Integrated hydrologic science and environmental engineering observatory: the cleaner vision for the WATERS network

Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Hydroscience and Engineering, Philadelphia, PA, September 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1860/732Forecasting the quantity and quality of our nation’s waters while assuring an adequate water supply are pressing concerns for the future. Unprecedented population growth in coastal areas, changing land use and development patterns, and climate change threaten the future of our water resources. Research is needed to ensure that water is available for human use without forfeiting the integrity of our nation’s aquatic ecosystems. For example, multiple stressors such as overfishing, runoff of nutrients from agricultural fields and confined animal feeding lots, and pathogens in urban stormwater can often overwhelm a single water body. Mitigating just one of these problems often depends on understanding how it relates to others and how stressors can vary in temporal and spatial scales. Researchers are now in a position to address questions about multiscale, spatiotemporally distributed hydrologic and environmental phenomena through the use of remote and embedded networked sensing technologies. Recognizing this potential, NSF awarded $2 million to a coalition of 12 institutions in July 2005 to establish the CLEANER Project Office (Collaborative Large-Scale Engineering Analysis Network for Environmental Research; http://cleaner.ncsa.uiuc.edu). Starting in August 2005 the project office, in coordination with CUAHSI (Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc.; http://www.cuahsi.org), began working together to develop a WATer and Environmental Research Systems Network (WATERS Network), which is envisioned to be a collaborative scientific exploration and engineering analysis network, using high performance tools and infrastructure, that will transform our understanding of the Earth’s water and related biogeochemical cycles across multiple spatial and temporal scales to enable forecasting and management of critical water processes affected by human activities. In January 2007, the CLEANER Project Office officially became the WATERS Project Office to reflect this joint collaboration