Stochastic hydrology-how much hydrology does it contain and how much does it matter?

Extract

Most of what is routinely labeled ‘stochastic hydrology’ does not contain any hydrology at all and could be more properly identified as the fitting of stochastic models to samples of data of hydrologic origin. T0 engage in this enterprise, no hydrologic knowledge is necessary, nor do the results contribute to hydrologic knowledge. Moreover, the bulk of the current stochastic hydrology does not appreciably enhance the quality of water management decisions-an aim which provided the original impetus for its development. It seems that the mainstream of stochastic hydrology follows in the steps of ‘dam theory’, the only difference being that while the latter has become a self-contained branch of pure probability theory, the former is on the way to becoming a branch of pure mathematical statistics.