Observations, monitoring and data management

Water resources and their properties highly vary in both space and time and their observations have high uncertainties. The characterization of this variability requires long-term spatially distributed observations, that allow the recognition of spatio-temporal patterns and changes. Unlike other engineering activities that typically can be satisfied with a one-time surveying of the designated area prior to the development planning, water management requires continuous monitoring records capturing the historical variability of the hydrological conditions. The need for a sustained data collection often without the immediate use, places water resources management in a difficult position. The justification of operating monitoring networks in the absence of pressing objectives, particularly at long-time scales, is often challenging, but water managers need to convince policy makers that water management decisions require the knowledge of how the hydrological processes varied over time. Without sufficiently long and up-to-date data series, adequate water management planning, ecosystem monitoring, and early warning systems are severely limited.