Hydromorphology

Abstract

Introduction Analogous to the field of geomorphology (a subfield of geology that deals with the structure and evolution of the surface of the earth), the new field of hydromorphology (a subfield of hydrology), deals with the structure, evolution, and dynamic morphology of hydrologic systems over time (e.g., years, decades, and centuries). The need for this new subfield of hydrology stems from the enor-mous societal challenges and demands resulting from a growing human population combined with the pervasive human impacts on environmental and water resource systems. In many regions, the hydrologic cycle has been transformed by human activities that impact water use, land use, and climate at nearly all spatial and temporal scales. Human influences tend to interact and manifest themselves in complex ways, so that it is now difficult to find a watershed subject only to natural or unimpacted hydrologic condi-tions. Nearly every hydrologic method upon which our profession is based will need to be adapted to account for the increased uncertainty and nonstationarity that have become the central chal-lenge of our profession. The science of hydromorphology involves the development of a conceptual basis for improving our under-standing of the impact of humans on the hydrosphere. Hydromor-phologic engineering involves the development of methods to detect, attribute, design, manage, and predict water resources in a hydrosphere, which is subject to multiple and interacting sources of uncertainty and nonstationarity.