Featured collection introduction: Water resources planning and management under changing conditions—Experience of Illinois

The ISWS, along with the Illinois Natural History Survey (est. 1861) and Illinois State Geological Survey (est. 1905), were transferred out of the University of Illinois in 1917 to be administered by the Illinois Department of Registration and Education, eventually being transferred to the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources and then to a new Illinois Department of Natural Resources. In 2008, the Scientific Surveys came home to where it all started, the University of Illinois, under the umbrella of the Prairie Research Institute with the addition of the Illinois Sustainability and Technology Center and Illinois State Archeological Survey. Together, the Prairie Research Institute has over 800 scientists, technicians, post-docs, research affiliates, visiting scholars, students, and administrative support staff, conducting transformative science that benefits the people, economy, and environment of Illinois, the nation, and the world. From their inception, the Scientific Surveys have always been located on the University of Illinois campus and continues to capitalize on the mutual benefits of collaboration with faculty and staff.

The papers presented in this special issue marking the 125th anniversary founding of the ISWS are but a representation of the current contributions and research being conducted by ISWS scientists and colleagues, aiming to demonstrate what Illinois experiences in water resources planning and management under changing conditions, especially changing climate. They build on water supply planning legacy by incorporating future demands and climate uncertainties in Illinois, including the major updating of Illinois precipitation frequency standards. The theme of understanding uncertainties and bias continues in evaluating groundwater static head measurements to understand water-level variability. Of course, projecting climate change impacts is paramount to many water resource issues and authors discuss which climate ensemble approaches produce less uncertain climate model outputs. Nutrient losses in US agricultural lands are an issue not only for loss of crop production but downstream impacts. Winter cover crops have much promise for reducing nitrate, phosphorus, and sediment loads. Authors present possible detrimental impacts on storage volumes for downstream reservoirs in drought years. An Illinois River watershed analysis presents evidence that spatial and temporal shift in phosphorus loading affects recent increases in phosphorus despite point and nonpoint source efforts. The ISWS has long-term datasets which contributed to improved model calibration to capture chloride accumulation in shallow aquifers. Reservoirs serve populations and industry so understanding outflows from them is important for water resource planning and management. Comparing performance of three machine learning models shows promise for simulating reservoir outflow. Finally, colleagues in Illinois and China test a theoretical framework to better understand bivariate return periods of hydrological events, which is important for design criteria of hydraulic structures.

The ISWS continues to evolve and adjust research needs, as demonstrated by the first 125 years, and look forward to providing science-based information to societies in the next 125 years.

For further reading on ISWS history, the following publications are recommended: