Spatial and temporal assessment of human-water interactions at the Inle Lake, Myanmar: a socio-hydrological DPSIR analysis

Freshwater resources as a key aspect of socio-economic development, provide a large number of services in human and environmental systems. Nevertheless, human appropriation of these water resources and the modification of landscapes lead to potential threats on water availability and quality from local to global scales. The Inle Lake in Myanmar is an economically, traditionally, and ecologically important freshwater ecosystem that faced severe degradation from the 2000s. In its catchment area, a Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework is applied for an assessment period of 30 years from 1990 to 2020. The analysis results are complemented with a socio-hydrological survey, water quality assessment, a land use classification based on ground truth and satellite data, and hydrologic models. The resulting land use changes, − 13% forest, + 13% agriculture, and + 5% urban areas, lead to increased water yield, decreased evapotranspiration, and increased sediment yield. Together with other drivers and pressures such as climate change and anthropogenic pollution, these human activities are major threats for freshwater resources and the ecosystem. However, the existing awareness of the local population for the environmental degradation is obstructed by national and international crises and responses to negative developments can accelerate degradation if they are unplanned and short-term solutions. Our study shows that environmental degradation processes have a complex nature and can only be tackled in a coordinated way with a long-term perspective. DPSIR is a suitable approach to assess human-water dynamics and disentangle the complex interconnectedness of social and environmental systems in freshwater ecosystems, even in data-scarce regions.