Citizen science and web-based modelling tools for managing freshwater
Introduction
Mountainsareoftenreferredtoas‘watertowers’astheyprovidefreshwatertopeopleinuplandanddownstreamareas1,2.RiversoriginatingfromtheHimalayascarryavastwealthofwater-relatedbenefits(alsodescribedasecosystemservices)thatdirectlyunderpinlocallivelihoodsandthewellbeingofsocietiesintheregion.
FreshwaterisaveryscarceresourceintheHimalayanuplands.Agriculturalpracticesdependontimelyrainandsnowfallintheuppermountains.Theresultingwateravailabilityinlocalstreamsiscrucialtomaintaininglocallivelihoods.Theregion’swatersupplyisalsohighlyvulnerabletonaturaldisastersandclimatechange3.
Inthefaceofthesewatersecuritychallenges,itisimportanttoensurewaterissuppliedtohouseholdsinsufficientquantityandquality,aswellasmaintainingagriculturalproductionand
safeguradinghabitatsandtheenvironment4.TheseprioritiesarebecomingevenmoreimportanttotheHimalayanregioninthecontextofunprecedentedlanduseandclimatechangeimpacts.
However,asignificantshortageofusefuldataandinformationaboutthesewatersystemshasseriouslyunderminedtheirsustainableuseinthelocalarea.Asaresult,changinghydrologicalcycleandclimaticpatternsmaybepoorlyreflectedinwaterandlandresourcesmanagementpractices.InahighlyuncertainandvulnerableenvironmentsuchastheHimalayas,involvingcitizensinmonitoringwaterresources,landusechangesandresourcemanagementpracticescancreatenewknowledgethatdirectlysupportslocaldecisionmaking.Theuseofmappingandmodellingtoolsatappropriatespatialandtemporalscales5isvitaltounderstandingthecurrentstateofwaterandlandresourcesaswellasthefuturethreatstheyface.Inaddition,vulnerabilityassessmentscanhelptargetactivitiestoimproveresilience.
GranthamInstituteBriefingnoteNo4March2017
DR BHOPAL PANDEYA AND DR WOUTER BUYTAERT
The headlines
• Involvinglocalcommunitiesinmonitoringwaterandlandresources–so-calledcitizenscience–cancreatenewdataandknowledge,improveconventionaldecisionmakingandoptimisewaterresourcebenefits.
• Theuseoflow-costhydrologicalsensorsinNepalallowedlocalstakeholderstogenerateusefuldataonfreshwaterresourcesinpartnershipwithscientists,andtoapplythisdatamoreeffectivelyinparticipatorydecisionmaking.
• Itisimportanttousetherightmappingandmodellingmethodsforecosystemservices(thebenefitspeopleobtainfromecosystems)sothatinformationonserviceproduction,distributionandconsumptionisexpressedataspatialscalethatisrelevanttodecisionmaking.Thesemethodsareevenmoreimportantinregionswherelimiteddataisavailable.
• Theintegrationofappropriatecitizensciencepracticesaswellasmappingandmodellingtoolsintowaterandlandresources-baseddecisionmakingcouldfacilitatesustainabledevelopmentactivities,particularlyintheHimalayanregion.
Citizen science and web-based mapping and modelling tools in decision making
Publicparticipationinenvironmentaldatacollectionhasalonghistory.However,recentadvancesinaffordabletechnologiessuchaslow-costmonitoringequipment6,theavailabilityofopen-sourcedatabasesandmodellingtools7,participatorymappingofresources8andgoodcommunicationnetworkshaveexpandedthepotentialtoengagecitizensintheseactivities9,10.Thereisalsountappedpotentialtobuildtransformativeresearchonthelinksbetweenhumanactivityandnaturalsystems11.Citizensciencecouldthereforebridgethecurrentscience-policyimpasseandensurewaterresourcesaremanagedmoreeffectively.
