New York University
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
Water Sourcing and Delivery in an Era of Climate Change
P11.2666 Fall 2008
Thursdays 6:20-8:00 401 Silver
Instructor:
Natasha Iskander Puck, 3043 212-998-7479
Office Hours: Mondays 11:00-1:00 PM (or by appointment)
1. Description:
In the coming decades, water will be the central issue in global economic development and health. With one in six people around the world currently lacking access to safe drinking water (1.2 billion people), and more than two out of six lacking adequate sanitation (2.6 billion people), water is already a critical factor affecting the social and economic well-being of a sizable proportion of the world’s population. However, with the world’s population projected to double in over the next fifty years, and with rapidly dwindling water supplies becoming both more scarce and more volatile as a result of global warming, we are likely to face a water crisis so severe it will reshape everything from our governance structures to our modes of economic and agricultural production to our patterns of social interaction. Water will be the axis around which all public policy revolves.
In light of the centrality of water as a current and future public policy issue, this course explores innovative and sustainable solutions for water harvesting and distribution to address the challenges presented by anthropogenic climate change. The field of water harvesting and delivery has generally considered water supplies to be fairly stable, available to be sourced in the same places. As a result, water infrastructure management has traditionally been concerned with efficient methods of water sourcing, delivery, and purification, and with effective methods of cost-recovery for those services. In this course, we will step out of this conventional framework and look at water provision from a new vantage point: instead of taking water supplies as a constant, we will look at how water sources are changing as a function of global warming and increased population pressures, and then will ask what implications these shifts are likely to have for water sourcing and water distribution.
2. Design:
To address the central question of how to secure basic water needs when the water sources and use are undergoing fundamental and unpredictable shifts, the course is built around four or five real-life cases of local water harvesting and distribution systems that students will research collaboratively in small teams throughout the semester. Three of the cases we will use in the class are based on Capstone projects in the summer-fall Capstone course, and the additional two cases will be assigned. (Cases are described below). Throughout the course, we will workshop these cases, and use them as concrete settings to accomplish the following three learning goals: 1) to understand the challenges presented by changing water availability to existing systems of water sourcing and delivery; 2) to explore the political economy of water supply and delivery, and develop a solid grasp of the political and economic issues around the trade of water and around access to water; 3) to develop a broad understanding of the challenges of implementing new water harvesting and delivery technologies and institutions, and to develop frameworks for devising creative solutions to overcome those constraints.
The course will be organized into five segments: an introduction, three thematic modules, and a conclusion. The introduction provides an overview of the basic frameworks used by theorists and practitioners to plan and implement water sourcing and distribution systems. The three thematic modules hone in on three key aspects on water provision in the face of climate change and population pressures: (1) water sources and climate change; (2) the political economy of water sourcing and provision; and (3) technological and institutional innovations for water harvesting and delivery. The modules cover three class periods each (with the exception of Module 2, which covers four class periods), and draw on multiple teaching modalities. The first class of each module presents the emerging scholarship on the topic at hand through a participatory lecture format. The second class features a guest speaker who is a recognized expert on the issue covered in the module; the speaker will deliver a public lecture and workshop the cases with students in a smaller meeting. The third class is devoted to student presentations on the aspects of their case covered by the module. After the student presentations, the class will draw out common lessons from the cases about the topic covered in the module through an extensive class discussion. The conclusion segment is devoted to synthesizing the common lessons offered by the cases for water harvesting and distribution in an age of global warming.
The combination of these pedagogical approaches will simulate the practices involved in creative inquiring and problem-solving. These practices include: developing profound familiarity with the case being researched, drawing on the expertise of researchers who study elements that emerge as critical in the case, brainstorming collaboratively with colleagues and enlisting multiple points on view on the problem at hand, and finally, teasing out the significance of the lessons the case offers by situating it in a larger body of scholarship on the issue. Instead of outlining this process and imparting it through a traditional lecture format, the course will engage students in the process itself, enabling them to participate in a dynamic of learning-in-action.
3. Assignments and grading:
Readings and class participation: students are expected to complete all assigned readings. Guidance on how to complete the readings will be provided at the beginning of each module. Students are also expected to review team memos, and to participate actively in class discussion. In addition, students are expected to provide constructive and timely feedback on student presentations and memos. Readings and class participation accounts for 20 percent of the final grade.
