Final exam: review notes from speakers since mid-term. There will be some questions
from first part of course on final as well.
Kathlene on values
New players at the water mgmt table
Solutions are to be found at the end of a process
Cortese/Freeman
Water is a common pool resource
Built-in tension between maximizing individual gains and community goals
Social processes can identify more broad-based support for solutions
Burmil/Wescoat
Aridity and scarcity are two attributes that greatly influence human-society relations
There needs to be a broader discussion about water that includes the full value of
water to humans.
Water has many aesthetic attributes: sound, reflection, light, color, formless
Water development are expressed on the landscape (dams, powerlines, etc.)
Agriculture has come and gone in three distinct cycles in the AZ desert, including
the current conversion of ag water to urban
Ray on climate issues
Climate change been impacting water resources for a long time, and adaptation to
climate already exists
Snow cover in western us projected to contract, changes in snow melt occur
Adaptive strategies?
Gleick on soft water path
Choices, services, values
Soft path is decentralized, includes all options possible, focuses on service needs rather
than gallons, focuses on productivity, more inclusive decision-making
Miller on legal system & water in streams
Mechanisms to protect in stream water at every level of govt: Fed, State, County, and
also now an approved ‘beneficial use’
Energy production and water use are directly connected in the west
Meurer on water development
Key principles: estimating demand from domestic uses, fire flows
Consumptive use is the driver- how much water won’t be returned to stream.
Aquifer Storage has a high potential as future storage but many tech issues to work out
New questioning: developed land has different storm runoff than undeveloped land- can
use some of that difference on-site to meet urban demands? Great potential but
currently not allowed under state law
State presentations: N. CA, OR, NV, NM, WA, S. CA, AZ, UT