I went through the Reviewers' comments and the Authors' replies. The study has received mixed comments, with two recommendations for rejection and one recommendation for a set of revisions which can be defined as minor. I see that some points brought in by the Authors might have some value and I would be willing to give the Authors an opportunity for their work to be subject to a very final appraisal by the reviewers. It has to be clear that this would require a set of substantial revisions to be implemented. In case the Authors are willing to take this route, it should also be clear that the resulting manuscript will then be subject to an additional round of reviews, preferably by the same critical reviewers who served during the first round. In case these are not available or are not willing to review the study again, I will then look for alternative reviewers, which might result in an extended time for review. As a last comment, in case the reviewers will not be fully satisfied, thus resulting again in either rejection or major revisions recommendations, I will have to release the manuscript.

After carefully considering the outcome of this most recent review stage, I am afraid I will have to deny acceptance of the manuscript with its current content and scope. The manuscript is still rated as fair-to-good, considering the totality of the Reviewers comments. As I stated in my previous assessment, the critical issues raised surpass the positive aspects and this has not been fully resolved during this round of reviews. At this stage, I think it is more productive to release the manuscript and encourage the Authors to work on a revised work, eventually to be resubmitted to HESS. In case the Authors decide to follow this avenue, their work will then be considered as an entirely new submission. I would be more than willing to serve again as Editor to such a submission.

I still think the totality of the reviewers' comments points in the direction of some revisions to the work. These can be classified as moderate and I do think that once I receive them I will be in a position to make my final decision.

After interaction with the Authors and thorough review of their replies, I see no particular reason to delay acceptance of the work.