Environmental Flow - Evolution of Environmental Flow Concepts and Recognition

Evolution of Environmental Flow Concepts and Recognition

From the turn of the 20th century through the 1960s, water management in developed nations focused largely on maximizing flood protection, water supplies, and hydropower generation. During the 1970s, the ecological and economic effects of these projects prompted scientists to seek ways to modify dam operations to maintain certain fish species. The initial focus was on determining the minimum flow necessary to preserve an individual species, such as trout, in a river. Environmental flows evolved from this concept of "minimum flows" and, later, "instream flows," which emphasized the need to keep water within river channels.

By the 1990s, scientists came to realize that the biological and social systems supported by rivers are too complicated to be summarized by a single minimum flow requirement. Since the 1990s, restoring and maintaining more comprehensive environmental flows has gained increasing support, as has the capability of scientists and engineers to define these flows to maintain the full spectrum of riverine species, processes and services. Furthermore, implementation has evolved from dam reoperation to an integration of all aspects of water management, including groundwater and surface water diversions and return flows, as well as land use and storm water management. The science to support regional-scale environmental flow determination and management has likewise advanced.

In a global survey of water specialists undertaken in 2003 to gauge perceptions of environmental flow, 88% of the 272 respondents agreed that the concept is essential for sustainably managing water resources and meeting the long-term needs of people. In 2007, the Brisbane Declaration on Environmental Flows was endorsed by more than 750 practitioners from more than 50 countries. The declaration announced an official pledge to work together to protect and restore the world's rivers and lakes. By 2010, many countries throughout the world had adopted environmental flow policies, although their implementation remains a challenge.