Adaptation of water resources systems to changing society and environment: a statement by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences

Abstract

We explore how to address the challenges of adaptation of water resources systems under changing conditions by supporting flexible, resilient and low-regret solutions, coupled with on-going monitoring and evaluation. This will require improved understanding of the linkages between biophysical and social aspects in order to better anticipate the possible future co-evolution of water systems and society. We also present a call to enhance the dialogue and foster the actions of governments, the international scientific community, research funding agencies and additional stakeholders in order to develop effective solutions to support water resources systems adaptation. Finally, we call the scientific community to a renewed and unified effort to deliver an innovative message to stakeholders. Water science is essential to resolve the water crisis, but the effectiveness of solutions depends inter alia on the capability of scientists to deliver a new, coherent and technical vision for the future development of water systems

Interaction of groundwater with Lake Urmia in Iran

“…Not only the within‐year change but also the over‐year change is quite important in such water bodies as Lake Urmia, which is under the effect of a severe and continuous shrinkage. This makes the research efforts and the practice harder because modelling under change is more complicated (Ceola et al, ; McMillan et al, ).…”

Prediction in a socio-hydrological world

“…Socio-hydrological models may reveal under what changing circumstances a lock-in situation may develop, i.e. sub-optimal management strategies arose due to path dependence built into the prevailing governance structure (Ceola et al 2016). For example, instituting a groundwater and surface water rights system early in places where groundwater exploitation has not yet begun might result in a very different set of trajectories compared to instituting such a system in a more mature economy.…”

Challenges in operationalizing the water–energy–food nexus

“…A wellcoordinated nexus approach could be the first step in realizing these goals (Obersteiner et al 2016). The issues related to the WEF nexus are strongly coherent with the scientific agenda shaped in the framework of Panta Rhei, the decadal programme of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) (Montanari et al 2013, Ceola et al 2016, McMillan et al 2016, Kreibich et al 2017. Not only does the nexus exemplify linkages of socio-hydrology and hydrological changes with energy and food systems, it is also key for water, energy and food security (UN-Water 2013, van Emmerik et al 2014, Young et al 2015 in the Anthropocene (Steffen et al 2011, Savenije et al 2014, Bai et al 2016, Brondizio et al 2016.…”