Intensively managed landscapes (IMLs), such as the Midwestern US, are characterized by extensive modification of the land for agriculture and urban use. These include alteration of natural vegetation, modification of rivers for navigation, increased loading of fertilizers and chemicals in water bodies, decline of ground water levels, etc. They induce significant modification of the water cycle and as a result all the systems that are linked such as climate, biogeochemistry, and ecology. The adverse effects of these stressors are evident through the degradation of the water quality, erosion, loss of wetlands and biodiversity, deterioration of recreational opportunities, and ultimately the quality of human life. With rapid growth of the world population, doubling to over 6 billion in the last 40 years, with an expected increase to 9 billion in another 40 years, our landscape and environment are being transformed in unprecedented ways across the globe with local, regional and continental scale impacts. These effects are further exacerbated by the uncertainty of the changing climate. We sit at the cross roads in time with challenge, necessity, and opportunity to make a careful assessment of our landscape and environment, and advocate sustainable and economically viable solutions for immediate societal benefits.

The Illinois River Basin Observatory, in collaboration with state, federal, and local agencies, offers a compelling opportunity for the study of IMLs. It will support development and deployment of intensive and new sensing technologies that complement and integrate with ongoing observational systems to facilitate inter-disciplinary studies that integrate across the traditional disciplinary boundaries of engineering, science, economics, humanities, etc. The Observatory will provide an unparalleled resource to support the integrated study of rivers and lakes, water cycle, agriculture, ecosystems, and climate. Regional communities will benefit directly as critical environmental issues are studied and groundbreaking applications are developed. The Observatory will help develop a complete and comprehensive picture of water dependent processes and functions for IMLs.

For more details please contact Dr. Praveen Kumar