This overview article for the special series, "Bayesian Networks in Environmental and Resource Management," reviews 7 case study articles with the aim to compare Bayesian network (BN) applications to different environmental and resource management problems from around the world. The article discusses advances in the last decade in the use of BNs as applied to environmental and resource management. We highlight progress in computational methods, best-practices for model design and model communication. We review several research challenges to the use of BNs in environmental and resource management that we think may find a solution in the near future with further research attention.

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Integrated water resources management is a paradigm that incorporates technical, scientific, political, legislative and organizational aspects of a water system. This study presents a methodology for undertaking an integrated analysis of water systems supplied by groundwater. This methodology is here applied to examine the water system of the Altiplano region in Murcia, where the water extraction from the aquifers greatly exceeds recharge and the irrigated areas supplied by those aquifers have a very high agrarian profitability. First, the hydrological problematic of the case study was conceptualized. Then, a sectorial study on each aspect related to the water management of the system was developed. As Bayesian Networks was the chosen technique for the integrated analysis, the information obtained by the sectorial studies was translated into specific variables, which together with the relations among them, modelled the real situation. As from a hydrogeological point of view the water system is comprised of four autonomous aquifers, a Bayesian Network for

In the last half-century in most semi-arid or arid developed and developing countries, many aquifers have become intensively used. This means that the hydrogeological conditions may have changed, with groundwater storage being modified significantly. This intensive use has been performed mainly by millions of modest farmers with scarce public or governmental planning. This silent revolution has been market driven. The cost of groundwater abstraction is usually a small fraction of the value of the irrigated crop obtained. The benefits have been clear and important in most cases. In poor countries groundwater development has provided reliable drinking water supply and increased food security through irrigation, and consequently groundwater as become a relevant means of eradicating poverty. The impact of this groundwater development in developed countries is also significant but not yet well recognised. But sometimes, there are other associated negative effects. These sometimes have been utilised by certain lobbies to expand the hydro-myth of the unreliability (or fragility) of groundwater development, in order to continue to promote the construction of large hydraulic infrastructures. In Spain, groundwater irrigation accounts for more than 50% of the total economic value of irrigated agricultural production, while it only consumes about 20% of the total volume of water. In spite of its benefits, groundwater has not been a significant part of Spanish water policy.

In integrated groundwater management, different knowledge frames and uncertainties need to be communicated and handled explicitly. This is necessary in order to select efficient adaptive groundwater management strategies. In this connection, Bayesian belief networks allow for integration of knowledge, for engaging stakeholders and for dealing with multiple knowledge frame uncertainties. This is illustrated for the case of the Upper Guadiana Basin, Spain, where Bayesian belief networks with stakeholder involvement were used for dealing with the ambiguities related to sustainable groundwater exploitation.

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We have witnessed the great changes that hydrogeological systems are facing in the last decades: rivers that have dried up; wetlands that have disappeared, leaving their buckets converted into farmland; and aquifers that have been intensively exploited for years, among others. Humans have caused the most part of these results that can be worsened by climate change, with delayed effects on groundwater quantity and quality. The consequences are negatively impacting ecosystems and dependent societies. The concept of resilience has not been extensively used in the hydrogeological research, and it can be a very useful concept that can improve the understanding and management of these systems. The aim of this work is to briefly discuss the role of resilience in the context of freshwater systems affected by either climate or anthropic actions as a way to increase our understanding of how anticipating negative changes (transitions) may contribute to improving the management of the system and preserving the services that it provides. First, the article presents the basic concepts applied to hydrogeological systems from the ecosystem’s resilience approach. Second, the factors controlling for hydrogeological systems’ responses to different impacts are commented upon. Third, a case study is analyzed and discussed. Finally, the useful implications of the concept are discussed.

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