More than 350 participants from over 35 countries are taking part in the 16th International Conference on Hydroinformatics (HIC2026), bringing together researchers, engineers, practitioners and decision-makers to explore advances in data, modelling, artificial intelligence and digital technologies for water.

The 16th International Conference on Hydroinformatics (HIC2026) is taking place in Zaragoza, Spain, from 22 to 26 June 2026.

The conference opened at the Paraninfo of the University of Zaragoza with Rosa M. Bolea, Rector of the University of Zaragoza; Mª Dolores Pascual Vallés, Director General for Water at Spain’s Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge; Carlos Arrazola Martínez, President of the Ebro River Basin Authority; Philippe Gourbesville, President of the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR); and Professor Pilar García-Navarro, Chair of the Organizing Committee.

Bringing together university leadership, national water administration, basin management and the international engineering community, the opening ceremony set the context for a week of technical exchange on the digital transformation of water systems, climate resilience and the role of hydroinformatics in addressing complex water challenges.

 Six keynote lectures across three days

The HIC2026 keynote programme brings together six leading voices in hydroinformatics and water engineering, with two keynote lectures each day.

Tuesday, 23 June

• Ibrahim Demir, Chair of the IAHR/IWA Joint Committee on Hydroinformatics, speaking on Reimagining Hydrology Education, Research and Engineering Practice in the Age of AI.

• Enrique Cabrera, speaking on Digital transformation of urban water systems.

Wednesday, 24 June

• Reinhard Hinkelmann, speaking on High Performance Computing in the Hydrosciences.

• Enrique Playán Jubillar, speaking on The Water–Energy–Food–Ecosystems nexus in irrigation management.

Thursday, 25 June

• Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, speaking on Climate-water systems, precipitation extremes and resilience.

• Francesca Pianosi, speaking on Greater power, greater responsibility: water systems modelling with ever increasing data and computing power.

Together, the keynote series reflects the breadth of hydroinformatics today: from artificial intelligence, digital transformation and high-performance computing to climate resilience, systems modelling and water management.

 A wide-ranging technical programme

Beyond the keynote programme, HIC2026 includes a full schedule of technical sessions and presentations organised around eleven main themes:

• Technologies for water management and monitoring

• Big data, knowledge and water data management

• AI-based solutions in modelling methods

• High-performance computing in hydroinformatics

• Digital transformation of urban water systems

• Climate change impacts and climate resilience

• Environmental and coastal hydroinformatics

• Complex water systems, remote sensing and control

• Water–Energy–Food nexus

• Innovation in education and training in hydroinformatics

• Innovative water technologies

The programme also features six special sessions addressing:

• Forecasting coastal and river hazards, flooding and water quality

• High-performance computing in hydrodynamics, hydrology and hydroinformatics

• Modelling hydro- and environmental systems, in honour of Professor Reinhard Hinkelmann

• From models to decisions: decision support and intelligent systems for sustainable aquatic environments

• Water system operation and digital twins

• Advanced hydroinformatics technologies of catchment digital twins: strategy, tools and applications

The conference programme illustrates the links between research, technology and practical decision-making across the water cycle, covering applications ranging from monitoring and forecasting to digital twins, urban water systems, environmental management and water-related risk.

 Digital Water Journal

During the Hydroinformatics Technical Meeting, Digital Water was presented as an Official Journal of IAHR.

The journal provides a dedicated platform for research and innovation at the intersection of water, data, digital technologies and hydroinformatics. A selection of papers presented at HIC2026 will be invited to submit manuscripts for consideration in Digital Water, subject to the journal’s usual editorial and peer-review process. 

More information about Digital Water can be found in the IAHR Journals website. 

 Meet the Award Winners of the International Hydroinformatics Conference 2026 (HIC2026)   

We are pleased to announce the awards for “Best Poster Presentation”, “Best oral presentation” and “Best Young Presentation Award” for the 2026 International Hydroinformatics Conference (22-26 June) in Zaragoza, Spain.  

• Best poster presentation awarded in recognition of outstanding scientific communication and excellence in poster presentation at HIC 2026 to:
  Noor Ahmad Yaqubi for his presentation on AI-Based Rainfall Forecasting of Extreme Localized Events: A Review 



• Best oral presentation awarded in recognition of outstanding scientific communication and excellence in oral presentation at HIC 2026 to:
  Susanna Dazzi for her oral presentation on Levee-breach inundation forecasting with deep-learning and hydrodynamic models: the 2020 Panaro River case study 



• Best Young Presentation awarded in recognition of outstanding scientific communication and excellence in presentation by a young researcher at HIC 2026 to:
  Lennart Steffen for his presentation on Kokkidio: Performance Portability for Hydroinformatics Code 

Congratulations to all!

 Acknowledgements

IAHR extends its thanks to the organisations supporting HIC2026: Universidad de Zaragoza, SICE, Instituto Aragonés del Agua and Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro as Platinum Sponsors; Contazara, Hydronia, GeoSLab and the EFHERA project as Gold Sponsors; Riegosalz as Silver Sponsor; and the Cátedra Territorio, Sociedad y Visualización Geográfica at Universidad de Zaragoza and Zaragoza City Council for their support.

A special thank you also goes to the HIC2026 Organizing Committee for shaping and delivering the conference.

Through conferences such as HIC2026 and its global technical communities, IAHR supports the exchange of knowledge and expertise needed to develop practical solutions across the water cycle.

A full report will be published in the upcoming weeks. The 17th edition of the International Hydroinformatics Conference will take place from 5 to 9 June, 2028 in Pescara, Italy. Keep updated!

 Related

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