Integrating Multiple Research Methods to Unravel the Complexity of Human‐Water Systems

Baldassarre, Giuliano Di; Cloke, Hannah; Lindersson, Sara; Mazzoleni, Maurizio; Mondino, Elena; Mård, Johanna; Odongo, V.O.; Raffetti, Elena; Ridolfi, Elena; Rusca, Maria; Savelli, Elisa; Tootoonchi, Faranak

doi:10.1029/2021av000473

Cited by 18 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 72 publications

(87 reference statements)

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“…In the past more storage often led to inefficient water use and increased hydrologic extremes ( 57 , 58 ), rather than fueling an increase in crop productivity ( 35 , 36 ), which highlights that any increase in irrigation, and associated storage, needs to be embedded in demand management to avoid rebound effects ( 59 ). For example, demand for storage depends on biophysical water demands of crops but also on how much of the releases from storage are available to crops on the field.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global expansion of sustainable irrigation limited by water storage

Schmitt

Rosa

Daily

2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Providing affordable and nutritious food to a growing and increasingly affluent global population requires multifaceted approaches to target supply and demand aspects. On the supply side, expanding irrigation is key to increase future food production, yet associated needs for storing water and implications of providing that water storage, remain unknown. Here, we quantify biophysical potentials for storage-fed sustainable irrigation—irrigation that neither depletes freshwater resources nor expands croplands but requires water to be stored before use—and study implications for food security and infrastructure. We find that water storage is crucial for future food systems because 460 km 3 /yr of sustainable blue water, enough to grow food for 1.15 billion people, can only be used for irrigation after storage. Even if all identified future dams were to contribute water to irrigation, water stored in dammed reservoirs could only supply 209 ± 50 km 3 /yr to irrigation and grow food for 631 ± 145 million people. In the face of this gap and the major socioecologic externalities from future dams, our results highlight limits of gray infrastructure for future irrigation and urge to increase irrigation efficiency, change to less water-intensive cropping systems, and deploy alternative storage solutions at scale.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global expansion of sustainable irrigation limited by water storage

Schmitt

Rosa

Daily

2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Since each method has its assumptions, strengths, and weaknesses (Table 1), combining different methods can help reveal various facets of CCI and compensate for the limitations of individual methods. For instance, while quantitative assessments allow us to identify generalizable patterns and dynamics, qualitative analyses help to contextualize and interpret them (Di Baldassarre et al., 2021; Rusca et al., 2021). Hence, by triangulating the outcomes of these approaches, several lines of evidence can be delivered (Raymond et al., 2020; Rusca, Mazzoleni, et al., 2023).…”

Section: Pathways For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uncovering the Dynamics of Multi‐Sector Impacts of Hydrological Extremes: A Methods Overview

de Brito,

Sodoge,

Fekete

et al. 2024

Earth's Future

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Hydrological extremes, such as droughts and floods, can trigger a complex web of compound and cascading impacts (CCI) due to interdependencies between coupled natural and social systems. However, current decision‐making processes typically only consider one impact and disaster event at a time, ignoring causal chains, feedback loops, and conditional dependencies between impacts. Analyses capturing these complex patterns across space and time are thus needed to inform effective adaptation planning. This perspective paper aims to bridge this critical gap by presenting methods for assessing the dynamics of the multi‐sector CCI of hydrological extremes. We discuss existing challenges, good practices, and potential ways forward. Rather than pursuing a single methodological approach, we advocate for methodological pluralism. We see complementary or even convergent roles for analyses based on quantitative (e.g., data‐mining, systems modeling) and qualitative methods (e.g., mental models, qualitative storylines). The data‐driven and knowledge‐driven methods provided here can serve as a useful starting point for understanding the dynamics of both high‐frequency CCI and low‐likelihood but high‐impact CCI. With this perspective, we hope to foster research on CCI to improve the development of adaptation strategies for reducing the risk of hydrological extremes.

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“…The study makes an original contribution to knowledge by systematically examining and explaining the water risk perception of CFS practitioners and decision-makers and the relationship with water risk evaluation using explanatory sequential mixed methods, addressing a major gap in the current literature (Siegrist 2019, Mumbi and Watanabe 2020, Renn et al 2020, Di Baldassarre et al 2021, Dudley et al 2022, Rangecroft et al 2021. Firstly, our study expanded and empirically tested the novel interdisciplinary framework of Risk Theory for the water domain with a first-of-a-kind sample of non-state CFS practitioners and decision-makers at the regional scale Renn 2019, Dudley et al 2022).…”

Section: Study's Novel Contributions To Knowledge and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Examining water risk perception and evaluation in the corporate and financial sector: a mixed methods study in Ontario, Canada

Sandhu,

Weber,

Wood

et al. 2023

Environ. Res. Commun.

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As primary users of a socially, economically, and environmentally significant yet increasingly stressed resource like water, the corporate and financial sectors have an important role in sustainable water management. However, extant literature reveals a gap in the empirical assessment of water risk perception and its influence on water risk evaluation and decision-making in the corporate and financial sectors. Our explanatory sequential mixed methods study examined the relationship between water risk perception and risk evaluation (risk ratings) addresses these gaps. We employed a cross-sectional survey (N=25) followed by semi-structured interviews (N=22), with a purposive expert sample of analysts, practitioners, and decision-makers in the corporate and financial sector in Ontario, Canada. Our study finds multi-dimensional risk perception factors, including knowledge, professional experience, perceived controllability, values, trust, location, and gender, that influence water risk ratings and vary with the type of risk. Moreover, the in-depth follow-up interviews reveal multiple drivers of different risk ratings, such as proximity bias, sector differences, trust in various institutions, as well as the influence of tacit knowledge, exposure, the role of regulations, media, and financial materiality. Our study empirically concludes that the water risk perception of analysts, practitioners, and decision-makers in the corporate and financial sectors is highly nuanced and impacts the evaluation of different water risks, and should be systematically integrated into risk assessment and decision-making frameworks. Our study advances knowledge in the fields of risk analysis and sustainable water management and contributes by empirically examining and explaining the complex and underexplored relationship between water risk perception factors and evaluation using novel interdisciplinary Risk Theory and mixed methods approaches. Finally, the study’s findings can help integrate sector and location-specific preferences and priorities with analytical data to design contextually-attuned decision support tools for sustainable water management strategies, policies, and practices.

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Integrating Multiple Research Methods to Unravel the Complexity of Human‐Water Systems

Cited by 18 publications

References 72 publications

Global expansion of sustainable irrigation limited by water storage

Global expansion of sustainable irrigation limited by water storage

Uncovering the Dynamics of Multi‐Sector Impacts of Hydrological Extremes: A Methods Overview

Examining water risk perception and evaluation in the corporate and financial sector: a mixed methods study in Ontario, Canada

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