Inwaterresourcesmanagementpolicy,anumberofkeyquestionsareconstantlyraised,suchasdefiningfreshwaterresourcesservicesatappropriatespatialandtemporalscalesandtheinfluenceofeco-hydrologicalprocessesinwaterservicesproduction.Thesequestionsleadtoinquiriesaboutthetrendsandflowsofservicesproductionovertimeandspaceandhowhumaninterventionshaveaffectedthem.Toanswerthesequestions,adetailedvaluationofecosystemservicesincludingmappingandmodellingofservicesisessential.Thisincludestheapplicationofrelevanttechnologies,forexample,theuseoflow-costhydrologicalmonitoringsensorsincoordinationwithlocalstakeholdersandordinarycitizens.Thegoalofvaluationexercisesistoprovideinformationneededtosupportpolicyanddecisionmaking.Howeverthereisaprofoundgapofdataandknowledge,especiallyatalocalscaleandindata-scarcemountainousregions.Aninnovativeapproachofcitizen-centricdatagatheringactivitiesandknowledgeco-generationcanbeplacedattheheartofthewaterresourcesmanagementinthoseareas12(seefigure1).
Sincewaterresourcesbasedservicesarespatiallydistributed,theircurrentflowsandtrendscanbebetterdescribedbyusingappropriatemappingandmodellingtoolssuchastheWaterWorld7,13,andtheInVEST14models.Thesetoolsincludetimedimensionstointegratearangeofnaturalprocessesintotheirmodelsandcanbeusedatarangeofscales–fromlocaltobasinscales.Themajorityofmappingandmodellingtoolsinusenowareweb-basedandsomeincludefreedatasets(forexample,theSimterradatabaseisembeddedwithintheWaterWorldmodelandconsistsofarangeofhydro-climaticandsocio-ecologicaldata).Thesefeaturesmakeiteasierformappingandmodellingofwaterrelatedservicesrelevanttopolicyanddecisionmaking.
Mapsareusefulforprioritisationandproblemidentification,especiallyinrelationtosynergiesandtrade-offsamongdifferentecosystemservices,andbetweenecosystemservicesandbiodiversityprotection.Ingeneral,mappingandmodellingvisualisationsarethemostusefulwaytoillustratethevalueofwaterresourcesbasedservices,andtherebysupportdecisionandpolicymaking.
Remotely-senseddata,availablefromglobalandregionaldatarepositories,canbeusedtogetherwithcitizen-basedapproachestoimproveourunderstandingoftheecosystemservicesavailable.Remote-sensingdatacanalsosupporttheanalysisofuncertaintiesinrelationtolanduseandclimatechangescenarios.
Web-basedmappingandmodellingtoolsarebeginningtohaveagreaterimpactinwaterresourcesmanagement.Althoughsomeofthesetoolsareprovidedwithagreatdealofspatio-temporaldataforwaterandlandresourcesassessment,suchdatadoesnotalwaysaccuratelyreflecttherealresourcessituationontheground,especiallyforremoteandmountainousenvironments.Citizensciencebasedmonitoringofwaterresourcesmonitoringcan,however,createlocallyrelevantdata,andsupportmappingandmodellingoflocalecosystemservices.
Figure 1: Citizensciencecancontributetowardsansweringpolicymakers’questionsandsupportingwaterresourcesmanagement
Water resources based ecosystem servicesHow can water and land resources based services be defined and measured?What are the spatial and temporal scales of services production? How are these services produced and at what magnitude? How do major ecological and hydro-climatic processes influence their production?
Valuation of ecosystem servicesBiophysical valuation: Which approaches are suitable (including mapping and modelling tools) to value biophysical production of services? Socio-ecological valuation: How do social and ecological systems interact with hydrologic services to produce benefits to people? Monetary vs non-monetary valuation: What role can economic valuation play? Technological innovation: How can technology (including ICT applications) improve data and knowledge generation?
Policy and decision makingWho will benefit from the valuation process? Which ecosystem services are important to local communities? What is the institutional mechanism for adopting valuation results? What policy mechanisms are available to protect and promote resources benefits?
Trends and flows What is the trend of services production (spatial vs temporal relation), from sources to beneficiaries?How do human activities affect them? How does production of one service interact with production of others?
CitizenScience- based
data and knowledge
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2Briefingnote No4 March2017
Policy relevanceAlackofapplicabledataandknowledgehasseriouslyhinderedwaterresourcemanagementintheHimalayanregion.Policyanddecisionmakersrelyonsparseandpotentiallyinaccuratedataand‘ruleofthumb’baseddecisionmakingtotrytosupportthesustainableuseofwaterresources.Theintegrationofcitizenscienceandweb-basedmappingandmodellingtoolsdescribedabovecanbeenormouslyvaluableforpolicymakers.
