Water systems and disruptions: the ‘old abnormal’?

ABSTRACT

The dual nature of water – giver of life and massive disruptor – is not new. There is rarely one equilibrium state for a water system; there are multiple different states natural water systems cycle through. And human-induced changes to water systems, including through the use of technologies to modify and exploit them, and through climate change, further accentuate the opportunities for extreme disruptions to society. Human history is dotted with examples of challenges in managing water systems and disruptions. This year, parts of Australasia have seen widespread drought, massive fires, smoke pollution, ecological destruction, hail storms, cyclones and now a pandemic, COVID-19, protection from which requires adequate safe water and space for hygiene and limiting transmission. Our notions of time, space and connection to others and our environment, including water, have again come into focus as we search for a new equilibrium after this wave of disruptions – a ‘new normal’. But is this just a very human desire for stability amid the seeming chaos? Instead, do we instead need to get better at managing more appropriately through the ‘old abnormal’: the continuous variability, change and increasingly extreme events due in part to human modification and societal expansion across the planet?

This editorial paper provides a reflection on the moment we have found ourselves in at the beginning of 2020. It draws together insights from a range of water science and management challenges presented in the papers of this issue, in order to chart some positive ways for more appropriately navigating water systems and their future disruptions.

KEYWORDS:

• Bushfires
• floods
• COVID-19
• water management
• extreme events
• governance
• planning

Acknowledgments

This issue and the passage of some of the current papers submitted to the Australasian Journal of Water Resources have been delayed due to the impacts of the extreme events highlighted in the article on many of our editors and reviewers. Many of us were impacted by multiple events and have been juggling multiple responsibilities, including home-schooling and work while trying to support those around us who are struggling with multiple challenging situations and have not been so fortunate. Our thoughts go out to those across Australasia and the globe who are still severely impacted by one or more crises.

Thank you to my parents who provided our family and extended family with refuge in Adelaide over 6 weeks of summer when Canberra was largely inhabitable.

A/Prof Trevor Daniell has served as Co-Editor of the Australasian Journal of Water Resources for the past 5 years and has been a great source of support and inspiration for managing the complex journal transition from Engineers Australia Media to Taylor and Francis, and expanding the journal into the regional multi-disciplinary journal that it is today. I am pleased that in his retirement he will still remain on the journal’s editorial board as an Associate Editor.

Many thanks to Ellen O’Brien for conversations related to, and editing of, this manuscript. Many group and individual discussions have provided insights for elements of the content, including with colleagues and friends from the Initiatives of the Future of Great Rivers, the Peter Cullen Water and Environment Trust, the National Committee on Water Engineering and its Symposia, the International River Symposia, the ANU Institute for Water Futures and the 3A Institute.