Water Resources: Policy and Management

PuEnAf 351/551

 

Dr. Laurel Phoenix                           

                                   

Office: MAC A324    

Phone: 465-2402                                                                                      

e-mail: phoenixl@uwgb.edu

http://www.uwgb.edu/phoenixl/index.htm

Office Hours: M-W– F:  10-11 or by appt.

Course Objectives:

Basic knowledge of the interdisciplinary nature of watershed management and linkages between natural science and social science in water policy, law, and planning.

 

Knowledge of the concepts, principles, and theories of water policy, law, and planning.

 

Knowledge of the traditions of geography – human-environmental interaction, earth science, and regional studies – and how they provide a framework to compare and contrast water issues from local to global scales.

 

An ability to engage in critical thinking about issues and concepts in water policy, management, and planning.

 

An ability to write clearly and effectively.

 

Introduce primary water policy, law, and planning literature.

 

An ability to analyze research and reports in the field of water policy, law, and planning.

An ability to qualify for graduate work in schools of environmental studies, public policy, public affairs, planning, or related fields, or to qualify for entry level professional employment in environmental policy and planning.

Introduction

The world is facing unprecedented challenges as vital water is used and abused, managed and wasted.  The world's limited water supply faces not only increasing populations to serve, but even more demand from newly-developing countries.  Water quality is particularly vulnerable because air and soil pollution as well as certain land use practices can degrade water in addition to the pollutants introduced directly into waterways.

This course covers the past and present of how water has been shared and managed in various countries and divergent climates.  How is it polluted, how is it purified, and how is it rationed in times of drought?  What has mankind done to date to store, use, and reuse fresh water, and what are the possibilities for desalting briny groundwater and ocean water?  Can the various uses for water, municipal, industrial, agricultural, and instream uses be refined to "produce" more water?  Are societies seriously planning for future water demand, or addressing the problems that may ensue from global climate change?  Although governments have always played the leading role in supplying and allocating water, at what point does it become a commodity to be profited from by multinational corporations?  More importantly, is the difference between available water and current demand creating winners and losers?  One of the more arcane questions we will answer is: "How is Kansas like Libya?"

This course will cover the basics of water management and planning, covering local to global examples of such things as surface water pollution, mining of fossil aquifers, water wars at regional, interstate, and international levels, and current problems of perchlorate contamination, unprecedented drought in the West, threats to Great Lakes water, and more.  Local, national, and international examples of water issues will weave the geographic themes of human-environmental interaction, earth science and regional studies to give a comprehensive analysis of the state of water issues now, and the implications for water in the future.

 

 

Weekly topics will be covered as follows:

 

Jan 18: A Historical Perspective of Water Use and Development.

Hydraulic Civilizations – Drinking water and irrigation

Water Transportation

Hydropower

Fertile Crescent, China, India, Andean regions, Iberian Peninsula, American Southwest

 

Jan 25: Human Impacts on the Hydrologic Cycle, Climate, & Weather.

Changing the hydrologic cycle at the local level

Potential regional effects of climate change

New needs for storage – floods and drought

Rivers no longer reach the sea

Great Salt Lake, Aral Sea, Yellow River, Colorado River, Rio Grande

 

Feb 1: Surface and Ground Water Hydrology.

Basics of water movement over and through different materials

Overpumping for water use: Mining, cities, agriculture

“Fossil” aquifers – Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Ogallala Aquifer, W. New Mexico

Overpumping for water waste: Natural gas mining – Northern Front Range of Rockies

 

Feb 8: Water Quality.

Characterizing water quality

Point and Nonpoint sources

Pollutant transport and fate – chemicals, metals, viruses and bacteria

When is a pollutant not a pollutant?

Science and politics behind regulations

Land use and water quality

Pollution effects on aquatic, riparian, and coastal environments

Relative differences in water quality problems between developed and developing countries

 

Feb 15: Municipal and Irrigation Water Development.

Early growing cities – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, New York

Shared and opposing interests of domestic, industrial, and irrigation uses

Politics and economics of municipal competition for water and growth

Irrigation – Trends and limitations

 

Feb 22: Dams.

