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Exploring the Gap Between Water Managers and Researchers: Difficulties of Model-Based Tools to Support Practical Water Management

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  • Ilke Borowski
  • Matt Hare

Abstract

Supported by EU funds, the European research community has been putting much effort into providing model-based tools to support water resource managers in implementing water management as well as the implementation of the Water Framework Directive. This paper presents the results of a two-year long elicitation phase which aimed to explain why the use of tools in water management is not as great as the corresponding investment in applied research in this area might suggest it should be. The paper identifies a gap between water managers and research community that is evidence of a mutual misunderstanding of the fundamental activities of both communities. We elaborate on these misunderstandings between these two communities by focussing on their attitudes towards seven assumptions that derived from an elicitation phase carried out between 2003 and 2004. These misunderstandings appear to revolve around the issues of the role and importance of model-based tools in water management; the transferability of models to new target sites; the role of participatory modelling in water management; how to solve lack of confidence in model-based tools; the development of computer user interfaces to improve tool usability; and the nature of model integration. Based on these insights, recommendations for improving research, development and ultimately the use of model-based tools in river basin management processes are proposed. The recommendations include improving researchers’ understanding of water management processes and the role their tools play within such a process; identifying for both communities the importance that such tools can play as part of social learning-oriented management processes; improving the role of software consultancies as carriers of research results; considering new methods of model transferability between target basins; and expanding the structure of funding for academic research and development projects to allow the greater provision of non-technical requirements such as post-development tool maintenance and transferability, required by water managers. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007

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  • Ilke Borowski & Matt Hare, 2007. "Exploring the Gap Between Water Managers and Researchers: Difficulties of Model-Based Tools to Support Practical Water Management," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 21(7), pages 1049-1074, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:21:y:2007:i:7:p:1049-1074
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-006-9098-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jean-Luc Kok & Sebastian Kofalk & Jürgen Berlekamp & Bernhard Hahn & Herman Wind, 2009. "From Design to Application of a Decision-support System for Integrated River-basin Management," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 23(9), pages 1781-1811, July.
    2. Liedloff, Adam C. & Smith, Carl S., 2010. "Predicting a ‘tree change’ in Australia's tropical savannas: Combining different types of models to understand complex ecosystem behaviour," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(21), pages 2565-2575.
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    4. Xin He & Simon Stisen & Marianne Wiese & Hans Henriksen, 2016. "Designing a Hydrological Real-Time System for Surface Water and Groundwater in Denmark with Engagement of Stakeholders," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(5), pages 1785-1802, March.
    5. Guido Maria Bazzani, 2013. "Tools and models to support wa ter management in agriculture under policy and climate change. The Trebbia irrigation district experience," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(1), pages 125-146.
    6. Raffaele Giordano & Marcela Brugnach & Irene Pluchinotta, 2017. "Ambiguity in Problem Framing as a Barrier to Collective Actions: Some Hints from Groundwater Protection Policy in the Apulia Region," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 26(5), pages 911-932, September.
    7. Maisa’a Shammout & Muhammad Shatanawi & Sawsan Naber, 2013. "Participatory Optimization Scenario for Water Resources Management: A Case from Jordan," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(7), pages 1949-1962, May.
    8. Y. Yang & L. Wang, 2010. "A Review of Modelling Tools for Implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in Handling Diffuse Water Pollution," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(9), pages 1819-1843, July.
    9. Abdelghani A. Elimam & Maurice A. Girgis, 2012. "Optimization of Water Resources Planning for Jordan's Aqaba Special Economic Zone," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 42(6), pages 528-543, December.
    10. Judith Janssen & Arjen Hoekstra & Jean-Luc de Kok & Ralph Schielen, 2009. "Delineating the Model-Stakeholder Gap: Framing Perceptions to Analyse the Information Requirement in River Management," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 23(7), pages 1423-1445, May.
    11. Xin He & Simon Stisen & Marianne B. Wiese & Hans Jørgen Henriksen, 2016. "Designing a Hydrological Real-Time System for Surface Water and Groundwater in Denmark with Engagement of Stakeholders," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(5), pages 1785-1802, March.
    12. Fabio Zagonari, 2010. "Sustainable, Just, Equal, and Optimal Groundwater Management Strategies to Cope with Climate Change: Insights from Brazil," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(13), pages 3731-3756, October.
    13. Miguel Rodríguez-Rodríguez & José Benavente, 2008. "Definition of Wetland Typology for Hydro-morphological Elements Within the WFD. A Case Study from Southern Spain," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 22(7), pages 797-821, July.
    14. Liam James Heaphy, 2018. "The challenges of aligning the scales of urban climate science and climate policy in London and Manchester," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(4), pages 609-628, June.
    15. Giordano, Raffaele & D’Agostino, Daniela & Apollonio, Ciro & Scardigno, Alessandra & Pagano, Alessandro & Portoghese, Ivan & Lamaddalena, Nicola & Piccinni, Alberto F. & Vurro, Michele, 2015. "Evaluating acceptability of groundwater protection measures under different agricultural policies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 54-66.
    16. Roland Barthel & Stefan Banzhaf, 2016. "Groundwater and Surface Water Interaction at the Regional-scale – A Review with Focus on Regional Integrated Models," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(1), pages 1-32, January.
    17. Daniel C. Kenny & Juan Castilla-Rho, 2022. "No Stakeholder Is an Island: Human Barriers and Enablers in Participatory Environmental Modelling," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-26, February.
    18. Joseph Bakarji & Daniel O’Malley & Velimir V. Vesselinov, 2017. "Agent-Based Socio-Hydrological Hybrid Modeling for Water Resource Management," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(12), pages 3881-3898, September.
    19. Gema Carmona & Consuelo Varela-Ortega & John Bromley, 2011. "The Use of Participatory Object-Oriented Bayesian Networks and Agro-Economic Models for Groundwater Management in Spain," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(5), pages 1509-1524, March.
    20. Roland Barthel & Stefan Banzhaf, 2016. "Groundwater and Surface Water Interaction at the Regional-scale – A Review with Focus on Regional Integrated Models," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(1), pages 1-32, January.
    21. Roberta Bonì & Pietro Teatini & Claudia Zoccarato & Carolina Guardiola-Albert & Pablo Ezquerro & Guadalupe Bru & Roberto Tomás & Javier Valdes-Abellan & Conception Pla & María I. Navarro-Hernández & A, 2022. "Stakeholders’ Perspective on Groundwater Management in Four Water-Stressed Mediterranean Areas: Priorities and Challenges," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-25, May.
    22. A. Pryet & B. Labarthe & F. Saleh & M. Akopian & N. Flipo, 2015. "Reporting of Stream-Aquifer Flow Distribution at the Regional Scale with a Distributed Process-Based Model," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(1), pages 139-159, January.
    23. Rehana Shrestha & Johannes Flacke & Javier Martinez & Martin Van Maarseveen, 2018. "Interactive Cumulative Burden Assessment: Engaging Stakeholders in an Adaptive, Participatory and Transdisciplinary Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-23, February.

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