222893e

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ON WATER SCIENCES AND RESEARCHPanta Rhei: three clear objectivesUnderstanding. This has always been the essence ofhydrology as a science. Improving our knowledge ofhydrological systems and their responses to changingenvironmental (including anthropomorphic) conditions,and in particular variability and indeterminacy,is a key step in deciphering change and the interactionwith society. Special attention is to be devotedto complex systems like mountain areas, urban areas,alluvial fans, deltas, intensive agricultural areas, and tothe specification of new measurement and data analysistechniques, which will allow the development of newunderstanding of coevolution processes.Estimation and prediction. This is closely related tounderstanding, and it is the essence of hydrologic engineeringand hydrological applications, embracing floodrisk mitigation and water resources management. Thisobjective includes estimation of design variables underchange and uncertainty assessment that is a crucial stepto support risk evaluation.Science in practice. This signifies that Panta Rhei aimsto include humans in the study of hydrological systemsand therefore aims to achieve an iterative exchangebetween science, technology and society. Science inpractice is science for people. It is, therefore, relevant toscience (both fundamental and applied) and relevant towater technology. It includes policymaking and implementpractices. In the past decade (2003-2012), IAHS has focusedits research on Prediction in Ungauged Basins (PUB), developingmodels to better predict availability of water in diverse climatic andeconomic circumstances and water-use settings, and to better forecastand predict floods and droughts in basins and regions in whichthere has been little or inadequate data on which to base models.The PUB decade has resulted in three major publications: RunoffPrediction in Ungauged Basins – Synthesis across Processes, Placesand Scales, published by Cambridge University Press; a summaryarticle in the Hydrological Sciences Journal ‘A decade of Predictionsin Ungauged Basins (PUB) – a review’; and Putting PUB into Practice(in press as of April 2013). These publications combine advancingthe predictive capability and fundamental understanding of hydrologicalprocesses with making the findings relevant to the needsof societies in basins of all scales. The PUB initiative has broughttogether scientists, practitioners and policy makers from aroundthe world and from many organizations, including UNESCO, in acooperative effort.Currently, IAHS is developing a new scientific decade for 2013-2022,entitled ‘Panta Rhei – Everything Flows’. The initiative is dedicated toresearch activities on change in hydrology and society. The purposeof Panta Rhei is to reach an improved interpretation of the processesgoverning the water cycle by focusing on their shifting dynamics inconnection with rapidly changing human systems. The practical aimis to improve our capability to make predictions of water resourcesdynamics to support sustainable societal development in a changingenvironment. The concept implies a focus on hydrological systems as achanging interface between environment and society, whose dynamicsare essential for determining water security, human safety and development,and for setting priorities for environmental management. Thescientific decade 2013-2022 will devise innovative theoretical blue-Image: G. Youngprints for the representation of processes including changeand will focus on advanced monitoring and data analysistechniques. An interdisciplinary path will be sought bybridging with socio-economic sciences and geosciencesin general.Panta Rhei fits well within the much broader ‘FutureEarth’ initiative. This major ten-year programme startedin 2013 and brings together natural and social sciencesthrough cooperation between the International Councilfor Science (ICSU), the International Social SciencesCouncil (ISSC) and the Belmont Forum, along withseveral other major international organizations includingUNESCO. As water is a key element underpinning sustainabilityfor society, seeking the connection and synthesizingthe research findings from the two initiatives will provide aunique opportunity to promote interdisciplinarity.Hydrology and water securityDrinking water supply in Kibera, Nairobi, KenyaAs defined by UNESCO (1964), hydrology is the sciencethat deals with the waters of the Earth; their occurrence,circulation and distribution on the planet; their physicaland chemical properties; and their interactions withthe physical and biological environment, including theirresponses to human activity.Water security is defined as the capacity of apopulation to safeguard sustainable access to adequatequantities of acceptable quality water for sustaininglivelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economicdevelopment; for ensuring protection against water-bornepollution and water-related disasters; and for preservingecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability.[ 323 ]