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Advancing science for water resources management

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Living Rivers: Trends and Challenges in Science and Management

Part of the book series: Developments in Hydrobiology ((DIHY,volume 187))

Abstract

Despite the major advances in science to underpin water resources and river management that have taken place over the past two decades, a need remains to establish a unifying framework that will lead to new, appropriate tools for water resources management. In Europe, this need has been highlighted by the promotion of the Water Framework Directive. From a scientific perspective, key questions focus on the ecological significance of flow variability over a range of timescales and the linkage between flow variability, habitat variability and biological population responses, and the biological interactions among these populations. Creation of scientifically sound tools requires development of knowledge at the level of first principles to realize sustainable developments within the context of adaptive management. Similitude analyses provide a mechanism for upscaling from fine ‘research’ scales to the coarser scales of water resource managers. Lack of appropriate data is the major obstacle to the development of these tools, especially those concerned with large rivers.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston B15 2TT, UK

    G. E. Petts

  2. US Army Engineer Research and Development Centre, Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA

    J. Nestler

  3. US Army Engineer Research and Development Centre, European Research Office, London, UK

    R. Kennedy

Authors
  1. G. E. Petts
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  2. J. Nestler
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  3. R. Kennedy
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, Institute for Wetland and Water Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    R. S. E. W. Leuven  & A. M. J. Ragas  & 

  2. Centre for Water and Society, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    A. J. M. Smits

  3. Erasmus Centre for Sustainability and Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    A. J. M. Smits

  4. Department of Animal Ecology and Ecophysiology, Institute for Wetland and Water Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    G. van der Velde

  5. Members of the Netherlands Centre for River Studies (NCR), Delft, The Netherlands

    R. S. E. W. Leuven , A. M. J. Ragas , A. J. M. Smits  & G. van der Velde , ,  & 

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Petts, G.E., Nestler, J., Kennedy, R. (2006). Advancing science for water resources management. In: Leuven, R.S.E.W., Ragas, A.M.J., Smits, A.J.M., van der Velde, G. (eds) Living Rivers: Trends and Challenges in Science and Management. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 187. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-5367-3_18

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