Estuarine ecohydrology

Abstract

Throughout the world, estuaries and coastal waters have experienced environmental degradation. Present proposed remedial measures based on engineering and technological fix have been unable to restore the ecological processes of a healthy, robust estuary and, as such, will not reinstate the full beneficial functions of the estuary ecosystem. The successful management of estuaries and coastal waters requires ecological engineering, that is, an ecohydrology-based, basin-wide, approach. Ecohydrology is the science that relates hydrological processes to the biological dynamics of ecosystems at various spatial and temporal scales. The ecohydrology concept was developed in the framework of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP). It hypothesized and empirically confirmed in a number of demonstration sites that the ecological services of rivers and lakes can be restored by using hydrology to regulate biota dynamics and vice versa. The synergic integration at the basin scale of various ecohydrological measures based on ecological needs provides the scientific background for twinning ecosystem variables in order to enhance the carrying capacity and the resilience of ecosystems while promoting positive socioeconomic feedbacks.