., D’Odorico, P., Müller, M. F., Mueller, N. D., Davis, K. F., Dell’Angelo, J., Penny, G., & Rulli, M. C., 2022. Competition for water induced by transnational land acquisitions for agriculture. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28077-2

  5. Penny, G., Dar, Z.A., Müller, M.F., 2022. Climatic and anthropogenic drivers of a drying Himalayan river. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-375-2022

  6. Penny, G., Müller-Itten, M., de los Cobos, G., Mullen, C., Müller, M.F., 2021. Trust and incentives for transboundary groundwater cooperation. Advances in Water Resources. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2021.104019

  7. Müller, M.F., Penny, G., Niles, M.T., Ricciardi, V., Chiarelli, D.D., Davis, K.F., dell’Angelo, J., d’Odorico, P., Rosa, L., Rulli, M.C., Mueller, N., 2021. Impact of Transnational Land Acquisitions on Local Food Security and Diet Diversity. PNAS. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2020535118

  8. Mullen, C., Penny, G., Müller, M.F., 2021. A simple cloud-filling approach for remote sensing water cover assessments. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2373-2021

  9. Penny, G., Mondal, M.S., Biswas, S., Bolster, D., Tank, J.L., Müller, M.F., 2020. Using natural experiments and counterfactuals for causal assessment: River salinity and the Ganges water agreement. Water Resources Research. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026166

  10. Penny, G., Srinivasan, V., Apoorva, R., Jeremiah, K., Peschel, J., Young, S., and Thompson S., 2020. A process-based approach to attribution of historical streamflow decline in a data-scarce and human-dominated watershed. Hydrological Processes. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13707

  11. Penny, G., Mullen, C., Bolster, D., Huber, B., Müller, M.F., 2020. anem: A simple web-based platform to build stakeholder understanding of groundwater behavior. Groundwater. http://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13043

  12. Rahman, M.M.*, Penny, G.*, Mondal, M.S, Zaman, M.H., Kryston, A., M. Salehin, M., Nahar, Q., Islam, M.S., Bolster, D., Tank, J.L, Müller, M.F., 2019. Salinization in large river deltas: Drivers, impacts and socio-hydrological feedbacks. Water Security. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2019.100024

  13. Penny, G., Goddard, J.J., 2018. Resilience principles in socio-hydrology: A case study review. Water Security. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2018.11.003

  14. Penny, G., Srinivasan V., Dronova. I., Lele S., and Thompson S., 2018. Spatial characterization of long-term hydrological change in the Arkavathy watershed adjacent to Bangalore, India. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-595-2018

  15. Young, S., Peschel J., Penny, G., Thompson, S., Srinivasan, V., 2017. Robot-Assisted Measurement for Socio-Hydrologic Understanding in Data Sparse Regions. Water. https://doi.org/10.3390/w9070494

  16. Srinivasan, V., Thompson, S., Madhyastha, K., Penny, G., Jeremiah, K., & Lele, S., 2015. Why is the Arkavathy River drying? A multiple-hypothesis approach in a data-scarce region. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-1905-2015

  17. Penny, G., Daniels, K. E., & Thompson, S. E., 2013. Local properties of patterned vegetation: quantifying endogenous and exogenous effects. Phil Trans R Soc A. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2012.0359

*Co-first authors