Assessing the water resources of Scotland: perspectives, progress and problems

Abstract This paper reviews historical progress in the assessment of rainfall, evaporation, runoff and groundwater resources in Scotland and, within the same water-balance framework, considers recent advances in quantifying the major hydrological fluxes, with particular reference to river flows. The contributions of hydrological models and digital cartography are considered against a background of changing information needs and the likelihood that the long term stability which has characterised water resource variability in the past may not continue in the future. The complementary roles of modelling and hydrometric monitoring networks are considered and the need for greater integration, and an increased strategic dimension to network design and evolution is discussed.