Climate Change and Water

For our Exploring Sustainability course we were charged with reviewing a work relating to our chosen ambit. I chose water management issues for my ambit, and for this assignment I chose a documentary I found on www.videos.google.com entitled:

Global Warming:Change Begins With Learning - Four Part Series - Global Warming: Science and Society, Climate Change and Water, Rights and Runoff,Program Four featuring the Donald Bren Distinguished Professor of Corporate Environmental Manangement Dr. Gary Libecap, and Professor of Hydrology Dr. Christina Tague, moderated by Jon Clark from the CEC
Produced by the University of California Santa Barbara Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management the Community Environmental Council (CEC) February 12, 2007

I would imagine that some may find this documentary to be a little dry (no pun intended), but I found it very interesting. I guess I must be used to it, after watching the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation I’m eager to see how other states are handling water management issues. California has some tough times ahead of it, because its water rights are so intermingled with those of the Pacific North Western states, Arizona and Nevada.

It was not so long ago that water management was controlled locally. It is only in the last hundred years or so that water use has moved from a rural concentration to an urban concentration. With the advent of running water, the demand increased both in urban environments and in rural ones.

Global warming is being manifested in many different ways, which is affecting natural capital with changes in ecosystem services, biodiversity and water availability. These changes are having effects on all aspects of the environment. The media is bringing a lot more attention to this growing change in our planet’s ecology and we all wonder what this will mean in the future? It is this question that Climate Change and Water seeks to answer.

As the planet heats up, the hydrologic cycle is affected. Snow melts, glaciers melt, ocean levels rise. There will be a change in the seasons, with a change in when water is available to plants and animals. Species that have depended on and adjusted to a certain schedule will now find that they are off just enough to make life difficult for them. In California, plants are dependant on lots of water in the spring with late summer droughts. If there is a shortage of snow, or if the snows melt too early, there will be less water in August, and that will affect both plants and animals.

The ecosystems will be able to respond if we give them room. We have to accept that we no longer have a static climate, and adjust accordingly. One of the first things we need to address is food production. The agricultural areas in California have a choice of whether to sell their excess water downriver, and are doing that now, because they have enough. There are even some farmers letting fields lie fallow because it is more lucrative to sell the water than the produce. We've grown up in a society of abundance and now must rethink water management practices. We need to decide whose needs are best served by management practices. We will need to learn to grow food in urban landscapes (Don's urban farming!)
We need to put a dollar amount on natural capital, allowing that it is a valuable resource in its own right, taking into account its Total Economic Value. Urban centers actually don't use tremendous amounts of water in a hedonistic manner, as is thought. The cost to water in urban areas is actually what they're putting in the water, the damage they do to the ecosystem services.

The next steps, according to Professor Tangue and Professor Libecap are to look at watersheds as being much larger than we currently do. We need to look at regional management, not on the micro level. Water managers need to be trained in all aspects of water managers, not in specialties, as they are now. Water markets need to be developed, like the one in Chili. And we must begin to consider the total economic value of water. We can't afford not to. It is the gold of the 21st century, and if we can learn to manage water, we might actually learn how to heal this beautiful world.

Audio/Video/Blogs as Information Sources

In answer to an assignment from our Communication/Persuasion/Negotiation professor Bill Baue, I chose to analyze 3 podcasts posted by NPR: Climate Connection. This series is a terrific resource for people who love NPR and want to keep pace with current climate studies and projects. Podcasts are convenient and easily shared, but they have their limitations.

The pocasts I chase to listen to were:

Food & Climate: A Complicated but Optimistic View
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15747012
All of these stories originated on radio, so they carry the limitations of radio programs. One reason I love NPR though, is becasue I feel like I'm listening to a discussion happening just out of earshot. It's almost like if I step around a pillar I'll be able to see what they're talking about. Of course, when I really do want to see what they're looking at - I can't! That can be frustrating. Global food production and how it will be impacted by climate change is an important part of planning for a future with global warming as a central issue.

The interview with the guest took place with the sound of her discribing her work at NASA and crop models. We didn't miss anything in this podcast of a radio show that we needed to see to understand the story, which talked about Canada being able to grow agriculture while third world countries get too hot to produce food.

