Articles | Volume 30, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-6731-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-6731-2026
Opinion article
 | 
02 Nov 2026
Opinion article |  | 02 Nov 2026

HESS Opinions: Operationalizing sociohydrology from systems thinking to systems doing for sustainable and resilient water management

Fuqiang Tian, Murugesu Sivapalan, Sondoss Elsawah, Melissa Haeffner, Anthony Jakeman, Heidi Kreibich, Leyang Liu, Haoyang Lyu, Ana Mijic, Jiale Wang, Jing Wei, and Günter Blöschl

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Cited articles

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This opinion paper shows how sociohydrology can better support water management by moving from understanding systems to guiding action. Drawing on ten years of work in the Panta Rhei initiative, it offers a simple way to compare cases, trace how actions lead to intended and unintended outcomes, and improve monitoring, learning, fairness, and legitimacy in decision-making.
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