Conjunctive use in water resource management: current trends and future directions

ABSTRACT Water scarcity and the nееd for sustainable water management practices are pressing global challenges. Conjunctive use, a united management of both surface water and groundwater resources, is being progressively considered as one of the fundamental approaches to solving these issues. This paper gives a detailed overview of the conjunctive use in water resource management considering the present tendencies and directions of development in this sphere. The present study relies on a diverse variety of literature resources which integrate the new techniques, equipment, and policies in respect to conjunctive use. It covers important issues like hydrological modeling, innovative groundwater recharge methods, and integrating conjunctive use techniques into adaptive management system. Moreover, the review also evaluates the roles of different parties, such as government agencies, communities, and industries, involved in the conjunctive use approaches and the promotion of collaborative governance mechanisms. This review identifies that while the conjunctive use approaches are very promising for solutions to water security, fragmented management and poor data integration constrain them. The paper conducts an all-embracing analysis that pinpoints the upcoming problems and solutions, and discovers the need for extensive research and innovation to make the conjunctive water resources management more efficient and resilient.