Dam types, uses, and locations

Positive and negative impacts- ecological, economic, health, political

Colorado, Columbia, Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers

Dams removal – Wisconsin and other key states

Recently built dams in developing countries

 

Mar 1, 3 and 8: Water Allocation Law.

Old world foundations

Riparian

Prior Appropriation

Hybrid

Groundwater law

Federal Reserved rights

Indian rights –  Navajo-Gallup Water Project Legislation

Interstate compacts

 

Mar 10: Federal Agencies Influencing Water Use.

USACE, USBR, USGS, USFWS, NPS, BLM, USEPA, NRCS, USFS, FERC, NMFS, FEMA.

 

Mar 22: Local, Regional, State, and Multi-state Water Mgmt. Agencies in the U.S.

Local – Municipal Water Depts, Water and Sewer Districts, Levee and Flood Control Districts, Ditch and Irrigation Companies, Acequias.

Regional – Irrigation, Conservancy/Conservation, Natural Resources, and Groundwater Management Districts.

State – Arizona Water Agencies, Rhode Island Water Agencies

Multistate – Chesapeake Bay and Missouri River Basin Commissions

Canadian and Mexican water management

 

Mar 29: Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment.

Basics of treatment and distribution systems

Effects of SDWA and CWA on treatment

Wells and septic tanks – outside of which laws?

Developed and developing country trends

 

Apr 5: Infrastructure - National and Global.

US - Age, maintenance, and regulatory costs for water and wastewater plants

Canada – Cities without sewage treatment

Developing countries – building treatment plants, determining user fees, social inequities

 

 

 

Apr 12: Water in the Environment, Fish and Wildlife

Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act

Whooping Cranes on the Platte River, Executive Branch decisions on Pacific Salmon, global caviar wars.

 

Apr 19: Economics of Water

Private or public funding

Finding the “right” price

Regional approaches

International issues

 

Apr 26: Conflicts and Compromise – Fighting over Water

Alabama vs. Florida vs. Georgia

Texas Panhandle

Northern vs. Southern California

Colorado River Compact – Northern vs. Southern states

Missouri River – Upper vs. lower states

International conflicts – Indus, Tigris, Euphrates, Nile, Jordan, Ganges, Mekong Rivers

 

May 3: Global Water Trends
Industrialization demand

Population demand

Water limits and distribution

Water Harvesting

Water Ranching

Water Reuse

 

Coursework and Grading

            There will be two midterms and a final.  Half of the questions on these exams come from the lectures and half come from your readings.  A weekly log of one national and one international water article will be kept and turned in on week 7 and the last day of classes.  The log consists of the printed article and a 2 paragraph typed summary of the issue.  This is a writing emphasis course, giving the student an opportunity to write three papers on a current water problem.  Undergraduate topics will be linked to three articles from the student log.  Graduate students will use three journal articles of their choice and write a discussion paper for each to meet this writing requirement.

 

 

Undergraduate Grading                                     Graduate Grading

Exam 1                         15                                            Exam 1                         15

Exam 2             20                                            Exam 2                         20

Final                             20                                            Final                                         20

Log                              10                                            Log                                          10

Three papers                20                                            Essays - 3 journal articles          20       

Participation/attend.      15                                            Partic./Attendance                    15

                                  100                                                                                          100       

                                                                                                                                 

Readings

Text -  (2005) "Principles of Water Resources: History, Development, Management, and Policy, 2nd ed. by Thomas V. Cech   Wiley Publ.

Articles – There will be some handouts in class or articles put on electronic reserve.

 

Students with Disabilities

Note:

Consistent with the federal law and the policies of the University of Wisconsin, it is the policy of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to provide appropriate and necessary accommodations to students with documented physical and learning disabilities. If you anticipate requiring any auxiliary aids or services, you should contact me or the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities at 465-2841 as soon as possible to discuss your needs and arrange for the provision of services.

 

 

Associated Literature

 

Bates, Sarah F., David H. Getches, Lawrence J. MacDonnell, Charles F. Wilkinson.  1993.  Searching Out the Headwaters: Change and Rediscovery in Western Water Policy.  Washington D.C.: Island Press.

