Sri Lanka, Aug. 9 -- Sri Lanka will host the Third International Conference on Socio-Hydrology in Colombo and Moratuwa in 2028 after winning the international bid, with experts describing the island as one of the best places in the world to study how societies and water shape each other.

"Sri Lanka is the best hydrologic observatory there is," Prof. Murugesu Sivapalan (picture) of the University of Illinois told a Water Forum lecture at the Mahaweli Centre in Colombo on July 16, organised by the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL).

It is also, he said, "the best social hydrology laboratory there is". Then came the qualification: "There are not enough researchers here to study it."

Prof. Sivapalan, who founded the field of socio-...