Human-water interface in hydrological modelling
Current status and future directions
Yoshihide Wada (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Universiteit Utrecht)
Marc F.P. Bierkens (Universiteit Utrecht, Deltares)
A de Roo (Joint Research Centre, Universiteit Utrecht)
Paul A. Dirmeyer (George Mason University)
James S. Famiglietti (California Institute of Technology)
Naota Hanasaki (National Institute for Environmental Studies of Japan)
Megan Konar (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign)
Junguo Liu (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Southern University of Science and Technology )
Hannes Möller Schmied (Goethe University, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F))
Taikan Oki (University of Tokyo, United Nations University)
Yadu Pokhrel (Michigan State University)
Murugesu Sivapalan (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign)
Tara J. Troy (Lehigh University)
Albert I J M Van Dijk (Australian National University)
Tim Van Emmerik (TU Delft - Water Resources)
Marjolein H.J. Van Huijgevoort (Princeton University)
Henny A.J. Van Lanen (Wageningen University & Research)
Charles J. Vörösmarty (City College of New York, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center)
Niko Wanders (Princeton University, Universiteit Utrecht)
Howard Wheater (University of Saskatchewan)
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Abstract
Over recent decades, the global population has been rapidly increasing and human activities have altered terrestrial water fluxes to an unprecedented extent. The phenomenal growth of the human footprint has significantly modified hydrological processes in various ways (e.g. irrigation, artificial dams, and water diversion) and at various scales (from a watershed to the globe). During the early 1990s, awareness of the potential for increased water scarcity led to the first detailed global water resource assessments. Shortly thereafter, in order to analyse the human perturbation on terrestrial water resources, the first generation of largescale hydrological models (LHMs) was produced. However, at this early stage few models considered the interaction between terrestrial water fluxes and human activities, including water use and reservoir regulation, and even fewer models distinguished water use from surface water and groundwater resources. Since the early 2000s, a growing number of LHMs have incorporated human impacts on the hydrological cycle, yet the representation of human activities in hydrological models remains challenging. In this paper we provide a synthesis of progress in the development and application of human impact modelling in LHMs. We highlight a number of key challenges and discuss possible improvements in order to better represent the human-water interface in hydrological models.
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