The nexus of water, agriculture, and trade has global implications on multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially for the most vulnerable populations. The study by Weiyi Gu and colleagues finds striking trade-induced asymmetric water impacts across population groups. It thereby underscores that international agricultural trade eases water scarcity yet exacerbates inequity, disproportionately favouring more affluent populations. The authors urge future water and trade policies to strive for a better balance across multiple critical SDGs to achieve sustainable development for all.

See Gu et al.

Ecohydrology utilizes the knowledge of both ecological and hydrological processes across various scales. It focuses on the complex interactions between water and ecosystems: how water affects the ecological systems and how ecosystems, in turn, influence the water cycle and water quality. Research in ecohydrology aims to advance the understanding of the interactions and to provide solutions that contribute to enhancing ecosystem conservation and sustainable water resource management.

The cover shows a UNESCO Ecohydrology Demonstration Site: the area of Lake Wood, part of the Eddleston Water Project near Peebles, UK. The Eddleston Water Project serves as a dynamic testing ground for natural flood management techniques, which aim to bolster food resilience through the restoration of natural processes that slow water flow and increase water retention within the river system. This project demonstrates how ecohydrology research supports flood risk management, climate change adaptation and biodiversity enhancement at catchment scale.

See Editorial.

Annual evapotranspiration rates computed from OpenET for irrigated agricultural lands and wetland areas near the confluence of the Columbia and Snake rivers contrast with evapotranspiration from the surrounding shrubland and grassland ecosystems. OpenET uses satellite imagery and gridded meteorological data to provide publicly accessible evapotranspiration information to support data-driven water management. In this issue, the OpenET Consortium answers the question ‘how accurate is OpenET’ with model intercomparison and accuracy assessment of field-scale (30 m) evapotranspiration data from six satellite-driven models.

See Volk et al.

While most people in high-income countries have access to safely managed drinking water, there are still gaps in service provision that prevent countries from meeting the SDG 6.1 target of “achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030”. In Australia, for example, drinking water quality breaches have been documented in small, rural and remote (SRR) communities. Ana Manero and colleagues have now estimated the Australian residents’ willingness to pay for improved drinking water services in these SRR communities.

The cover shows the painting The Unity of Water by Walmajarri, Gooniyandi, Bunuba and Nyikina man — Hozaus Claire. In the artist’s own words: “Every water is connected in many ways. Water has its own cycle to resource the natural environment. Every water has a story, every story has a meaning. All surface water has different tribes that tells a story about the water and connection to the First Law of the Land. And the access to the water provides leadership to the tribes that lives near the water that keeps the story strong. The ground water has a significant and secret story that keeps the spirit of the water and the land alive. That is why every river is connected. The connection is under the ground on the land and in the air. How the animals use the water is how people should treat the water and listen to our Elders story songs and dance. The spirit of water is only listened to and seen. In the songs stories and dance of the First Nation of the Land. In this painting, I show connections of ground water and surface water. It also shows that water holes, creeks, springs, rivers and ocean are connected.”

See Manero et al.