1. Hydropsychology: the human side of water research.
- Author
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Sivakumar, Bellie
- Subjects
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WATER supply , *NATURAL resources , *PUBLIC utilities , *CLIMATE change , *CLIMATOLOGY , *HYDROLOGY , *AQUATIC sciences , *EARTH sciences , *WATERSHEDS - Abstract
The world's freshwater resources are already under severe stress. The anticipated population increase and global climate change raise further concerns on the future. Transboundary and other shared waters have been the sources of numerous conflicts between the countries and communities sharing them, and there are fears that many of these shared basins will be hotspots for violent conflicts in this century. Proper planning and management of these shared waters will play a key role in resolving future water problems and conflicts. Despite the many existing legal frameworks and bilateral/multilateral agreements, tremendous challenges remain in managing the shared waters. These challenges have scientific, political, economic, environmental, social, cultural, racial, religious, linguistic and other facets. This study discusses the human side of water planning, management and conflicts. The positive and negative effects of water planning and management on human life are presented, with particular emphasis on human behaviour. How these effects, in turn, can shape our perception of water planning and management and motivate us towards specific agenda(s) is also discussed. The water dispute in an inter-state river basin (the Cauvery River basin) in south India is chosen as a representative for discussion. It is argued that studying the transactions between humans and water-related activities should be an integral part of water research. The field of 'hydropsychology' is proposed for this kind of study, and a few ideas are also presented for making fundamental advances. Citation Sivakumar, B. (2011) Hydropsychology: the human side of water research. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(4), 719-732. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2011
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