Traditional Water Management Systems as Living Cultural Heritage in a Changing World

Dear Colleagues,

Water management systems enable the collection, storage and distribution of rainfall and runoff for agricultural and domestic use in water-scarce regions. Numerous techniques have been established in recent years and have been continuously adapted to (changing) particular natural settings and cultural conditions. Hence, these water management systems are deeply inscribed into the landscape and into the societies that utilize them. Over centuries, regionally specific governance structures have developed, including legal frameworks and particular rituals for these systems’ use and maintenance. Today, the use of such water management systems is often sustained by a broad local knowledge base. Consequently, these systems represent a substantial part of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Traditional water harvesting, storage and distribution systems are endangered, with modern solutions (e.g., groundwater pumping) replacing traditional techniques and historic systems falling into disrepair. In urban areas, they are often intentionally destroyed to make room for construction projects. Rural–urban migration affects such systems since labor for maintenance work becomes scarce and the knowledge to operate and maintain these systems is gradually lost. Furthermore, local water management systems are designed for specific environmental conditions, and might be affected by climate change when system thresholds are exceeded.

Nevertheless, we believe that the importance of traditional water management for sustainable development purposes remains largely unexplored. It is our strong conviction that the preservation of such systems and their integration into modern needs has great potential for future sustainable development.

This Special Issue calls for contributions that highlight the value of endangered heritage with centuries-old development in relation to the following (non-exclusive) list of topics: (i) the transformation of natural and cultural landscapes in line with the introduction of water harvesting and management systems; (ii) quantitative approaches evaluating the efficiency of such systems; (iii) interdisciplinary research considering social and socio-economic aspects of water harvesting and water management systems; (iv) trajectories of change for future climate and land use scenarios; and (v) traditional knowledge related to these systems.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Wiebke Bebermeier
Prof. Dr. Arash Malekian
Dr. Nuwan Abeywardana
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.