Editors’ Vox is a blog from AGU’s Publications Department.
A scrutiny of the history and evolution of hydrology – broadly defined as the study of water – reveals a dichotomy. This dichotomy has been discussed as a puzzle (question-driven) or a problem (solution-driven) in characterizing the theory and practice of hydrology. Such a binary characterization has created tension in the broader water community. To bridge the pitfalls of such dichotomous representations, we can discuss ‘water as an object’ and ‘water as a resource or risk’.
Water as an object is autonomous. It can be studied with the highest level of rigor applicable to natural and engineering science methods from molecular to global scales. As an object, water in its various manifestations and scales can be studied with well-posed hypotheses, careful observations, data, and experiments to arrive at reproducible and replicable results that are place or context-independent. Water as a resource or a source of hazard and risk (e.g., associated with floods, droughts, or as a pollutant carrier), on the other hand, is not autonomous. With this focus, water connects socio-economic, cultural, and political factors.
Science alone will not solve major water problems of our time; nor will policy and practice operating in a vacuum solve these problems without inputs from science.
Understanding and managing water as a key societal resource or a risk depends heavily on the specific context in which the analysis is applied. Overall, there is awareness that science alone will not solve major water problems of our time; nor will policy and practice operating in a vacuum solve these problems without inputs from science.
Translational research (TR) has been hailed as a promising pursuit to make scientific discoveries useful for promoting societal good. In its ideal form, translational research is the answer to achieving integrative understanding and action amid fragmentation in the theory-practice-policy-politics chain. The fundamental principle of bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and practical application promoted by TR can be applied to various domains to drive innovation, inform decision-making, and create positive societal impact. Through conversations with academics, practitioners, decision-makers and users, there has emerged a broad level of water science community support for including TR in water resources research publications. Based on this, we have launched a continuing special collection in Water Resources Research (WRR) for “Translational Water Research: Looking for Theory-Practice Synthesis for Actionable Outcomes”.
This special collection aims to facilitate the development of a community within hydrology and water science that seeks to provide actionable knowledge for societal benefit.
This special collection aims to facilitate the development of a community within hydrology and water science that seeks to provide actionable knowledge for societal benefit across disciplines, scales and contexts, with focus on water as a key societal resource or as a risk. An Editorial discusses in more detail what the multi-faceted nature of TR may include in the context of water resources research, and why it is important to encourage TR papers in this journal.
WRR publishes research papers on hydrology, water resources, and the social sciences of water that provide a broad understanding of the role of water in Earth’s system. The TR papers are expected to focus on emphasizing and documenting novel TR approaches to practical applications regarding water as a key societal resource or a risk. The TR papers also need to provide evidence for why and what aspects of their findings matter, and how and why they matter beyond a single place or context of application. The TR paper type can be any of the following: research articles, commentaries, methods or data articles, or reviews, with content and length requirements as described in the Author Resources for AGU Publications. To submit your manuscript, use the submission site for Water Resources Research, and select the collection’s title from the drop down menu in the Special Collection field of the submission form.
—Georgia Destouni (georgia.destouni@natgeo.su.se, 
0000-0001-9408-4425) Stockholm University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden; Shafiqul Islam (0000-0001-7493-5245), Tufts University, United States; Tissa H. Illangasekare (0000-0003-4975-560X), Colorado School of Mines, United States; and John Selker (0000-0001-9751-6094), Oregon State University, United States