River Flows and Water Wars: Emerging Science for Environmental Decision Making

Real and apparent conflicts between ecosystem and human needs for fresh water are contributing to the emergence of an alternative model for conducting river science around the world. The core of this new paradigm emphasizes the need to forge new partnerships between scientists and other stakeholders...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in ecology and the environment 2003-08, Vol.1 (6), p.298-306
Main Authors: Poff, N. LeRoy, Allan, J. David, Palmer, Margaret A., Hart, David D., Richter, Brian D., Arthington, Angela H., Rogers, Kevin H., Meyer, Judy L., Stanford, Jack A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dams
Ecological sustainability
Ecosystems
Freshwater
Freshwater ecology
Freshwater ecosystems
Human ecology
Lotic systems
Reviews
River water
Sustainable water management
Water management
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Summary:Real and apparent conflicts between ecosystem and human needs for fresh water are contributing to the emergence of an alternative model for conducting river science around the world. The core of this new paradigm emphasizes the need to forge new partnerships between scientists and other stakeholders where shared ecological goals and river visions are developed, and the need for new experimental approaches to advance scientific understanding at the scales relevant to whole-river management. We identify four key elements required to make this model succeed: existing and planned water projects represent opportunities to conduct ecosystem-scale experiments through controlled river flow manipulations; more cooperative interactions among scientists, managers, and other stakeholders are critical; experimental results must be synthesized across studies to allow broader generalization; and new, innovative funding partnerships are needed to engage scientists and to broadly involve the government, the private sector, and NGOs.
ISSN:1540-9295
1540-9309
DOI:10.1890/1540-9295(2003)001[0298:RFAWWE]2.0.CO;2