Interjurisdictional collaboration in water resource management

Abstract

Current concerns regarding an efficient water resource management have highlighted the necessity of top-down and bottom-up interjurisdictional alliances that aim to collectively improve the status of the watershed and the search for sustainable solutions. Acute problems are triggered by direct (land use change) or indirect (climate change, legislation) human interventions in the natural systems within which we live. Water resources management requires the processing of a huge amount of information with different levels of accessibility and availability and in various formats. Often, the data acquisition needs to be acquired, transmitted and accessed in real time. Equally important is to have access to historical data for calibration and validation of the models. Effective watershed management requires information-rich communication among central and local authorities, private industry, citizens, and academia. Effective watershed planning, regulation and management also require timely conveyance of information to agency staff, decision makers, and the public. Customized Decision Support Systems (DSS) are required for this purpose, to provide wide access to workflows to query, visualization, and compare vital information. DSS can use basically the same information for strategic or emergency planning if the access to the data, simulations, and workflow operation can be done in real-time. It is the duty of public and private sectors to determine how to effectively support the decision-making process without neglecting the appropriate amount of evaluation and the inclusion of stakeholders in the process. The paper presents a concept for interjurisdictional collaboration in water resources management, using a DSS platform that integrates the data and information needed to support short- and long-term watershed actions. The focus of the paper is on describing an ontological framework which combines representative actors/stakeholders, hydrologic concepts and relationships with elements of offering an integrated approach to complex water related processes.