Mountainregionsexperienceaparticularlyhigherdegreeofuncertaintyinrelationtotheirwaterresources.Thisuncertaintyisaresultofthecombinationofchanginghydrologicalcycleandclimaticpattern,naturalhazards,andhumandrivenlanduseandclimaticchanges.Web-basedmappingandmodellingtoolscanalsohelpwiththisuncertaintydimension.Byusingplausiblefuturescenarios,thesemodellingtoolscanexplainthepotentialchangeinwateravailabilityatalocalscale.
The Upper Kaligandaki Basin – a case study site in Nepal
Wehavetestedcitizensciencepracticesandweb-basedmappingandmodellingtoolsinatrans-HimalayanriverbasinsystemincentralNepal(seefigure2).LocatedinarainshadowoftheHimalayas,theKaligandakiBasinreceivesverylowprecipitation(lessthan250mmperyear),mainlyfromsnowfall.Theincreasinglyunpredictablewatersupplyinlocalstreamsismakingfarmingevenmorechallenging.Localpeopleareconcernedaboutthechangingsnowfallinuppermountainareasanditsimpactonwateravailabilityindownstreamareas.Suddenandunpredictedglacialmeltingcanalsocreatewater-inducedhazardssuchaslandslides,floodingandsedimentationintheseareas.
“�Our�farmlands�are�highly�productive�(...)�but�there�are�some�big�problems.�The�water�supply�is�becoming�more�disrupted,�soil�loss�is�extensive.�(...)�We�need�to�address�these�problems�immediately�so�we�can�improve��agricultural�production�and�increase�our�household�incomes.”�–�Local�community�member
Inadditiontonaturalcausesofwaterresourceuncertainty,landusechangehasasignificantimpactonecosystemservices.Thedevelopmentofroadnetworks,hydroelectricprojectsandtheexpansionofhumansettlementshavebeenthemaindriversoflandusechangeinrecentdecades.Socio-economicfactorssuchaschangesinlifestyleanddietpatternshavealsobeencritical.
Theregionhasseenchangesinlocaldemographics,includingrapidmigration,andanincreaseineco-tourismbusinesses.Allofthesechangesmayhavedetrimentalimpactsonwaterquality,landproductivityandnaturalbeauty.Therefore,adetailedunderstandingofwaterandlandresourcesisparamountinsustainingandimprovinglocallivelihoods.
Figure 3:Localparticipationinhydro-meteorologicalmonitoring
Ourexperimentsintestsitesintheregionhaveshownthatthecombinationofcitizen-basedwaterresourcesmonitoringandreal-timepubliclyavailabledataismakingarealimpactonwaterresourcesmanagement(seefigure3).Integratingthisnewapproachintolocaldecisionmakingcouldcontributetobettermanagementofwaterresourcesandhelpadaptagriculturalpracticestochangingwateravailabilityinthelongterm.
Usingappropriateweb-basedmappingandmodellingtools(WaterWorld),waterserviceshavebeenassessedatbasinandsub-basinscales(seefigure5).Theresultsshowavariationinhydrologicalcharacteristicswithinthebasin.Thespatialdetailsofrainfall,waterbalance,evapo-transpirationandfoginput(cloudwater)canprovideusefulinformationtolocalauthorities.Thereisahigherrateofevapo-transpirationintheuppercatchmentandsimilarlyahigherleveloffoginput(upto25%oftotalprecipitation)inlowerpartsofthebasin.Notably,thereismorewateravailableforhumanandcropusealongthesouthernpartsofthebasin.
Themodellingresultscouldalsoprovideusefulinformationonwaterresourcedistributionwithinasmallsub-catchment.Experimentsalsoshowedthattheseapproachescanbeequallyrobustfordatascarceregions,althoughitdependsonthespatialandtemporalresolutionoftheavailabledata.Certainly,locallygenerateddatacansignificantlyimprovethehydrologicaldatabaseformappingandmodellingofwaterresources.Figure 2: AltitudemapandlocationoftheUpperKaligandaki
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Lessons learned and opportunities for capacity building
Thereisanurgentneedforevidence-basedandlocallyrelevantwaterresourcemanagement,especiallyindatascarcemountainregions.
