“Borders” as a metaphor in implementing large-scale, holistic water sustainability research

Abstract

Large-scale holistic water sustainability research is fraught with methodological challenges both in the research enterprise itself and the application of results on the ground (Aeschbach-Hertig and Gleeson 2012; Bierkins and Wada 2019; Hargrove et al. 2013; Megdal et al. 2016). Scientific approaches to realize sustainable water futures in complex systems, such as those described recently by Elias et al. (2023) and Talchabhadel et al. (2021), require integrated science combined with holistic, collaborative management by stakeholders to achieve desirable, meaningful results. While integrated science can identify possible and/or probable outcomes for water futures, it is stakeholder-driven decision-making and implementation that will determine and realize preferred outcomes for sustainability. Researchers’ knowledge alone, no matter how good, is not likely to alter stakeholder actions or probable outcomes. It will be stakeholder preferences and choices based on a myriad of factors—not just science-based information—that will determine the actual outcomes. The seemingly intractable “wicked problems” relating to water sustainability seem to persist in the face of new information and advancing science produced by research. Many of the challenges that arise in wicked problems cut across traditional boundaries (both physical and figurative), including disciplinary, biophysical, sectoral, social, and jurisdictional ones. We propose that actively identifying these boundaries and consciously developing strategies for bridging them is essential for meaningful results from integrated research and desirable real-world progress in water sustainability. During a six-year project focused on the future of water in a region of the US/Mexico border that is characterized by increasing water scarcity as supplies dwindle and demands …