An Human-Centered Approach to Sustainable Water Management: Applications and Theory in a Data Rich Environment

Dear Colleagues,

In the past few years, the development, application, and management of sustainable water resources have been greatly enhanced through the use of a human-centered approach that fully incorporates the human dimensions of water resources management in the era of Big Data. While the explosion of big data, computational intelligence, and communication systems have given rise to large-scale datasets and advanced sensing technologies, this Special Issue supplements the technocentric approach by studying the dynamic interactions and feedbacks between water and humans. This interdisciplinary field involves modeling the interplay between hydrological and social processes, understanding coupled human–water systems, and examining the co-evolution and self-organization of human and water systems in different cultures, sociopolitical contexts, and regulatory environments.

Better understanding the social dimensions of hydrology can supplement the technical operations used to analyze water resources systems. Major contributions to sociohydrology contributions are brought to the table by social scientists, indigenous communities, community leaders, and other social scientists and the subjects they study, including human psychology, human–water interactions, the acceptability of water policy by society. Even as the digital age continues to transform the field of water resources sustainability, human-centered issues are of increasing importance within the realm of water resource choices. For example, the technical issues of water scarcity, pollution, and inundation can be best understood by considering underserved and marginalized communities, legal and socioinstitutional frameworks, community and cultural values, ethical norms, diversity, inclusion, human rights and many other socioeconomic factors. Even marginal political differences and sociocultural disagreements in the Big Data era can be magnified to the point where sustainable water resources policies are disrupted.

Thus, this Special Issue focuses on a more human-centric view of sustainable water resources management theory and practice in a data rich environment. While the explosion of big data and extreme computing have given rise to large-scale datasets and advanced sensing technologies, this Special Issue supplements the technocentric approach by including contributions that are brought to the table by social scientists, indigenous communities, community leaders, and other social scientists and the subjects they study, including human psychology, human–water interactions, and the acceptability of water policy by society. 

By so doing, this Special Issue has the potential to transform our understanding of human–water interactions and to convert IT-centric water resources processes and systems into robust planning and management actions. New developments in human-centered water systems have provided a new vocabulary and methodologies to harness data-rich research environments. As a result, the water resources community is currently developing innovative transdisciplinary approaches and methods that go well beyond traditional stove-piped spatial analysis. The most promising human centered approaches leverage techniques from not only the social sciences and humanities disciplines but also urban planning, decision analysis, public policy and administration, and sustainability science. Insights from these disciplines have created new resilience paradigms in water planning and management. It is incumbent upon water resources experts to understand how specific social and cultural milieus affect water policy and management. This Special Issue encourages the submission of both basic research papers and application-oriented contributions in the area of human–water interactions, with a particular focus to human-centric, community-oriented transdisciplinary approaches. 

Prof. Dr. Jason K. Levy
Prof. Dr. Saeid Eslamian
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• Sociohydrology
• Sustainablity
• Hydroinformatics
• Ethical norms
• Water scarcity
• Data-rich environment
• Human-centered
• Resilience
• Community-based
• Human rights
• Big data
• Equity
• Inclusion
• Institutional frameworks
• Computational intelligence
• Accountability
• Gender equality and nondiscrimination