Withtherecentdevelopmentofuserfriendlyandaffordabletechnologiessuchaslow-costhydrologicalsensors,citizensciencepracticescannowbeusedinremoteanddata-scarceHimalayanmountainregions.Ourexperienceshowsthatthegreateravailabilityofdataandsimplifiedtoolswouldeventuallycascadedowntothelocalscale,ashasbeenthecasewithothertechnologies.Localstakeholderswouldbeabletousesuchtoolsindependentlyandintegratenewdataandknowledgeintotheirdecisionmakingpractices.
Acceleratingtheuseofcitizenscience,andmappingandmodellingtoolsrequiresenhancedcapabilitiesamongpolicymakersandpractitionerstoincorporatethesepractices.WeforeseepotentialopportunitiesincollaborationwiththeGovernmentofNepal’sDepartmentofHydrologyandMeteorology(DHM),andtheregionalofficesofWWFandPracticalActionthatcanhelpensurethesemethodsareappliedmorewidely,andinalastingmanner,atlocallevel.
A:Annualrainfall
D:Annualpercentageofrunoffgeneratedbysnowmelt
B:Annualactualevapotranspiration
E:Annualpercentageofrunoffgeneratedbyfoginput
C:Annualwaterbalance
F:Humanfootprintonwaterquality(percentagecontamination)
Figure 5: HydrologicalservicesgeneratedbytheUpperKaligandakiBasin13
Figure 4: WaterandcroplandmanagementpracticesintheUpperKaligandakiBasin–a)agriculturallandb)irrigationpondc)applefarmingd)communitydiscussion.
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4Citizenscienceandweb-basedmodellingtoolsformanagingfreshwater Briefingnote No4 March2017
References
1. ViviroliD.,DürrH.H.,MesserliB.,MeybeckM.andWeingartnerR.(2007)‘Mountainsoftheworld,watertowersforhumanity:Typology,mapping,andglobalsignificance’,WaterResourcesResearch,43(7),W07447
2. MesserliB.,ViviroliD.andWeingartnerR.(2004)‘Mountainsoftheworld:vulnerablewatertowersforthe21stCentury’,Ambio,29-34
3. Xu,J.,Grumbine,R.E.,Shrestha,A.,Eriksson,M.,Yang,X.,Wang,Y.U.N.andWilkes,A.(2009)‘ThemeltingHimalayas:cascadingeffectsofclimatechangeonwater,biodiversity,andlivelihoods’,ConservationBiology,23(3),520-530
4. Grey,D.andSadoff,C.W.(2007)Sinkorswim?Watersecurityforgrowthanddevelopment,WaterPolicy,9(6),545-571
5. Crossman,N.D.,Burkhard,B.,Nedkov,S.,Willemen,L.,Petz,K.,Palomo,I.,Drakou,E.G.,Martín-Lopez,B.,McPhearson,T.,Boyanova,K.,Alkemade,R.,Egoh,B.,Dunbar,M.B.andMaes,J.(2013)‘Ablueprintformappingandmodellingecosystemservices’,EcosystemServices,4:4-14
6. Buytaert,W.,Baez,S.,Bustamante,M.andDewulf,A.,(2012)Web-basedenvironmentalsimulation:bridgingthegapbetweenscientificmodelinganddecision-making,Environmentalscience&technology,46(4),pp.1971-1976.
7. Mulligan,M.(2013)‘WaterWorld:aself-parameterising,physically-basedmodelforapplicationindata-poorbutproblem-richenvironmentsglobally’,HydrologyResearch,44(5),748-769,doi:10.2166/nh.2012.217
8. Jankowski,P.,(2009)Towardsparticipatorygeographicinformationsystemsforcommunity-basedenvironmentaldecisionmaking,JournalofEnvt.Management,90(6),1966-1971
9. BuytaertW.,ZulkafliZ.,GraingerS.,AcostaL.,BastiaensenJ.,BhusalJ.,ChanieT.,Clark,J.,DeBièvreB.,DewulfA.,Hannah,D.M.,HergartenC.,IsaevaA.,KarpouzoglouT.,PandeyaB.,PaudelD.,SharmaK.,SteenhuisT.,TilahunS.,VanHeckenG.,ZhumanovaM.(2014)‘Citizenscienceforhydrologyandwaterresources:opportunitiesforknowledgegenerationandsustainableecosystemservicemanagement’FrontiersinEarthScience,SectionHydrosphere,pp.1-21
10. Dickinson,J.L.,Shirk,J.,Bonter,D.,Bonney,R.,Crain,R.L.,Martin,J.,Phillips,T.andPurcell,K.,(2012)Thecurrentstateofcitizenscienceasatoolforecologicalresearchandpublicengagement.FrontiersinEcologyandtheEnvironment,10(6),pp.291-297.
