The Likely Status of Inland Salt Lake Ecosystems in 2050: Reminiscing and Revisiting Bill Williams

Abstract

The classical management approach of inland saline lake ecosystems focused on ecological issues, including conserving their biological communities and physical-chemical characteristics. However, the peculiarity of saline lake ecosystems is that they are in a limited watershed, in many cases a closed watershed. So, its management should be planned and performed at watershed scale, which has been frequently neglected. W.D. (Bill) Williams was one of the key persons rising awareness for conservation and promoting their rationale management based on scientific research results. This work shows, through a literature review, that classical management approaches included returning impacted salt lakes to initial conditions through, mostly, eliminating the processes impacting them. At the turn of the century, a wider approach emerged. In addition to focusing on watershed scale management, the integration of social, economic, and environmental issues was incorporated into management proposals by different authors. Lake Gallocanta case study is described and discussed as a paradigm of inland salt lake management. The status of inland salt lakes will improve in the future if land cover reparcelling, and rationale uses of water in the watershed are incorporated, considering adaptive practices to climate change impacts and a balanced provision of ecosystem services.