Wetlands Ecology and Management 12: 235–276, 2004. 235 # 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. Ecohydrology as a new tool for sustainable management of estuaries and coastal waters E. Wolanski1,*, L.A. Boorman2, L. Chı´charo3, E. Langlois-Saliou4, R. Lara5, A.J. Plater6, R.J. Uncles7 and M. Zalewski8 1Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB No. 3, Townsville MC, Q. 4810, Australia; 2LAB Coastal, The Maylands, Holywell, St. Ives, Cambs. PE27 4TQ, UK; 3Universidade do Algarve, CCMAR, Campus de Gambelas, Faculdade do Mare do Ambiente, Portugal; 4Laboratoire d’Ecologie, UPRES-EA 1293, Groupe de Recherche ECODIV ‘‘Biodiversite´ et Fonctionnement des Ecosysteemes’’, Universite´ de Rouen, 76821 Mont Saint Aignan, France; 5Zentrum fuur€ Marine Tropeno¨kologie, Fahrenheitstrasse 6, 28359 Bremen, Germany; 6Department of Geography, University of Liverpool, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool, L69 7ZT, UK; 7Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, UK; 8Department of Applied Ecology, University of Lodz, ul. Banacha 12/16, 902-237 Lodz, Poland; *Author for correspondence (e-mail:
[email protected]) Received 30 June 2003; accepted in revised form 10 December 2003 Key words: Ecohydrology, Ecology, Environmental degradation, Estuary, Hydrology, Management, Sustainable development Abstract Throughout the world, estuaries and coastal waters have experienced degradation. Present proposed remedial measures based on engineering and technological fix are not likely to restore the ecological processes of a healthy, robust estuary and, as such, will not reinstate the full beneficial functions of the estuary ecosystem. The successful management of estuaries and coastal waters requires an ecohydrology- based, basin-wide approach. This necessitates changing present practices by official institutions based on municipalities or counties as an administrative unit, or the narrowly focused approaches of managers of specific activities (e.g., farming and fisheries, water resources, urban and economic developments, wetlands management and nature conservationists).