Ecohydrological Landscape Management for Human Well-Being

This paper introduces a new perspective on water resources emphasizing the role of water vapor flows for human well-being. The connections between freshwater and ecosystem services in terrestrial environments are addressed, particularly the role of freshwater for the biota that sustains the flow of ecosystem services and the role of the biota that modifies freshwater flows. First, the water dependence of terrestrial ecosystem services and food production are analyzed. Secondly, two examples of unintentional, large-scale, water-mediated cascading effects related to ecosystem services that result from local, uncoordinated decisions in Australia and South Africa are discussed. These two countries are taking the lead in the management of freshwater flows and terrestrial ecosystem services. Issues including potential conflicts of interest and trade-offs between food (or timber) production and ecosystem services at the catchment scale are taken into account. A world-wide, intentional ecohydrological landscape approach to handle these issues is suggested. One important step towards a more integrated approach to freshwater is the development of flexible institutional structures.