Sustainable resource management: water practice issues

Abstract

The themed issue on “Sustainable resource management: water practice issues” includes a wide variety of original contributions in environmental hydrology, hydrogeology, thermal waters, mining hydrogeology, urban groundwater, hydrologic engineering, and water-related research and practice. This contribution summarises the scope of a selection of the studies presented mainly during the sessions on “general research on water” from the 1st and 2nd International Congress on Water Healing Spa and Life Quality—“I and II Symposium Internacional de Termalismo y Calidad de Vida” (STCV)—, that took place in Ourense (Galicia, Spain) in 2015 and 2017. The special issue presents key studies and model regions in hydrology, groundwater and thermal water processes, exploration, abstraction, protection, and sustainable management of the water resources. The articles also contribute to the overall knowledge of hydrological systems under a climate variability framework and societal pressures. In addition, the importance of an ethos of long-term environmental sustainability, socio- and eco-responsibility, and ethics in water resource management is highlighted.