IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i6p2403-d1356779.html

Blockchain Opportunities for Water Resources Management: A Comprehensive Review

Author

Listed:
  • Talat Kemal Satilmisoglu

    (Earth System Science, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06800, Turkey)

  • Yusuf Sermet

    (IIHR—Hydroscience & Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA)

  • Musa Kurt

    (College of Law, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA)

  • Ibrahim Demir

    (IIHR—Hydroscience & Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
    Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
    Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA)

Abstract

Blockchain technology has been used for the digitalization of physical asset management and data management processes in many areas in the industry and academia, including the water domain. Its potential as an immutable data storage system and smart contract integration has provided a plethora of use cases and utility in the domain of hydrology and water resources. This systematic review critically examines the application of blockchain technology in the field of water resources and hydrology. By analyzing 104 academic publications and 37 non-academic studies from 2017 to 15 October 2022, this paper identifies the current state of blockchain applications in water management, delineates their potential use cases, and assesses their practical utility and scalability. Despite the theoretical promise of blockchain for enhancing water governance, data security, and stakeholder trust, the review reveals a noticeable gap between theoretical potential and the existence of workable, real-time applications specifically in water resources management. The findings indicate that while blockchain technology has been effectively implemented in various sectors, its adoption in hydrological domain is still emerging, with limited empirical evidence to support full-scale deployment. The paper concludes with a call for more empirical research to validate theoretical benefits, address scalability and interoperability challenges, and integrate blockchain technology with real-time data networks for sustainable water management practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Talat Kemal Satilmisoglu & Yusuf Sermet & Musa Kurt & Ibrahim Demir, 2024. "Blockchain Opportunities for Water Resources Management: A Comprehensive Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-36, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:6:p:2403-:d:1356779
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/6/2403/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/6/2403/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark Knell, 2021. "The digital revolution and digitalized network society," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 9-25, April.
    2. Delpasand, Mohammad & Bozorg-Haddad, Omid & Goharian, Erfan & Loáiciga, Hugo A., 2023. "Virtual water trade: Economic development and independence through optimal allocation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    3. Jens Gudmundsson & Jens Leth Hougaard, 2021. "River pollution abatement: Decentralized solutions and smart contracts," IFRO Working Paper 2021/07, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics, revised Oct 2021.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Parra-López, Carlos & Ben Abdallah, Saker & Garcia-Garcia, Guillermo & Hassoun, Abdo & Trollman, Hana & Jagtap, Sandeep & Gupta, Sumit & Aït-Kaddour, Abderrahmane & Makmuang, Sureerat & Carmona-Torres, 2025. "Digital technologies for water use and management in agriculture: Recent applications and future outlook," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    2. Hadi Mokhtari & Saeed Dehnavi, 2026. "Optimizing water sustainability: integrating blockchain technology in the water and wastewater supply chain management," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 1-35, June.
    3. Rıdvan Karacan & Eda Yalçın Kayacan, 2026. "Blockchain-Enabled Water Management and Crop Optimization in Arid Regions: A Sustainable Path to Food and Energy Security – The Australian Case," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 40(4), pages 1-16, March.
    4. Andreas Sendros & Periklis Kostamis & Ioannis Zikos & Anastasios Manos & Despina Elisabeth Filippidou & George Drosatos & Pavlos Efraimidis, 2026. "From Fragmented Systems to Transparent Governance: Blockchain-Enabled Water Management with IoT Integration," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 40(1), pages 1-23, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Haris Kitsikopoulos, 2024. "Steam power diffusion in the British cotton and woolen industries, 1774–1800: the role of firm size," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 559-580, October.
    2. Mark Knell & Simone Vannuccini, 2022. "Tools and concepts for understanding disruptive technological change after Schumpeter," Jena Economics Research Papers 2022-005, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    3. Falch, Morten, 2021. "Surveillance capitalism – a new techno-economic paradigm?," 23rd ITS Biennial Conference, Online Conference / Gothenburg 2021. Digital societies and industrial transformations: Policies, markets, and technologies in a post-Covid world 238019, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    4. Leandro Lepratte & Gabriel Yoguel, 2024. "Co-production, artificial intelligence and replication: the path of routine dynamics," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 535-558, October.
    5. Fernando Almeida & José Morais & José Duarte Santos, 2022. "A Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Outcomes of European Projects on the Digital Transformation of SMEs," Publications, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, September.
    6. Kurz Heinz D. & Strohmaier Rita & Knell Mark, 2025. "Technological Change: History, Theory and Measurement. A Brief Account," JRC Working Papers on Labour, Education and Technology 2025-03, Joint Research Centre.
    7. Fernando Almeida, 2023. "Prospects of Cybersecurity in Smart Cities," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-21, August.
    8. Herbert Dawid & Jasper Hepp, 2022. "Distributional effects of technological regime changes: hysteresis, concentration and inequality dynamics," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 137-167, April.
    9. Yafang Shi & Fuxiang Wei, 2025. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: Comparative Analysis of Digital Economy-Driven Innovation Development in China: An International Perspective," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(1), pages 4422-4464, March.
    10. Yang, Yuzhi & Ansink, Erik & Gudmundsson, Jens, 2025. "How to pollute a river if you must," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    11. Mroueh Hussein Ali, 2024. "The Intersection Of Accounting And Informatics In Contemporary Company Management," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 2, pages 13-23, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:6:p:2403-:d:1356779. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.