Engineering Commons^™

Historical Legacies, Information And Contemporary Water Science And Management, Daniel J. Bain, Jennifer A. S. Arrigo, Mark B. Green, Brian A. Pellerin, Charles J. Vörösmarty

Advanced Science Research Center

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 …