Integrating Engineering into Hydrology

摘要

Five years ago I had the pleasure of being invited to serve as a member of the "Hydrology 2020 Working Group" — a committee assembled by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences that was tasked with envisioning what the field of hydrology would, or could look like in the year 2020. The Group members quickly realized that meeting our objective would require us to decide where the field of hydrology currently stood, where we wished it to go, and if possible, how to get there. Reviewing a field's state-of-the-art is easy. Gazing into a virtual crystal ball with 11 other individuals from all over the world with very diverse backgrounds is not. The group consisted primarily of hydrologists with science backgrounds and I was one of only two licensed professional engineers in the Group. Not surprisingly, the concept of "engineering" started cropping up in conversations and ranged from being viewed as a plebeian concomitant of hydrological pursuits to an essential and defining philosophy that would ensure clean and safe water for people worldwide.