Socio-Hydrological Systems Analysis

Catalog description

Water resource system reliability depends on how hydrological, infrastructure and institutional systems collectively respond to change. Knowledge of feedback mechanisms and tools to explore their implications can improve design, planning and policy making. Socio-hydrology is an emerging area of research that synthesizes methods and theories from multiple fields to assess how hydrological systems, infrastructure and institutions interact. Focuses on hypotheses, frameworks and methods of analysis for understanding and problem solving in socio-hydrological systems. Uses case studies to connect these concepts to current water resources policy and infrastructure challenges. Also provides students with an opportunity for guided analysis of a system related to their interest or thesis work and preparation to be strong contributors to interdisciplinary projects.