Water Promises: Much Ado About Nothing, 2009
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Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education Issue No. 142 August 2009 Geography: A Vibrant Agenda for the Next 20 Years of Water Resources Research Contents Water Promises: Much Ado about Nothing - As Proftless as Water in a Sieve? Graham A. Tobin.......................................................................................................................................................1 Articles Future Hydroclimatology and the Research Challenges of a Post-Stationary World Katherine K. Hirschboeck........................................................................................................................................4 Integrating Water-Quality into a Water Resources Research Agenda L. Allan James.......................................................................................................................................................10 Integrated Ecohydrologic Research and Hydro-Informatics D. Scott Mackay and Lawrence E. Band...............................................................................................................16 Applying Geographic Information Techniques to Study Water Resources for the Next 20 Years Luoheng Han........................................................................................................................................................25 Integration of Water Data for Decision-Making and Research R. Rajagopal.........................................................................................................................................................28 Water for Agriculture: Global Change and Geographic Perspectives on Research Challenges for the Future John Harrington, Jr. ............................................................................................................................................36 Emerging Issues and Challenges: Natural Hazards Burrell Montz......................................................................................................................................................42 Integrated Policy and Planning for Water and Energy Young-Doo Wang................................................................................................................................................46 Ecological Economics and Water Resources Geography Christopher Lant ................................................................................................................................................52 The Political Economy and Political Ecology of the Hydro-Social Cycle Erik Swyngedouw...............................................................................................................................................56 Comparative International Water Research James L. Wescoat, Jr. ........................................................................................................................................61 A Long Term View of Water and International Security Aaron T. Wolf.....................................................................................................................................................67 Problem-Centered vs. Discipline-Centered Research for the Exploration of Sustainability William James Smith, Jr. ....................................................................................................................................76 Geographic Research in Water Resources: A Vibrant Research Agenda for the Next 20 Years William James Smith, Jr. ..........................................................................................................................................83 Contents - Continued UCOWR Board of Directors.......................................................................................................................89 UCOWR Member Institutions.....................................................................................................................90 Benefts of UCOWR Membership...............................................................................................................91 Friends of UCOWR and Warren A. Hall Medal Honorees......................................................................92 Past Issues of JCWRE/Water Resources Update....................................................................................93 1 UNIVERSITIES COUNCIL ON WATER RESOURCES JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY WATER RESEARCH & EDUCATION ISSUE 142, PAGES 1-3, AUGUST 2009 Water Promises: Much Ado about Nothing - As Proftless as Water in a Sieve?1 Graham A. Tobin Professor, Department of Geography, University of South Florida, Tampa oday there is much ado about water – as “water wars” elicits 585,000 hits on Google and there always has been and always will be. 3,400 on Google Scholar. On Amazon.com there THowever, until we actually fnd ways to are over 850 book citations to “water wars.” Clearly, apply scientifcally-based, truly interdisciplinary there is no shortage of scientists and academics scholarship that embraces sound community dedicating serious study to water conficts. Other engagement, crucial knowledge about our most terms reveal similar levels of Google hits: water valuable resource may continue to be “lost” or crisis (973,000), water solutions (736,000), water at least ignored, much as water trickles through a sustainability (73,300), water quantity (477,000) sieve. We need a comprehensive, inclusive approach and water quality (15.4 million). A similar search to solve the challenges of the water environment. on Google Scholar reveals thousands of titles, Of course this is not a new argument. Thousands articles and reports outlining the problems facing of books, articles, papers and technical reports societies around the world. have been written describing water problems Most of this research aims to improve our from around the world, outlining fundamental understanding of the water ecosystem; when causes, and calling for changes in the way we viewed from a resource perspective, this is of approach problem solving. Yet still we encounter course very much a geographic issue, one that severe crises – shortages of water for drinking, presents both spatial and temporal challenges to agriculture and industry, catastrophic foods, society. The water resource manager must ensure contamination and pollution of water sources, and that the right amount of water, of a suitable quality, outbreaks of water-related health issues such as reaches the desired place at the appropriate time. cholera, schistosomiasis, and typhoid. The sieve So the manager’s challenge is to balance supply that has made such endeavors proftless, it seems, and demand in an ever-changing natural and social is a human one, a lack of will and commitment on environment, with a constantly-moving target. many different levels. For all intents and purposes, In this respect, the expertise of hydrologists, we understand many of the issues involved; we fuvial geomorphologists and geo-hydrologists, have “merely” failed to implement appropriate is fundamental to any scientifc modeling of the solutions. water world. At the same time, though, we must Even a cursory look at the literature on water recognize the overwhelming signifcance of the reveals a vast scholarship originating from diverse human environment and the powerful social, disciplines and applying multiple methodologies. economic, and political forces that create and The term “water wars” is used ubiquitously to ultimately determine the directions of the water describe the challenges facing many societies crisis. Obviously this is no easy task. We need around the globe, from the corporate moves scientifcally-based studies of both the natural and towards water privatization and the recent climate social environments to appreciate the complexity change issues in Bolivia, to the dam and reservoir of water problems and develop predictive and systems in India, to the controls over water supply explanatory models. Perhaps more importantly, encountered in the Middle East and China. Indeed, this must involve interdisciplinary initiatives JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY WATER RESEARCH & EDUCATION UCOWR 2 Tobin that cross traditional academic boundaries to inevitably, an event exceeds the design standards provide innovative solutions. Social scientists are of the project. The 2005 destruction of so many an essential part of this. In sum, good science is buildings along the shoreline of the Gulf Coast required in its broadest sense combining traditional of the United States, from Hurricane Katrina, natural sciences with qualitative and ethnographic attests to this effect. Once again, in New Orleans assessments of processes that facilitate or hinder it was those most vulnerable members of society, water understanding. especially the poor, who suffered the greatest. The While acknowledging the many global water technological fx of mitigation projects, therefore, problems, however, we should not dwell only on can bring mixed blessings, and many scientists have doom and gloom. There have been and continue to called for a comprehensive planning approach, be many innovative ideas and practical initiatives which includes both structural and non-structural that have essentially “solved” certain water measures for all water projects, to overcome some problems and enhanced the human experience. of these diffculties. Since humans frst began cultivation, water has Thus “water wars” often stem from such projects been harnessed to make life possible; the irrigation with their subsequent environmental or societal