Student: Tom Krome
Graduation date: May 2015
Type: Concentration (single major)
Date approved: November 2013
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Summary
The development of human civilization stems from the Fertile Crescent, known for its productive agricultural lands and mild climate. These two factors led to the generation of surplus food and material resources that didn’t need to be spent on survival, giving rise to the familiar progression of specialized livelihoods, including craftspeople and artists, that make up the classic formula for the birth of Western culture and society. To an extent, this was made possible not through just human ingenuity and an ability to take advantage of the resources provided to us by our surroundings, but by the favorable conditions that facilitated the early stages of growth in the area. Mediterranean climate regions were, and continue to be, ideal for human development. Also known as Dry-summer subtropical, Mediterranean climate is characterized by regional high-pressure zones that make precipitation infrequent, especially during hot summer months. This does not present a problem during early stages of human development and agriculture, but as growing populations demand higher yields from crops and consistent access to fresh water, this resource’s emergent scarcity presents the need for careful management of its use and distribution: traditionally, the use of dams to store surface water from the wet season for use during the dry season. Storage in a reservoir is described in terms of flux, the net difference between inputs and outputs to the reservoir; the dynamic nature of this flux can hold great significance to multiple stakeholders, whose cumulative demand often outweighs the actual amount of water at hand. The yearly flux of water is largely determined by climatic factors that affect both inputs to and outputs from storage systems, and since distribution is scaled by demand, the agricultural sector represents a major influence on water management. This concentration proposes to analyze past and current management practices, including allocation policy and relevant statutes in the US in order to gain an understanding of and in order to refine a growing body of knowledge intended to inform future management decisions.
Some Dry-summer subtropical zones have hosted various conflicts centered around water allocation during drought years. The Klamath Basin (located in Southern Oregon and Northern California), for example, suffered one such drought in 2001. Farmers, Native American Tribes, and Pacificorps Energy Holdings Company, to name a few stakeholders, received a great deal of media attention coming out of this conflict (Kyna et al, 2005). Probabilistically, droughts of this magnitude can be expected approximately every twenty-five years, and this drainage basin’s proximity makes it an opportunity to refine methods in quantifying flux for storage reservoirs. Careful decisions about the storage of river and groundwater and its use will be essential in attenuating the scarcity expected with decreased snowpack.
Southwestern Australia is an instance where scarcity raises concerns about the effects of climate change on surface water and the resilience of groundwater systems. Mcfarlane et al estimate streamflow to decrease by an alarming 24% by 2030, with an expected shift to groundwater use to make up for the deficit (2012). The amount of water in the water table is projected to remain relatively constant, but the possibility of consistent depletion of groundwater and the inflexibility of urban centers such as Perth’s water needs makes it ideal for the study of groundwater availability.
In a 2013 paper titled Water management in Mediterranean river basins: a comparison of management frameworks, physical impacts, and ecological responses, Grantham et al designate three stages in the trends of regional water management: a local organization era, a hydraulic era, and the integrated era that is currently emerging as a dominant paradigm in freshwater infrastructure. Integration management is flexible and able to meet challenges presented by heterogeneous water scarcity, making it applicable to diverse scenarios including the Iberian Peninsula, which is one of Grantham et al’s focus areas. Spain and Portugal are riddled with dams that allow not just water storage and distribution, but also the production of hydropower, a major source of power for many countries in the EU. The legacy of a centralized and dam based water infrastructure is still very much present in Portugal (Martínez, 2003), and its longstanding relations with other mature nation states regarding water usage make it an interesting focus in terms of top-down approaches to management.
Grantham, Theodore E., Ricardo Figueroa, and Narcís Prat. 2013. “Water Management in Mediterranean River Basins: a Comparison of Management Frameworks, Physical Impacts, and Ecological Responses.” Hydrobiologia 719 (1) (November 1): 451–482. doi:10.1007/s10750-012-1289-4.
Martínez, José María Santafé. 2003. “The Spanish-Portuguese Transboundary Waters Agreements: Historic Perspective.” Water International 28 (3): 379–388. doi:10.1080/02508060308691712.
McFarlane, Don, Roy Stone, Sasha Martens, Jonathan Thomas, Richard Silberstein, Riasat Ali, and Geoff Hodgson. 2012. “Climate Change Impacts on Water Yields and Demands in South-western Australia.” Journal of Hydrology 475 (December 19): 488–498. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.05.038.
Powers, Kyna, Pamela Baldwin, Eugene H. Buck, and Betsy A. Cody. 2005. “Klamath River Basin Issues and Activities: An Overview.” CRS Report RL33098. September 22: 2005.
References, General:
Bettini, Y., R. Brown, and F. J. de Haan. 2013. “Water Scarcity and Institutional Change: Lessons in Adaptive Governance from the Drought Experience of Perth, Western Australia.” Water Science & Technology 67 (10) (May): 2160. doi:10.2166/wst.2013.127.
Pahl-Wostl, Claudia. 2007. “Transitions Towards Adaptive Management of Water Facing Climate and Global Change.” Water Resources Management 21 (1) (January 1): 49–62. doi:10.1007/s11269-006-9040-4.
Pereira, Luis Santos, Theib Oweis, and Abdelaziz Zairi. 2002. “Irrigation Management Under Water Scarcity.” Agricultural Water Management 57 (3) (December 30): 175–206. doi:10.1016/S0378-3774(02)00075-6.
Questions
- Descriptive: What are the hydrologic and socio-political settings for water management in various Mediterranean Climate regions? What distinguishes each area of interest (Klamath Basin, North Portugal, Perth) from others in terms of how management is currently handled and future stresses on water infrastructure?
- Explanatory: What are the hydrological and cultural processes that make water available in each area of interest, and how do they differ? How do different past and present management plans incorporate those differences? How is water availability subject to change?
- Evaluative: Are current management strategies suited to adapt to those changes?
Concentration courses
- Geology 280 (Hydrology, 4 credits), fall 2013. Provided a background for assessment of physical factors of water management, a history of the Klamath Basin's water distribution practices, and a basic foundation of process-related knowledge.
- Geology 170 (Climate Science, 5 credits), spring 2013. Focuses on global-scale systems that could affect freshwater resources, as well as foundational knowledge of climatic trends currently being uncovered.
- Environmental Studies 460 (Environmental Law and Policy, 4 credits), fall 2014. Provides a foundation in environmental law and policy decision-making in the US and abroad, including water-rights and allocation policy.
- Geology 240 (Spatial Problems in Geology, 5 credits), spring 2013. Provided a background in GIS use when analyzing spatial patterns in topics of geology/earth systems science.
Arts and humanities courses
- PHIL 215 (Philosophy and the Environment, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.
- English 340 (Topic in Literary Theory/Criticism, 4 credits), spring 2014. Covered structuralist and post-structuralist discourse in literary criticism, using theoretical frameworks useful when analyzing social constructions and cultural norms