Panta Rhei: decade of progress in research on change in hydrology and society

To better understand the increasing human impact on the water cycle and the feedbacks between hydrology and society, the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) organised the scientific decade “Panta Rhei—Everything Flows: Change in hydrology and society” (2013-2022). Significant scientific advances have been achieved, for instance, a key finding is the need to use integrated approaches to assess the co-evolution of human-water systems in order to avoid unintended consequences of human interventions over long periods of time. In this respect, substantial progress has been made in leveraging new data sources on socio-economic aspects and human behaviour, e.g., through text mining of social media posts. Much has been learned about detecting hydrological changes and attributing them to their drivers, e.g., quantifying climate effects on floods. Also, much headway has been made in understanding and modelling coupled socio-hydrological systems through combining methods from the social and natural sciences; for example, feedbacks leading to phenomena such as the levee effect can be simulated by system dynamics models. In terms of supporting adaptive water management, progress has been made, e.g., in developing participatory governance approaches, although there is still much to be done. We recommend that the community takes a broader view of the hydrologic sciences, through broadening the understanding, the discipline and training activities, while at the same time pursuing synthesis by focusing on key themes, developing innovative approaches and finding sustainable solutions to the water problems of the world.