Hydraulic structures engineering: An evolving science in a changing world

Hydraulic structures are critical for water management. Yet many structures continue to be neglected, in poor condition, and inadequate in adapting to evolving societal challenges associated with shifting climatic events and population growth. In this context, hydraulic structures engineering should be moving from traditional design considerations towards sustainability, i.e. continuing to meet current and future social, environmental, and economic needs. This requires this community to embrace and help advance global and multidisciplinary perspectives. Therefore, this paper presents the authors’ point of view on current trends, concerns and needs related to hydraulic structures engineering. Furthermore, the authors propose a new, forward-looking framework for the consideration of the hydraulic structures community that is grounded on the evolution of inter-connected research tools and methodologies in addition to emphasizing and bolstering strong links between academia and industry. The evolution of this framework has naturally originated from the pervasive challenge of validating the design and operation of hydraulic structures in the field for frequent and extreme conditions. The authors suggest that future developments of hydraulic structures engineering require (1) continuous updating of complementary tools and methodologies following technological developments, (2) addressing the lack of detailed field observations, (3) increasing interactions of hydraulic specialists with other scientific disciplines and water experts, and (4) restoring a strong collaboration between academia and industry. It is anticipated that in this way the hydraulic structures community, and all of society, will make a new step towards more sustainable and resilient interactions with nature and between communities in water management.