-->PONE-D-24-49082-->-->Estimation of Long-Term River Discharge and Benefits Evaluation of Ecological Water Conveyance in Ertanggou Basin-->-->PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Wufu,

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Vinaya Satyawan Tari, Post doctoral fellow, (M.Sc., B.Ed., Ph.D.)

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions-->

-->Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. -->

Reviewer #1: Partly

Reviewer #2: Partly

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-->2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: I Don't Know

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-->3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.-->

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.-->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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-->5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)-->

Reviewer #1: In this study, they focus on the Ertanggou Watershed, they have used UAV and satellite remote sensing data to calculate the monthly discharge in the watershed from 2000 to 2020. They have also evaluated the impact of ecological water conveyance from 2016 to 2020.

They have observed that the discharge estimation method based on UAV and satellite remote sensing can provide valuable data for flow monitoring in the Ertanggou Watershed. But they should also use the observed field discharge from secondary sources to make sure about the actual discharge happening in the region that is missing

From 2000 to 2020, the river discharge of the Ertanggou basin in Xinjiang grew overall. From 2016 to 2020, the discharge of the K1 portion upstream of the reservoir was much higher than that of the other sections, primarily driven by river enhancement and the interception effect, that significantly enhance water resource efficiency and decrease waste. But in previous years the discharge remains same why it is so? Has not been explained and also discharge peaked only in 2 years and again it has come back to the same level what is it meant for glacier melt that is linked to CC .In other location as well even though discharge is less as expected there is no variation in last two decades what may be the reason , they have simplified their observation it sems and it needs intense discussion here .Similarly , the average annual ecological water conveyance was 0.61×108m3, with an efficiency of 10%, 2% higher than the previous 15 years. What is the justification/reason for this change ;since no drastic discharge changes has-been observed after 2010 before 2010 that has occurred ,but it is not correlating with discharge changes in subsequent -the linkage between each parameter and their statistical significance has not been discussed clearly and it needs further discussion and revision

The annual or seasonal discharge rates are also to be discussed here that are influenced by precipitation, snowmelt, groundwater contributions, human activity, and of course climate change. Details of intervention affecting the discharge like hydropower plants, reservoir and dam etc., are to be linked in the discussion .

The Climate Change influenced by environmental aspects are also to be analysed and linked using hydrological modeling, ecosystem changes, change in sediment transport and river morphology, impact of agriculture actives ,etc .Since they are taking about the environmental flow impacts on nutrient loading for nutrient regulations is very important that has also to be brought out here as well.

The benefits and drawbacks of this ecological water conveyance are critical and are not addressed which will affect the soil fertility, biodiversity preservation ,habitat maintenance , natural filtration of pollutants and nutrients and adaptation to climate change.

They should bring out how this will help to mitigate these changes that are happening that will affect the ecosystems resilience that are altered to changes in flow conditions. This will reduce/enhance the vulnerability to climate impacts by balancing human and ecological needs of river water .Next from their observation can they bring out how this will help to make decisions on how much water can be safely extracted for human use without damaging ecosystems and for sharing by multiple users and enhance input for river and wetland restoration and other projects. They have not brought out the linkage between the long term changes impact of glacier mass and melt rate, shift in peak discharge periods and timing and resulted long-term decline in glacier mass and water availability in future.

Reviewer #2: Add the background of the study in the abstract.

It is necessary to specify what the project is for ecological water conveyance in the study area, as many international readers are not aware of the context of the study, consider placing it in the introduction or in the overview of the study map.

Explanations of formulas should be topspaced and not indented. Revise line 149 and its counterpart in the manuscript.

The results in Figure 3 are interesting and should be discussed in more detail.

The font in Figure 7 is too small and somewhat blurred.

The discussion is too brief and needs to be added. There should be a discussion of the research methodology, the similarities and differences between the results and others. For example, the prospect of the application of this technical method in the arid zone in comparison with other studies, whether there are ecological water transfer projects in other regions and their comparison, and other aspects.

Overall, the research is solid, but the writing of the manuscript should continue to improve. In particular, the title of the manuscript is based on the study of ecological water transfer, for readers in other regions do not understand what period of time the project began to realize its benefits, and then there is some lack of understanding of the assessment of its benefits.

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Reviewer #1: Yes:  A L Ramanathan

Reviewer #2: No

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-->PONE-D-24-49082R1-->-->Estimation of Long-Term River Discharge and Benefits Evaluation of Ecological Water Conveyance in Ertanggou Basin from 2000 to 2020-->-->PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Wufu,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Apr 13 2025 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org . When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:-->

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

-->If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols . Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols .

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Vinaya Satyawan Tari, Post doctoral fellow, (M.Sc., B.Ed., Ph.D.)

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

Additional Editor Comments:

Dear Authors,

Greetings!

This manuscript has been adequately improved. However, as per reviewer 2 some minor corrections are needed. Hence, pushed for revision 2.

Thanks and good luck

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

-->Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.-->

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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-->2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. -->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

-->3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: I Don't Know

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-->4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.-->

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

-->5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.-->

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

-->6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)-->

Reviewer #1: they have addressed most of all the queries raised by the reviewers by some are not answered clearly like what period of time the project began to realize its benefits, and then there is some lack of understanding of the assessment of its benefits. it may be ignored

Reviewer #2: Table 1, GEE is generally capitalized. Line 169, where initials need to be lowercase here. The formatting of references needs to be improved. The methods section could consider adding citations (https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-023-02099-7).

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-->7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy .-->

Reviewer #1: Yes:  AL Ramanathan

Reviewer #2: No

**********

[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/ . PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org . Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.-->

Estimation of Long-Term River Discharge and Benefits Evaluation of Ecological Water Conveyance in Ertanggou Basin from 2000 to 2020

PONE-D-24-49082R2

Dear Dr. Wufu,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

An invoice will be generated when your article is formally accepted. Please note, if your institution has a publishing partnership with PLOS and your article meets the relevant criteria, all or part of your publication costs will be covered. Please make sure your user information is up-to-date by logging into Editorial Manager at Editorial Manager®  and clicking the ‘Update My Information' link at the top of the page. If you have any questions relating to publication charges, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Vinaya Satyawan Tari, Post doctoral fellow, (M.Sc., B.Ed., Ph.D.)

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

-->Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.-->

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

**********

-->2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. -->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

-->3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

-->4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.-->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

-->5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.-->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

-->6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)-->

Reviewer #1: The authors have addressed almost all the comments of the referees in satisfactorly and hence it may be considered

for publications

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

**********

-->7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy .-->

Reviewer #1: Yes:  AL Ramanathan

Reviewer #2: No

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