---
OA_type: closed access
_id: '22579'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: "Decades of research on the Mekong River basin have vastly expanded our knowledge
    of key hydrological and\r\necological processes, in part thanks to the development
    of modelling tools. However, few of these models are\r\nopenly available to the
    research community or adhere to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable)\r\nprinciples,
    particularly in the domain of hydrology, in turn limiting transparency, reproducibility,
    and broader\r\nscientific engagement. Here, we address this gap and introduce
    VIC-Res Mekong, an open-source hydrologicalwater management model for the Mekong
    River basin. The model is implemented over a spatial domain\r\nof ∼630,000 km2
    and has a resolution of 0.0625 degrees. Water and energy budgets are simulated
    with\r\nthe Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model, while streamflow routing
    is simulated with VIC-Res, which\r\nexplicitly accounts for the storage and release
    dynamics of reservoirs. This is of key importance for a basin\r\nlike the Mekong,
    where the active storage capacity of dams has increased from 20 km3 to nearly
    80 km3 in the past fifteen years. To this purpose, VIC-Res Mekong integrates information
    from a database containing reservoir storage time series (inferred from satellite
    images) for 129 dams that accounts for more than 90% of total storage capacity.
    These data support both hindcast simulations and the derivation of reservoir operating
    rules, enabling a flexible and realistic representation of dam operations that
    allows to characterize in detail dam-induced hydrological alterations."
article_number: '106603'
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Hisham
  full_name: Eldardiry, Hisham
  last_name: Eldardiry
- first_name: Shanti Shwarup
  full_name: Mahto, Shanti Shwarup
  last_name: Mahto
- first_name: Simone
  full_name: Fatichi, Simone
  id: cf8e546b-a9b0-11f0-a43b-aa89ed1b56d6
  last_name: Fatichi
- first_name: Stefano
  full_name: Galelli, Stefano
  last_name: Galelli
citation:
  ama: 'Eldardiry H, Mahto SS, Fatichi S, Galelli S. VIC-Res Mekong: An open-source
    hydrological-water management model for the Mekong River basin. <i>Environmental
    Modelling &#38; Software</i>. 2025;193. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106603">10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106603</a>'
  apa: 'Eldardiry, H., Mahto, S. S., Fatichi, S., &#38; Galelli, S. (2025). VIC-Res
    Mekong: An open-source hydrological-water management model for the Mekong River
    basin. <i>Environmental Modelling &#38; Software</i>. Elsevier. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106603">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106603</a>'
  chicago: 'Eldardiry, Hisham, Shanti Shwarup Mahto, Simone Fatichi, and Stefano Galelli.
    “VIC-Res Mekong: An Open-Source Hydrological-Water Management Model for the Mekong
    River Basin.” <i>Environmental Modelling &#38; Software</i>. Elsevier, 2025. <a
    href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106603">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106603</a>.'
  ieee: 'H. Eldardiry, S. S. Mahto, S. Fatichi, and S. Galelli, “VIC-Res Mekong: An
    open-source hydrological-water management model for the Mekong River basin,” <i>Environmental
    Modelling &#38; Software</i>, vol. 193. Elsevier, 2025.'
  ista: 'Eldardiry H, Mahto SS, Fatichi S, Galelli S. 2025. VIC-Res Mekong: An open-source
    hydrological-water management model for the Mekong River basin. Environmental
    Modelling &#38; Software. 193, 106603.'
  mla: 'Eldardiry, Hisham, et al. “VIC-Res Mekong: An Open-Source Hydrological-Water
    Management Model for the Mekong River Basin.” <i>Environmental Modelling &#38;
    Software</i>, vol. 193, 106603, Elsevier, 2025, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106603">10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106603</a>.'
  short: H. Eldardiry, S.S. Mahto, S. Fatichi, S. Galelli, Environmental Modelling
    &#38; Software 193 (2025).
das_tickbox: '1'
date_created: 2026-07-27T12:30:25Z
date_published: 2025-09-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-12T09:07:29Z
day: '01'
doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106603
extern: '1'
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106603
intvolume: '       193'
keyword:
- VIC hydrologic model
- Mekong river
- Large-scale hydrology
- Water resources management
- Reservoir operations
- Remote sensing
language:
- iso: eng
month: '09'
oa_version: None
publication: Environmental Modelling & Software
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1873-6726
  issn:
  - 1364-8152
publication_status: published
publisher: Elsevier
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: 'VIC-Res Mekong: An open-source hydrological-water management model for the
  Mekong River basin'
type: journal_article
user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd
volume: 193
year: '2025'
...