Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
assessment of them. Our knowledge of the processes
will improve, and our methods of measurement and
estimation will get better, but the fundamentals will
still be the same. In this final chapter several hydro-
logical issues are explored with respect to managing
water resources and change that might be expected.
The issue of change is explored in a water resource
management context: how we respond to changes
in patterns of consumption; increasing population
pressure and possible changes in climate. The topics
discussed here are not exhaustive in covering all
issues of change that might be expected in the near
future, but they do reflect some of the major con-
cerns. It is meant as an introduction to issues of
change and how they affect hydrology; other topics
cover some of these issues in far more depth (e.g.
McDonald and Kay, 1988; Acreman, 2000). The
first broad topic of discussion is water resource
management, particularly at the local scale. The
second topic is the one that dominates the research
literature in natural sciences at present: climate
change. The third and fourth topics are concerned
with the way we treat our environment and the
effect this has on water resources: land use change
and groundwater depletion. The final topic is urban
hydrology - of great concern, with an ever-
increasing urban population all around the world.
scale rise in the amount of time people in the western
world spend at leisure. Leisure activities include
sports such as fishing, canoeing and boating, all of
which require clean, fully flowing rivers. Thought is
now given to the amenity value of rivers and lakes
(i.e. how useful they are as places of pleasure without
necessarily providing a direct economic return).
Management of the water environment needs to be
designed to maintain and enhance amenity values.
Equally we have an obligation to protect the water
environment for future generations and for other
species that co-exist with the water. Therefore water
resource management needs to embrace sustainable
development in its good practices. It is clear that
water resource management has to embrace all of
these issues and at the same time adapt to changing
views on what is required of water management.
Almost all of the processes found in the hydro-
logical cycle can be manipulated in some way. Table
8.1 sets out some of these interventions and the
implications of their being dealt with by those
involved in water resource management. It is imme-
diately apparent from Table 8.1 that the issues go
far beyond the river boundary. For example, land use
change has a huge importance for water resource
management, so that any decisions on land use need
to include consultation with water resource man-
agers. It is important that a legislative framework
is in place for countries so that this consultation does
take place. Likewise for other areas where human
intervention may have a significant impact on water
resources. The issue of finding the correct manage-
ment structures and legislation is investigated in the
Case Study looking at how water resources have
been managed in England over the past forty years
(see pp. 153-155). The changing world in this case
has been through increasing population pressures,
but (probably more importantly) has had to adapt
to changing political beliefs.
A key part of water resource management
involves water allocation: the amount of water made
available to users, including both out of stream users
(e.g. irrigation, town water supply) and instream
environmental use (e.g. amenity values, supporting
aquatic populations). Water allocation in a resource
WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
When the topic of water resource management
is discussed it is often difficult to pinpoint exactly
what authors mean by the term. Is it concerned with
all aspects of the hydrological cycle or only with
those of direct concern to humans, particularly
water consumption? As soon as the term 'resource'
is introduced then it automatically implies a human
dimension. Water is a resource because we need it,
and there are ways that we can manipulate its pro-
vision, therefore water resource management is a very
real proposition. If we are going to manage the water
environment is it purely for consumption or are there
other uses that need protection and management?
Over the past hundred years there has been a large-
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