Watershed science: Bridging new advances in hydrological science with good management of river basins

Abstract

Watershed science: Bridging new advances in hydrological science with good management of river basinsWatershed science traditionally refers to the themes of hydrology and water resource management. Watershed science has been experiencing a rapid evolution that thrives on a forceful superimposition of multi-discipline and innovative earth observing and information techniques. The water and its interactions with other systems in a watershed is increasingly becoming a focus in scientific communities, and several new disciplines such as ecohydrology, ecoeconomics, environmental hydrogeology and hydroinformatics have emerged in recent years. From a water-soil-air-plant-human perspective, an integrated study should be implemented regarding a basin in its totality; this new science is called watershed science (Cheng et al., 2014).This Special Topic on SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences provides a forum to discuss watershed science. Seven papers that are contributed from leading scientists working in the forefront of watershed science are presented. These scientists are from China, the USA, Japan, the United Kingdom and Germany. Although the number of the papers is relatively small, these papers cover the main fields and foundations of watershed science. To an extent, the special issue represents the epitome of watershed science.Integrated modeling is always at the core of watershed science. This method synthesizes formal knowledge regarding our understanding of complex watershed processes. In this special issue, we are pleased to have Professor Keith Beven, one of the most influential hydrologists contribute his new results on hyper-resolution hydrological modeling (Beven et al., 2015). The earth system model, with resolution less than 1 km, can be called the hyperresolution model. However, Beven and his colleagues argue that the hyperresolution model not only means the finer grids in the model, but also means finer and more reliable parameterizations to improve the accuracy and sensitivity of the model. Otherwise, the model will be lost in hyperresolution ignorance.Two modeling works in the Heihe River Basin (HRB), well known as a representative arid region inland river basins in China (Cheng et al., 2014), are also published in this special issue. Yang et al. (2015) introduced their distributed scheme developed for ecohydrological modeling in the upstream areas of the HRB. Yao et al. (2015) established a numerical model of regional groundwater flow in the mid-and downstream areas of the HRB in which the oases and vegetation along the Heihe river corridor are highly dependent on groundwater.The improvements of observational technologies and infrastructure for observing hydrological and ecological processes at the watershed scale reflect another aspect of the progress in watershed science. DeBeer et al. (2015) introduced the Changing Cold Regions Network (CCRN). The CCRN is a Canadian research consortium dedicated to understanding, diagnosing and predicting interactions amongst the cryospheric, ecological, hydrological, and ...

Watershed science: Linking hydrological science with sustainable management of river basins

“…As a hydrological system, watershed boundaries span a large range of environments, spatial and temporal scales, from a small tributary with an area of a few hectares to a continental river basin (such as the Mississippi River Basin) of a few million square kilometers over intervals of minutes, hours, and days, to centuries (Paola et al, 2006;Croley II et al, 2008;He and Croley II, 2010). In recent years, the watershed has been the focus of a number of hydrological and earth science programs, e.g., the Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) (Brantley et al, 2007;Cheng et al, 2014;Bogena et al, 2018), the European Union Water Framework Directive (Rahaman et al, 2004), the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI), the Terrestrial Environmental Observations (TERENO) (Zacharias et al, 2011), the Danish Hydrological Observatory (HOBE) (Jensen and Illangasekare, 2011), and the integrated study of the waterecosystem-economy in the Heihe River Basin (Cheng et al, 2014;Li et al, 2015Li et al, , 2018.…”

“…Here we define watershed science as an interdisciplinary science that studies the interactions between human, socioeconomic, ecologic, geomorphic, and hydrological systems that affect the water cycles in a river basin (Cheng et al, 2014;Li et al, 2015Li et al, , 2018Di Baldassarre et al, 2019). It overlaps with and provides a complementary approach to the existing water management programs such as the IWRM.…”

“…Over the past decades, numerous water sciences and management fields, such as IWRM, ecohydrology, and sociohydrology, have been developed to address pressing water issues across the world. But few have specified the mechanism of integrating water sciences and management at the watershed scale (Johnson et al, 2001;WWAP, 2006;Hering and Ingold, 2012;Cai et al, 2015;Cheng et al, 2014;Li et al, 2015;Garrick et al, 2017;Zipper et al, 2020). This study briefly reviews the evolution of water sciences and management, analyzes the missing links between water sciences and water management, particularly at the watershed scale, and finally proposes a framework of watershed science (WS) to help achieve the UN SDGs.…”

SWAT‐Based Hydrological Data Assimilation System (SWAT‐HDAS): Description and Case Application to River Basin‐Scale Hydrological Predictions

“…Physically based high‐resolution hydrological modeling is required to precisely understand the impacts of climate variability and human activities on the availability of water resources (Kay et al, ; Wada et al, ). Understanding the components of the water cycle at the watershed scale is valuable for conducting global‐scale investigations of Earth processes and water resource management that can be intuitively used by researchers and managers for the sustainable deployment of water resources (Li et al, ). SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) is a physically based hydrological model that can be applied to assist water resource managers in assessing the impact of management practices on the water supply in a watershed (Arnold et al, ).…”