A regional initiative for the hydrological monitoring of Andean ecosystems

Abstract:

The design of integrated river basin management plans in Andean headwater basins has faced a number of limitations originated on the lack of knowledge of hydrological processes and the impact of human activities on the hydrological cycle. Nowadays, more people ask themselves what the effects of their land-management actions on water availability are. There is no clear answer to these questions. While the use of hydrological models for scenario analyses can provide a possible solution, the lack of available data to calibrate and validate them at the scales of interest complicates their application. One of the roots of the problem is that, so far, there is limited monitoring of catchments with the aim of knowledge generation. The large variability found in ecosystems, climates and geomorphological settings makes hydrological research a complex task, and therefore, finding answers to these societal problems may take too long, unless a wellcoordinated collaboration between research centers, NGOs and local governments takes place. This manuscript outlines the goals of a regional initiative for the hydrological monitoring of Andean ecosystems and describes its first steps.

Año de publicación:

2011

Keywords:

Fuente:

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