Decoding water resource carrying capacity assessment through water accounting: A methodological genealogy of traditional approaches and adaptation study of accounting-based solutions

Conventional water resource carrying capacity (WRCC) assessment methods often struggle to capture dynamic water-economy-ecosystem interactions and lack standardized, reproducible frameworks. This study introduces water accounting—particularly the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water (SEEA-W)—as a comprehensive methodological upgrade for WRCC assessment. Through a systematic review of existing methods and a detailed case study, we demonstrate how SEEA-W integrates hydrological processes with socioeconomic data using a structured supply-use framework, enabling multi-scale, policy-relevant, and comparable assessments. Our analysis identifies five critical dimensions for enhancing WRCC practices: spatiotemporal scalability, standardized account compilation, data gap mitigation, integration with ecosystem accounting (SEEA-EA), and modular indicator development. The results highlight the potential of SEEA-W in identifying water-use conflicts, evaluating efficiency, and supporting sustainable water governance. Finally, we outline key challenges—such as data consistency and regional adaptability—and propose strategies for future advancement, including the adoption of hybrid data integration techniques and unconventional water resource accounting. This research provides a new pathway toward more systematic and adaptive water resources management. • Traditional water accounting methods lack dynamic interactive analysis and standardised indicators. • The water accounts methodology has undertaken a lot of development work to address the lack of data. • SEEA-W has been applied globally in different fields, such as agricultural water management and watershed management. • The water account method can bring new vigour to the study of water resources carrying capacity assessment.