Ximing Cai

About

Ximing Cai has been a faculty member at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since 2002. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in water resources engineering, surface water hydrology, application of geographic information systems, and river basin management. His primary research area is water resources systems analysis, with a focus on coupled hydrology-human systems. He develops and applies systems approaches and data-driven methods to various water management problems, including food-energy-water nexus, river basin management, reservoir operation, drought management, and interdependent infrastructure system planning. His work emphasizes interdisciplinary research by connecting hydrology and economics to understand environmental and water resources system complexity and to develop water management policies and solutions. Cai has been recognized for his contributions to hydrologic change accounting and water resources management, being elected as an AGU fellow in 2019 and receiving awards such as the 2023 Julian Hinds Award from the ASCE and the 2024 Warren Hall Medal from UCOWR. He has held academic positions including Colonel Harry F. and Frankie M. Lovell Endowed Professor in Civil Engineering and has served as a visiting professor at ETH Zurich. His consulting activities include work with international organizations such as the World Bank, OECD, and the International Food Policy Research Institute,…

Research topics

• Geography
• Environmental science
• Computer Science
• Meteorology
• Geology
• Agroforestry
• Microeconomics
• Ecology
• Business
• Natural resource economics

Selected publications

• Drought Propagation in Contiguous U.S. Watersheds: A Process‐Based Understanding of the Role of Climate and Watershed Properties

  Water Resources Research · 2020 · 135 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Drought impacts on the society and environment are influenced by how droughts propagate through the hydrologic cycle; however, the physical processes involved in drought propagation are not well understood. In this study, a physically based hydrologic model is used to understand the drought propagation mechanisms and their controlling factors in multiple watersheds selected from different regions of the contiguous United States (CONUS). The characteristics of hydrologic droughts are fou…

  DOI

• Redefining marginal land for bioenergy crop production

  GCB Bioenergy · 2021 · 100 citations

  Abstract Marginal land has received wide attention for its potential to produce bioenergy feedstocks while minimizing diversion of productive agricultural land from food crop production. However, there has been no consensus in the literature on how to define or identify land that is marginal for food crops and beneficial for bioenergy crops. Studies have used different definitions to quantify the amount of such land available; these have largely been based on assumed biophysical thresholds for s…

  DOI

• Development of reservoir operation functions in SWAT+ for national environmental assessments

  Journal of Hydrology · 2020 · 91 citations

  DOI

• Convergent and Transdisciplinary Integration: On the Future of Integrated Modeling of Human‐Water Systems

  Water Resources Research · 2025-02-01 · 34 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The notion of convergent and transdisciplinary integration, which is about braiding together different knowledge systems, is becoming the mantra of numerous initiatives aimed at tackling pressing water challenges. Yet, the transition from rhetoric to actual implementation is impeded by incongruence in semantics, methodologies, and discourse among disciplinary scientists and societal actors. Here, we embrace “integrated modeling”—both quantitatively and qualitatively—as a vital explorato…

  PublisherDOI

• Uncovering Historical Reservoir Operation Rules and Patterns: Insights From 452 Large Reservoirs in the Contiguous United States

  Water Resources Research · 2024-08-01 · 32 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Reservoir operations are influenced by hydroclimatic variability, reservoir characteristics (i.e., size and purpose), policy regulation, as well as operators' experiences and justification. Data‐driven reservoir operation models based on long‐term historical records shed light on understanding reservoir operation rules and patterns. This study applies generic data‐driven reservoir operation models (GDROMs) developed for 452 data‐rich reservoirs with diversified operation purposes across…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Planning for Drought Preparedness in the Watershed Context: A Risk-Based Decision Analysis

  NSF · $320k · 2008–2013

• EFRI-RESIN: Interdependence, Resilience and Sustainability of Infrastructures for Biofuel Development

  NSF · $2.0M · 2008–2014

• CAREER: Quantifying Environmental-Ecological Relationships for Watershed Sustainability Analysis

  NSF · $427k · 2008–2014

Frequent coauthors

• Dingbao Wang

  University of Central Florida

  53 shared

• Mohamad Hejazi

  King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center

  47 shared

• Claudia Ringler

  International Food Policy Research Institute

  44 shared

• Mark W. Rosegrant

  International Food Policy Research Institute

  39 shared

• Yi‐Chen E. Yang

  29 shared

• Tze Ling Ng

  Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

  22 shared

• Xin Li

  University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

  20 shared

• Pan Yang

  19 shared

Awards & honors

• 2019 AGU fellow for hydrologic change accounting for human i…
• 2023 Julian Hinds Award from American Society of Civil Engin…
• 2024 Warren Hall Medal from University Council of Water Reso…

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