Integrating Science and Social Science Dimensions of Water Security

In an era of rapid change and profound uncertainties about both human and physical systems, water management requires an understanding of the drivers of, and responses to change. New integration of the natural sciences is needed to understand the effects of climate and land management change, and to provide the decision support tools needed to support analysis of uncertain water futures. However, a more fundamental analysis of water security must recognise the need for social science perspectives in the understanding and modelling of what is a complex human-environmental system. Not only are water flows and storages in the world’s major rivers determined by human activities, but many of the current stresses on water systems stem from social factors such as demography, the global economy, changing societal values and norms, technological innovation, laws and customs, and financial markets. And the inability of many water management systems to adjust to change is often because of low-functioning or outdated governance regimes, institutional rigidity, failure to adequately perceive threats to water security, ill-functioning markets, and undue focus on physical at the expense of social change. We suggest that key to the water security agenda is recognition of the emerging field of socio-hydrology, which embodies two very specific social components: integrating humans and their activities into water science; and ensuring that water decision-making incorporates a range of values and perspectives about the meaning, value and use of water. This paper demonstrates the use of socio-hydrology as a research strategy for analysis of climate adaptation and decision making under uncertainty for the Saskatchewan River Basin (SRB), the major water resource for the Canadian prairies. Included are results of exploratory modelling of the Basin’s water budget under climate and policy scenarios, efforts to illuminate critical decision tradeoffs between environmental and societal water needs, and a discussion of ongoing stakeholder engagement with the SRB water science initiative.