The science-policy-stakeholder interface in water pollution assessment

Participatory watershed modelling: A tool for integration During the last few decades, scientific research has increasingly developed modelling tools to handle problems related to water quantity and quality. Concerning water pollution, modelling approaches have been developed, ranging from simple statistical regressions to complex models, which describe the physical processes both at different levels of detail, and temporal and spatial resolution. Watershed models have been developed, first, to deepen the understanding of water cycle and pollution dynamics, as they provide a simplified conceptualization of the processes involved; and, second, as they have been increasingly used to evaluate the impacts of management options on water quality, mitigation measures and possible global changes. In addition, models have been employed for planning monitoring network and to spatially target plans for intervention. So far modelling has been exclusively used by the scientific and practitioner communities. However, there is a shift to a combined use of models by scientists, practitioners and stakeholders.