Historical Legacies, Information and Contemporary Water Science and Management

Water

Daniel J. Bain³  Jennifer A. S. Arrigo⁴  Mark B. Green²  Brian A. Pellerin¹ 

[1] US Geological Survey, California Water Science Center Placer Hall 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95810, USA; E-Mail:;CUNY Environmental Cross-Roads Initiative, The City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA; E-Mail:Department of Geology and Planetary Science, University of Pittsburgh, 200 SRCC, 4107 O’Hara St., Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA;;Department of Geography, East Carolina University, A-240 Brewster Bldg., Greenville, NC 27858, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: retrospective assessment;    detection;    attribution;    hydrologic history;   

DOI  :  10.3390/w3020566

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Hydrologic science has largely built its understanding of the hydrologic cycle using contemporary data sources (i.e., last 100 years). However, as we try to meet water demand over the next 100 years at scales from local to global, we need to expand our scope and embrace other data that address human activities and the alteration of hydrologic systems. For example, the accumulation of human impacts on water systems requires exploration of incompletely documented eras. When examining these historical periods, basic questions relevant to modern systems arise: (1) How is better information incorporated into water management strategies? (2) Does any point in the past (e.g., colonial/pre-European conditions in North America) provide a suitable restoration target? and (3) How can understanding legacies improve our ability to plan for future conditions? Beginning to answer these questions indicates the vital need to incorporate disparate data and less accepted methods to meet looming water management challenges.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.