On the Benefits of Collaboration between Decision Makers and Scientists: The Case of Lake Como

Abstract

Rational Water Resources Management requires effective collaboration between decision-makers involved in the operational management of water resources and scientists, who can allow them to operate in an informed manner through forecasting and decision-making tools. In this article, we show the potential benefits resulting from this collaboration through the description of the emblematic case of Lake Como. The article describes the real case of a collaborative experience between decision makers, who made an effort to highlight and clarify the real management problems to scientists, who in turn needed to understand all the facets of the decision-making process prior to formulating the problem in mathematical terms and incorporating the solution into a decision support system. The resulting tool, which makes extensive hidden use of probabilistic forecasts, stochastic optimization, and Bayesian decision techniques, resulted in a user-friendly environment. After six months of testing, the tool proved to be essential for decision-making and has been in use on a daily basis since 1997.