ENVS 821: Sustainable Water Resources
Current data suggest that 80% of people globally live under high levels of threat to water security.i
Consequences of human activity to ecological integrity are also dire. For example, a ¾ decline in
freshwater biodiversity has been reported in the past 40yii.
Western Canada is no exception to the water crisis, with a history of catastrophic drought and flood, full
allocation of water resources in areas of the Saskatchewan River basiniii, and evidence of poor water
quality through much of the basin. Understanding threats to water security and managing water
resources more sustainably requires an interdisciplinary understanding encompassing hydrology,
chemistry, biology, and social systems.
This course covers a broad range of issues and concepts in water resource sustainability covering global
and regional water-related challenges, including case studies from western Canada and a major project
on a topic of the students’ choosing. Students will build an understanding of the importance of water to
society across multiple sectors, the varied threats to water resources, and be aware of the complexity of
water management and approaches for water resource management.
There are no formal prerequisites, and students from all disciplines are invited to enroll in the course.
This course is offered in a compressed format in January 2015.For more information, contact Helen
Baulch: helen.baulch@usask.ca
i
Vorosmarty et al. 2010. Nature. 467, 555–561
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/living_planet_report/living_planet_index2/
iii Gober and Wheater . 2014. HESS. 18, 1413–1422
ii