The rapid population, economic, and infrastructure growth and environmental and climate variations have shown the great importance of environmental sustainability for the livelihoods of Earth’s population and should be perceived as a cross-cutting priority. A cross-cutting priority because a balanced relationship between water resources available to us and the human consumption of those resources is quite challenging, particularly under climate uncertainties.
It is well understood that achieving a balance between water resources and human consumption is essential to the environment and next generations to come. We as people risk a global food and energy crises in addition to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions that will lead to a global warming crisis when there is imbalance between available fresh waters and human needs. On the other hand, with too many restrictions on the use of water resources, we risk slowing technological and economic advancement. Assessing and better planning for future water sustainability challenges in their social, hydrological, and ecological dimensions is, therefore, vital.
Sustainable water resource management is complex, particularly in transboundary river basins, since fraught with uncertainties and indeterminate scope that may include divergent social values and stakeholder interests, and hydroclimatology which is in constant flux. Water management decisions take place at many scales, but it is often at the river or lake basin scale where tradeoffs must be assessed – among jurisdictions demanding water, among different economic uses for that water, and between human and ecological needs. Climate change is adding more uncertainty and, in several regions, will amplify challenges by exacerbating extreme hydrologic events. Decision makers will need to evaluate tradeoffs across sectors (e.g., hydropower versus fisheries), beneficiaries (upstream versus downstream), and generations, since hydropower dams and climate change induce long-term, largely irreversible alterations to water systems.
The goal of this Research Topic is to compile contributions (novel research and review articles) that use a variety of datasets (remote sensing, social surveys, time series observations, climate data) in multidisciplinary studies that aim to showcase innovation for enhanced strategies assessing a realistic “solution space” healthy shared water systems when considering sustainable water management, especially when addressing complex issues often experienced in transboundary water governance, and strategic planning. This Research Topic intends to foster cross-disciplinary engagements spanning physical and social sciences developing transformative research and education initiatives that can assist in mitigating complex and sensitive transboundary river system challenges.
Integrated studies approach exploring balancing tradeoffs of sustainable water use and coping with future climate uncertainty through the lens of a social-ecological system are welcome. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Framework studies combining physical and social analyses to examine sustainable water resource management under climate change;
- Innovative approaches leveraging global earth observations from space to improve regional efforts that assess natural resources for conservation and sustainable water management;
- Watershed and/or basin scale ecological impacts on water quantity and/or quality from human activities;
- The power of information sharing and strategic planning and how they shape water governance in mitigating future risks; and,
- The impacts of future climate change on riverine communities.
The rapid population, economic, and infrastructure growth and environmental and climate variations have shown the great importance of environmental sustainability for the livelihoods of Earth’s population and should be perceived as a cross-cutting priority. A cross-cutting priority because a balanced relationship between water resources available to us and the human consumption of those resources is quite challenging, particularly under climate uncertainties.
It is well understood that achieving a balance between water resources and human consumption is essential to the environment and next generations to come. We as people risk a global food and energy crises in addition to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions that will lead to a global warming crisis when there is imbalance between available fresh waters and human needs. On the other hand, with too many restrictions on the use of water resources, we risk slowing technological and economic advancement. Assessing and better planning for future water sustainability challenges in their social, hydrological, and ecological dimensions is, therefore, vital.
Sustainable water resource management is complex, particularly in transboundary river basins, since fraught with uncertainties and indeterminate scope that may include divergent social values and stakeholder interests, and hydroclimatology which is in constant flux. Water management decisions take place at many scales, but it is often at the river or lake basin scale where tradeoffs must be assessed – among jurisdictions demanding water, among different economic uses for that water, and between human and ecological needs. Climate change is adding more uncertainty and, in several regions, will amplify challenges by exacerbating extreme hydrologic events. Decision makers will need to evaluate tradeoffs across sectors (e.g., hydropower versus fisheries), beneficiaries (upstream versus downstream), and generations, since hydropower dams and climate change induce long-term, largely irreversible alterations to water systems.
The goal of this Research Topic is to compile contributions (novel research and review articles) that use a variety of datasets (remote sensing, social surveys, time series observations, climate data) in multidisciplinary studies that aim to showcase innovation for enhanced strategies assessing a realistic “solution space” healthy shared water systems when considering sustainable water management, especially when addressing complex issues often experienced in transboundary water governance, and strategic planning. This Research Topic intends to foster cross-disciplinary engagements spanning physical and social sciences developing transformative research and education initiatives that can assist in mitigating complex and sensitive transboundary river system challenges.
Integrated studies approach exploring balancing tradeoffs of sustainable water use and coping with future climate uncertainty through the lens of a social-ecological system are welcome. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Framework studies combining physical and social analyses to examine sustainable water resource management under climate change;
- Innovative approaches leveraging global earth observations from space to improve regional efforts that assess natural resources for conservation and sustainable water management;
- Watershed and/or basin scale ecological impacts on water quantity and/or quality from human activities;
- The power of information sharing and strategic planning and how they shape water governance in mitigating future risks; and,
- The impacts of future climate change on riverine communities.