CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS FOR THE SUSTAINABLE WATER RESOURCES ROUNDTABLE

摘要

The extent to which water resources, as currently managed and used by humans, contribute to sustain-ability can be assessed by considering trends in the ecological, economic, and social capacities and conditions that are related to water resources as well as trends in their short term contributions to meeting human needs and wants. The indicators in the major categories outlined by the SWRR can provide the information for good assessments. In general, if important natural, economic and social capacities that are dependent on, or closely related to, water resources are declining substantially over extended periods of time, it would be important to analyze the causes of the trends to evaluate whether they are driven by the natural variability of the system or by management that does not contribute to sustainability.