Against the background of a renewed interest in interdisciplinary water research, we begin
this paper by diagnosing a need for deeper engagement at the epistemological and
ontological level. We then analyse the ontological and epistemological commitments of
three modeling examples: an academic human-flood model, a nutrient transfer decision
support model and a policy facing water security model. These examples demonstrate how
research practices are not neutral but intervene in the world by distributing agency …