Because of westerlies and monsoon climate, both flood and drought disasters have been one of the major disasters affecting the social development and economic prosperity of China. In the 21st century, water issue becomes one of the major challenge for China’s sustainable development, catching the paramount attention of central and local governments. In this context, the College of Water Sciences was established at Beijing Normal University under the guidance of academician Changming Liu and Xueyu Lin. This is also the first institute titled “Water Sciences” among the Chinese universities. Subsequently, the Digital Watershed Laboratory was established as a key laboratory of Beijing Normal University. Over the past decade, the laboratory has grown from scratch to a core education and research base focusing on the development and applications of hydrological models with national and international reputation. In recent years, the laboratory has organized a number of international conferences and symposiums such as International Conference on Hydrological Models, International Symposium on Ecohydrological Processes and Simulation, and SWAT Model Training, etc. These activities have enhanced the scientific research capability and expanded academic impact of the laboratory.

With the intensifying urban storm flooding/waterlogging disasters and the rapid construction of sponge cities in China, the Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Hydrological Cycle and Sponge City Technology was established in collaboration with Beijing Water Science and Technology Institute, Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design, Beijing Hydrology Center, and Zhongguancun Sponge City Engineering Research Institute Co. Ltd. under the support of Beijing Commission of Science and Technology in 2016. Presently, water issues including storm flooding/waterlogging, water shortage, deterioration of water quality, and degeneration of aquatic ecosystem are becoming big challenge for urban hydrological science. Construction of sponge city will become a major technology to address these urban water problems. Due to the complexity and difficulty of these problems, close collaborations among experts from different disciplines are essential to tackle such great challenges. Our laboratory would like to work together with domestic and international experts to solve those urban water problems, and to make contributions to the construction of ecological, comfortable, and harmonious smart city. On behalf of the Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Hydrological Cycle and Sponge City Technology, I would like to express my deep appreciation for the support and help from domestic and international experts during the past years and sincerely invite your continuous collaboration for the years to come. Also many thanks to my colleagues for the successful and fruitful cooperation during the past decade.

                                                  Distinguished Professor and Director

                                                   August 1, 2021