Hawaii Couple Reestablishes Ancient Plant Species
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17774504

This story is quite different. It's title immediately made me want to be able to view the topic of discussion: an ancient plant in Hawaii being established on the island where "urasic Park" was filmed Kawaii. The introduction designs a beautiful cave we're just dying to see. We can hear the birds, the breeze in the trees, but we can't see the cave or share the experience of the couple as they trail a set of footprints down a beach. It's clear, it's interesting, but it's limited to what they can communicate through sound.

and;

Crucial California Delta Faces a Salty Future
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18031391

This story talked about a delta and the failures of levies and peripheral canals. Flooding is a huge concern, and so is the availability of fresh water.

NPR does try to suplement the minimal visual satisfaction of radio by offering interactive sections of the page where you would access the podcast. They also have videos, slideshows, pictures and links to additional information. They do their best to satisfy our craving for visual information. These are the limits of radio. They still provide ease-of-use, convenience, and the ability to replay stories that you enjoy or want to share with others. Radio has it's limitations, but it adaquetly serves my curious nature and need to know.

Water In a Sustainable Economy: State of the World 2008

State of the World 2008 Page 112
Valuing Water for Sustainability

“The Value of water as a resource that underpins economic activities is evident in all economies, but it is much less evident in economic statistics… Prices virtually never reflect water’s full value or the need for conservation.”

This quote is from the 25th anniversary publication of State of the World (2008)printed by The Worldwatch Institute. It's an invigorating and eye-opening read for anyone concerned about sustainability issues. This book was assigned to us in our Exploring Sustainability class by Professor Ralph Meima, who is also our ES professor.

I had thought that this book was going to be a dry read, but after picking it up I’m having a tough time putting it down. Most intriguing to me are the statements about the economic value of water. “Unlike other inputs that are sold in competitive markets, this price is generally far less than water’s real economic value, and often even less than the cost of supplying it.” The book goes on to say that the producers and policymakers have an unrealistic view of the value of water, and are therefore not knowledgeable about whether current practices are wasting or overvaluing water. In addition, “investment in manufacturing capital, such as a water treatment plant or a dam, is reflected as an increase in a country’s wealth, investments in “natural assets” such as wetlands, watersheds, or groundwater aquifers are not included at all, even if they serve equivalent functions, as produced capital”.

It's encouraging to know that people are aware of this (other than our cohort!), and that they working to create change. Serious problems are developing upriver from Arizona and Nevada, with farmers having to let fields lie fallow so that Las Vegas Casinos can bathe tourists and water landscapes. This in a time when reliable clean water sources are declining all over the world, in both developing countries (Africa) and world powers (our own United States).

Total Economic Value (TEV) is the “recognized means of capturing both the market values (those that can be observed through market trades) and the nonmarket values of natural resources”. This is a concept being used to bring attention to the value of water and other natural capital. The TEVs include Use Values and Non-Use Values.

There are three kinds of Use Values: Direct Use Value, Indirect Use Value, and Option Value. Direct Use Values are “goods that can be extracted, consumed or enjoyed directly, such as hydropower and drinking water. Indirect Use Values include current ecosystem services, such as flood control and water purification. Option Values are the values provided by using the ecosystem services at a later date, including “services that appear to have a low value now but could have a much higher value in the future because of innovations in management or new information”.

Non-Use Values are those that “derive from the benefits that ecosystems may provide that do not involve using them in any way” and include Bequest Value and Existence Value. The acceptance of these values will be the key to a resonant appreciation of the value of water. Bequest Values are the value that comes from “the desire to pass on ecosystems to future generations". Existence Value is the value of natural capital that comes from knowing that resource will be there even if we never experience it, such as blue whales in the oceans, or the Amazon River.

Understanding the TEV of water and implementing integrated water management into daily living is the key to maintaining water supplies that can continue to be used as natural capital. I still have to finish The State of the World 2008. There is a whole section on water resource management innovations I'm looking forward to reading soon, and discussing with you at a later date. Until then, save your rainwater, and please fix that leaky faucet!