We all agree that water is fundamental – to life, to ecosystems, to society, to our very survival.  The water cycle surrounds and sustains us, and is one of the most sensitive reflections of human actions, whether these affect direct consumption, land use, physical changes to rivers and watersheds, ecological transformations, or our changing climate.  What will the future of water be over the next century, and how can our science adapt to the evolving water cycles?  Our 5 speakers in this sessions tackle this subject from different perspectives: the changing patterns of global water use and consumption, effects on groundwater, the exciting new discoveries of ecohydrology, novel approaches to water management, and the next generation of hydrologic modeling.