 

Brooks, Kenneth N., Peter F. Ffolliott, Hans M. Gregersen and Leonard F. DeBano. 1997. Hydrology and the Management of Watersheds, 2nd ed., Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.

 

Catton, William R. Jr. 1980.  Overshoot:  The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary

Change.  Chicago, IL:  University Of Illinois Press.

 

Feldman, David Lewis.  1991.  Water Resources Management: In Search of an Environmental Ethic.  Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

 

Getches, David H.  1997. Water Law in a Nutshell 3rd ed., St. Paul: West Publishing.

 

Glennon, R. 2002.  Water Follies:  Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America’s Fresh Waters. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

 

Grigg, Neil S.  1996.  Water Resources Management: Principles, Regulations, and Cases.  New York: McGraw-Hill.

 

Horton, Tom and William M. Eichbaum. 1991.  Turning the Tide: Saving the Chesapeake Bay. Washington D.C.: Island Press.

 

Miller, Char.  2001.  Fluid Arguments: Five Centuries of Western Water Conflict. 

New York, NY:  Riverhead Books.

 

Reimold, Robert J.  1998.  Watershed Management: Practice, Policies, and Coordination.  New York: McGraw Hill. 

 

Reisner, Marc. 1986. Cadillac Desert. Toronto: Penguin Books.

 

Reuss, Martin, Ed.  1993.  Water Resources Administration in the United States: Policy, Practice, and Emerging Issues.  East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.

 

Rothfeder, J. 2001.  Every Drop for Sale:  Our Desperate Battle over Water in a World About to Run Out.  New York, NY: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam.

 

Salzman, James and Barton H. Thompson, Jr. 2003.  Environmental Law and Policy.  New York: Foundation Press.

 

Tarlock, Dan A., James N. Corbridge, Jr. and David H. Getches. 2002.  Water Resource Management: A Casebook in Law and Public Policy, 5 ed.,  New York: Foundation Press.

 

Thompson, Stephen A.  1999.  Water Use, Management, and Planning in the United States.  San Diego: Academic Press.

 

Ward, D. R. 2002.  Water Wars:  Drought, Flood, Folly, and the Politics of Thirst.  New York: Penguin Putnam.

 

Wescoat, Jr., J. L. & White, G. F. 2003.  Water for Life:  Water Management and Environmental Policy.  Cambridge, UK:  Cambridge University Press.

 

Wilkinson, Charles F.  1992.  Crossing the Next Meridian: Land, Water, and the Future of the West.  Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

 

 

(May 2001).  Dawn of the Replacement Era:  Reinvesting in Drinking Water Infrastructure.  Washington, D.C.: The AWWA Water Industry Technical Action Fund.

 

(Jan. 21, 2003).  Colorado River’s health is vital to West.  AZ Central [Online] www.azcentral.com.

 

(February 5, 2004).  Humanity wages war with nature for water, says report.  ENS [Online] www.enn.com.

 

(April 26, 2004).  Colorado thinks the unthinkable:  Letting river water go.  AZ Central [Online] www.azcentral.com.

 

(May 2004).  Lawmakers consider new Front Range water district.  US Water News Online.

 

(May 7, 2004).  USFilter RO system to desalinate riverside county water.  World-Wire [Online] www.world-wire.com.

 

Daley, R. M. (2003).  Chicago’s Water Agenda 2003.  City of Chicago.

 

Ebbertand, S. & Massey, J. (April 29, 2004).  Lead levels in water high in 10 locales.  The Boston Globe [Online] www.boston.com.

 

Fleming, J. (May 3, 2004).  California thirsty for seawater:  Desalination plant alarm opponents of development.  Chicago Tribune [Online] www.chiagotribune.com.

 

Grigg, Neil S.  1999.  Integrated Water Resources Management: Who Should Lead, Who

Should Pay?  Journal of the American Water Resources Association.  35(3): 527-

534.

 

Kassen, M. (May 2, 2004).  Change assumptions about development.  The Denver Post.

 

McCabe, K. (May 2, 2004).  Water risks not major, officials say.  The Boston Globe  [Online] www.boston.com.

 

Stein, T. (April 25, 2004).  Water group focus on future:  River ‘call’ would cut Front Range supply.  The Denver Post Environment Write.