Towards risk-based river basin management as an approach to overcome wicked water problems

摘要

The wide range of economic activities and the eco-hydrological complexity of many river basins, in terms of the functioning of the soil-sediment-water system and the links between water quantity, quality and economic activities, make a more integrated management approach to river basins complex and challenging. As the pressures from both anthropogenic and natural causes on environmental systems increase, it is no longer effective or efficient to deal with one issue at a time, since solving a singular problem often causes damaging impacts on other environmental compartments or in other places. We must consider the consequences of our actions on all parts of the environment in an integrated way and configure these actions to cope with an uncertain future (Brils & Harris, 2009).