11. Crain,R.,Cooper,C.andDickenson,J.L.(2014)Citizenscience:atoolforintegratingstudiesofhumanandnaturalsystems,Annu.Rev.Environ.Resour.,39:641-65
12. PandeyaB.,BuytaertW.,ZulkafliZ.,KarpouzoglouT.,MaoF.andHannahD.M.(2016)‘Acomparativeanalysisofecosystemservicesvaluationapproachesforapplicationatthelocalscaleandindatascarceregions’EcosystemServices,(doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.10.015)
13. WaterWorldv2,2016,WaterWorldVersion2Modules,King’sCollegeLondon,UK
14. Sharp,R.,Tallis,H.T.,Ricketts,T.,Guerry,A.D.etal.,2016,InVESTversion3.3.1,User’sGuide,TheNaturalCapitalProject,StanfordUniversity,UniversityofMinnesota,TheNatureConservancy,andWorldWildlifeFund
Acknowledgements
ThisstudyisfundedbytheUKEconomicandSocialResearchCouncil–ImpactAccelerationAccount(grantnumber:ES/M500562.1),ESPA’sFellowshipGrant(FELL-2014-105)andMountain-EVOProject(NE-K010239-1).WealsothankUNESCO-IHP,SocietyofHydrologistsandMeteorologists(SOHAM)andDepartmentofHydrologyandMeteorology(DHM)fortheirvaluableinputsinthepaper.WearealsogratefultoDrMarkMulliganofKing’sCollegeLondonforprovidingaccesstotheWaterWorldhydrologicalmodelandSimTerradatabase.
About the authors
Dr Bhopal Pandeya
BhopalPandeyaisaPostdoctoralResearchFellowattheGranthamInstitute–ClimateChangeandtheEnvironment.Hehasmorethantenyearsofresearchexperienceatthescience-policyinterfaceandhasexpertiseinnaturalcapitalandecosystemservices(especiallyfreshwaterandlandresourcesmanagement),citizenscience,policysupportsystems,climatechangeandsustainabledevelopmentagenda.HegraduatedwithanMPhildegreeinEnvironment,SocietyandDevelopmentfromCambridgeUniversityandcompletedhisPhDinunderstandingthehydrologicalecosystemservicesproducedbytheIndo-GangeticBasinsandselectedmountaincatchmentsintheHimalayasatKing’sCollegeLondon.HisresearchactivitiesarefundedbytheUKResearchCouncilsandDFID,andmainlyfocusedintheHimalayasandtheSouthAsianregion.Email:[email protected]
Dr Wouter Buytaert
DrBuytaertisaSeniorLecturerinwaterresourcesandenvironmentalchangeintheDepartmentofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineeringatImperialCollegeLondon.Hehasmorethan15yearsofexperienceinhydrologyandwaterresourcesmanagementindifferentpartsoftheworldincludingtheTropicalAndes,theHimalayas,EastAfricaandCentralAsia.Heisanexpertontheimpactoflandusechangesandclimatechangeonhydrologicalprocessesandwatersupply,butalsoworksonthedevelopmentofenvironmentalmodels,prediction,decisionsupportandsustainabledevelopment.Email:[email protected]
GranthamInstitute ImperialCollegeLondon
Briefingnote No4 March2017Citizenscienceandweb-basedmodellingtoolsformanagingfreshwater
Citizenscienceandweb-basedmodellingtoolsformanagingfreshwater
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Thiscommitmenttotheapplicationofresearchforthebenefitofallcontinuestoday,withcurrentfocusesincludinginterdisciplinarycollaborationstoimprovehealthintheUKandglobally,tackleclimatechangeanddevelopcleanandsustainablesourcesofenergy.
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