Introduction

Who Are We Measuring and Modeling for? Supporting Multi-Level Decision Making in Real-World Watershed Management Programs

We interviewed a wide range of participants in water management programs in Brazil and found five key areas where modeling and monitoring can support these programs: (1) inspire action and support, (2) inform investment decisions, (3) engage with potential participants, (4) prioritize location and types of activities at regional to national scales, and (5) evaluate program success.

Who Are We Measuring and Modeling for? Supporting Multi-Level Decision Making in Real-World Watershed Management Programs

Overlapping decision contexts occurring across water producer projects (WPPs), including the type of decision and the primary actors involved in the decisions (see icon legend in Figure 2).
Overlapping decision contexts occurring across water producer projects (WPPs), including the type of decision and the primary actors involved in the decisions.

Roles of water producer project institutions and stakeholders and the most common levels at which they work.
Roles of water producer project institutions and stakeholders and the most common levels at which they work.

SPONSOR:
Belmont Forum

PROJECT PERIOD:
2016 – 2019

COLLABORATORS:
Leah Bremer, Perrine Hamel, Alex Ponette-Gonzalez, Patricia Pompeu, Sandra Saad, and Kate Brauman

ABSTRACT:
Beneficial active land management is becoming more common worldwide, which includes sustaining and enhancing clean and ample water supplies. To achieve this, watershed management programs need the support of hydrologic data and models. Promising efforts by the hydrologic community often go unused when the information program managers’ needs does not match the modeling efforts. We interviewed a wide range of participants in water management programs in Brazil and found five key areas where modeling and monitoring can support these programs: (1) inspire action and support, (2) inform investment decisions, (3) engage with potential participants, (4) prioritize location and types of activities at regional to national scales, and (5) evaluate program success. Our study emphasizes the importance of focusing on who will use the modeling results and tailoring the efforts to meet these needs. When grounded in real‐world contexts, hydrologic monitoring and modeling can play a small but critical role in supporting sustainable watershed management.

Project Publications:

Bremer, L.L., P. Hamel, A.G. Ponette-González, P.V. Pompeu, S.I. Saad, and K.A. Brauman. 2020. Who are we measuring and modeling for? Supporting multilevel decision-making in watershed management Water Resour. Res. 56(1). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026011

Hamel, P., L.L. Bremer, A.G. Ponette-González, E. Acosta, J.R.B. Fisher, B. Steele, Cavassani A.T., C. Klemz, E. Blainski, and K.A. Brauman. 2020 The value of hydrologic information for watershed management programs: The case of Camboriú, Brazil. Sci. Total Environ. 75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135871

Bremer, L.L., and K.A. Brauman. 2020. “Who are we measuring and modeling for? Supporting real-world watershed management.” UHERO Blog, March 11, 2020, https://uhero.hawaii.edu/who-are-we-measuring-and-modeling-for-supporting-real-world-watershed-management/ (in press at Global Water Forum)

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR