4
of controversy and of cooperation. The “hidden core” of many international
confl icts can be regarded as disputes over the access to water.
As a consequence, in many regions of the world, major water engineering
projects (MWEPs) such as dams, hydropower plants, large scale irrigation schemes
in agriculture, channels for navigation, drinking water transfer connection, etc. are
considered as a suitable means for covering the demand for energy and water. In the
recent years, rising needs for energy and food have even led to some sort of “renaissance” of MWEPs. New actors – investors, emerging nations and multi-industry
companies – have appeared on the scene and economic interests have in many cases
impeded a thorough public debate about possible alternatives. The plans for the
construction of the Nicaragua Canal as an alternative to the Panama Canal serve as
an illustration of such a controversial “megaproject”.
Taken all together, MWEPs have signifi cantly shaped societies, economies and
ecosystems. This poses crucial questions to scientists in their role as advisors to
decision makers: by what means can the future use of water be organised in the most
effi cient, but also most sustainable way? What are the consequences of further
large-scale interventions? And, do the long-term effects of MWEPs limit the number and scope of future options for action and decision-making? Refl ecting on these
fundamental questions is the main motivation of the book at hand.
1.2 Interdisciplinary Research on Water Resources
Looking back, it has often been “technocratic thinking” that has paved the way for
MWEPs. Expected infl uences on ecosystems, societies and economies have been
oversimplifi ed or misjudged in the planning stages. Only retrospectively, in many
cases, it has turned out that these interventions had taken place within highly complex and coupled systems. The outcome of supposedly simple and determinate
water management measures had proven to be unpredictable in advance, with some
of the impacts affecting societies decades or even centuries later. The desire for
immediate and simple on-hand solutions has a tendency to blur people’s vision and
rational thinking when it comes to assessing burdens on future generations. The
awareness that technical measures alone are not suffi cient for meeting present and
future challenges in resource management is a relatively young one, and it still
needs to be backed up by scientifi c, ethical, social and political refl ections.
This is where the need for interdisciplinary approaches and research designs
comes into play. Interdisciplinary research in its true sense is not a goal as such but
must be tailored to address many-faceted research questions in their full complexity
and to shed a new light on old problems. In this respect, water resource management
and the imbalance between mankind’s technological capabilities and its systemic
intelligence are an ideal fi eld of interdisciplinary research: we deal with coupled
and complex systems, we have to fi nd immediate answers concerning the adaptation
and mitigation of the effects of climate change, and we have to integrate social,
economic and ecological aspects into long-term water management schemes.
Undoubtedly, a task such as this would demand too much from the knowledge provided by one single scientifi c discipline alone.
R.F. Hüttl et al.
of controversy and of cooperation. The “hidden core” of many international
confl icts can be regarded as disputes over the access to water.
As a consequence, in many regions of the world, major water engineering
projects (MWEPs) such as dams, hydropower plants, large scale irrigation schemes
in agriculture, channels for navigation, drinking water transfer connection, etc. are
considered as a suitable means for covering the demand for energy and water. In the
recent years, rising needs for energy and food have even led to some sort of “renaissance” of MWEPs. New actors – investors, emerging nations and multi-industry
companies – have appeared on the scene and economic interests have in many cases
impeded a thorough public debate about possible alternatives. The plans for the
construction of the Nicaragua Canal as an alternative to the Panama Canal serve as
an illustration of such a controversial “megaproject”.
Taken all together, MWEPs have signifi cantly shaped societies, economies and
ecosystems. This poses crucial questions to scientists in their role as advisors to
decision makers: by what means can the future use of water be organised in the most
effi cient, but also most sustainable way? What are the consequences of further
large-scale interventions? And, do the long-term effects of MWEPs limit the number and scope of future options for action and decision-making? Refl ecting on these
fundamental questions is the main motivation of the book at hand.
1.2 Interdisciplinary Research on Water Resources
Looking back, it has often been “technocratic thinking” that has paved the way for
MWEPs. Expected infl uences on ecosystems, societies and economies have been
oversimplifi ed or misjudged in the planning stages. Only retrospectively, in many
cases, it has turned out that these interventions had taken place within highly complex and coupled systems. The outcome of supposedly simple and determinate
water management measures had proven to be unpredictable in advance, with some
of the impacts affecting societies decades or even centuries later. The desire for
immediate and simple on-hand solutions has a tendency to blur people’s vision and
rational thinking when it comes to assessing burdens on future generations. The
awareness that technical measures alone are not suffi cient for meeting present and
future challenges in resource management is a relatively young one, and it still
needs to be backed up by scientifi c, ethical, social and political refl ections.
This is where the need for interdisciplinary approaches and research designs
comes into play. Interdisciplinary research in its true sense is not a goal as such but
must be tailored to address many-faceted research questions in their full complexity
and to shed a new light on old problems. In this respect, water resource management
and the imbalance between mankind’s technological capabilities and its systemic
intelligence are an ideal fi eld of interdisciplinary research: we deal with coupled
and complex systems, we have to fi nd immediate answers concerning the adaptation
and mitigation of the effects of climate change, and we have to integrate social,
economic and ecological aspects into long-term water management schemes.
Undoubtedly, a task such as this would demand too much from the knowledge provided by one single scientifi c discipline alone.
R.F. Hüttl et al.