Expanding the Scope and Foundation of Sociohydrology as the Science of Coupled Human‐Water Systems

Abstract

Sociohydrology was launched as the science dealing with feedbacks between coupled human and water systems. Much of the early work in sociohydrology involved studies in spatially isolated domains (e.g., river basins) dealing with phenomena that involved emergent patterns in the time domain, with a focus on formulating and testing hypotheses about how they arise. The papers collected in this Special Section "Sociohydrology: Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Coupled Human-Water Systems" illustrate that the scientific scope of sociohydrology has broadened over the last few years, with a rich diversity of phenomena studied and an expansion of the knowledge foundations and methodologies applied. These Special Section papers now incorporate methodologies and approaches from a wide range of social science disciplines, including anthropology, complex systems, economics, and sociology. The major themes tackled by these papers are understanding (i) water metabolism-the economic use of water; (ii) interactions between humans and droughts; (iii) interactions between humans and floods; and (iv) the role of human institutions, policy, and management. These collected papers provide a foundation for future research that strives to understand how to achieve water resources sustainability (society to water) and reduce the risk of hydrological hazards in society (water to society). Going forward, we suggest that the development of a common sociohydrology framework will be paramount for research development and student training. Additionally, increased engagement with the broader water management communities will enhance sociohydrology understanding and impact.

Sociohydrology: Scientific Challenges in Addressing the Sustainable Development Goals

“…Many of the phenomena studied to date manifest in the time domain. However, there is increased interest in phenomena that manifest in the space domain or in space‐time (Breyer et al, ; Chen et al, ), as also highlighted in the recent review by Konar et al (). Much can be learned by comparing and contrasting phenomena that arise in different places and in different contexts, and by seeking common explanations.…”

Interdisciplinary Critical Geographies of Water: Capturing the Mutual Shaping of Society and Hydrological Flows

“…Sociohydrology has mainly focused on the time domain, but there is an increasing interest to explore phenomena that manifest in the space domain or in space-time [95][96][97]. First, many scholars argued that there is much that can be learned by comparing and contrasting phenomena that arise in different places and in different contexts, and by seeking common explanations.…”

Balancing Open Science and Data Privacy in the Water Sciences

“…A recent synthesis proposed a decision tree for biodiversity data, which considers the potential benefits and risks of sharing (Tulloch et al, 2018); we present a similar approach in Figure 2. However, legal constraints vary (Klass & Wilson, 2016), as only 58% of countries currently have data privacy legislation (United Nations, 2018), and researchers should consider their local context.…”