Presentations and memos: for the first two modules, students are expected to prepare a five-page memo and a powerpoint presentation considering their case in light of the topic being explored. For example, in Module 1, student teams will write a memo and prepare a presentation on how the water sourcing and distribution systems in their cases are likely to be affected by changing patterns of water availability due to climate change. Memos are to be distributed to the entire class, and are due on Tuesday at 5pm on the week of student presentations. All students in the class need to read the memos of other teams and come to class prepared to give constructive and specific feedback. Presentations should be 10-15 minutes in length. They should be considered a complement to team memos—NOT a summary of the memos. They should focus on areas that teams are still struggling to resolve. The presentation and memo for each module together account for 15 percent of the final grade. The total grade for presentations and memos is 30 percent (15 percent x 2). Students are not expected to prepare a separate presentation and memo for the third module. Solutions to the problems raised in Module 3 should be incorporated into the final memo and final presentation.
Final memo: Student teams will write a final memo of 10 pages that will synthesize the lessons learned about the case throughout the course and make recommendations for how to adapt the existing water sourcing and delivery systems in their case to the changes foreseen due to climate change. Student teams working on capstone projects will give their capstone clients a copy of their final memo. Draft copies of the final memos are due on Tuesday, December 2th. Students will present their draft concepts on Thursday December 4th, when we will discuss them. Please note that Thursday December 4th, we will have an extended class session to accommodate student presentations. Class will be held from 6:20-9:20 in the Mulberry conference room at Puck. All students are expected to read and prepare comments on all final memos for the last class. Final versions of the final memos are due on the last day of class, Thursday, December 11th. Final memos account for 35 percent of the final grade.
Final essay: Each student will write a final individual 7-10 page essay on an aspect of water sourcing and climate change that they found particularly compelling. This essay is a reflective and analytic exercise. It does require additional research. The essay is to be turned into the professor—NOT to the entire class. This essay is due on Monday December 15, and accounts for 15 percent of the final grade.
4. Cases:
Water Delivery in Accra (Capstone): This project considers the Ghana Water Company’s delivery of service to the wider Accra area, and focuses on informal (unauthorized) connections to the GWCL network.
Water and Sanitation Delivery in Ecuador – Quito and Cuenca (Capstone): Both cities have made major changes to their water and sanitation delivery systems. This project evaluates which institutional interventions have been effective at improving water and sanitation delivery in both cities, and which institutional interventions have been ineffective.
Water and Sanitation Delivery in Dakar, Senegal (Capstone): Dakar has achieved a remarkably high rate of water and sanitation service for its poorer residents when compared with other cities at the same income level. This project evaluates the role of community based organization in fostering that success.
Water shortages in San Diego and the Imperial Valley: This project deals with the challenges in maintaining water sourcing and delivery in the San Diego and the Imperial Valley in the face of an extended drought and rapidly growing demand (due to population increases and agricultural uses).
Water demand in Las Vegas: Las Vegas faces chronic water shortages that are only getting more serious due to climate pressures. Las Vegas is exploring alternate – and very controversial – solutions for water provision, including a plan to build a $2 billion pipeline that would pump water out of nearby White Pine County and send it down to Vegas
5. Speakers:
The Rudin Family Forum for Civic Dialogue, 2nd floor
Thursday, September 25, 6:20pm
Daniel Hillel
Senior Research Scientist, Center for Climate Systems Research,
The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Dr. Hillel is an international authority on sustainable management of land and water resources. He is the author of over 20 books, including the award winning “Out of the Earth: Civilization and the Life of the Soil.” Dr. Hillel earned his Ph.D. in Soil Physics and Geology from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was a postdoctoral fellow in soil physics and hydrology at the University of California.
Thursday, October 16, 2008, 6:20 pm
Fred Pearce
Author of When the Rivers Run Dry: Water -- The Defining
Crisis of the Twenty-First Century
Fred Pearce is a consultant for New Scientist and he has written for Audubon, Popular Science, Time, the Boston Globe, and Natural History. His books include Keepers of the Spring, Turning Up the Heat, and Deep Jungle.
Note: This event will be held at NYU Kimmel, Room 905
Thursday, November 13, 2008, 6:20 pm
Bryan Mark
Assistant Professor, Ohio State University, Department of Geography & Byrd Polar Research Center
Dr. Mark is an expert in glacier environmental change and the Andes. He is the author of more than 15 articles and book chapters. Dr. Mark earned his Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from Syracuse University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany.
6. Modules:
Sept 11
Readings:
Pearce, F. (2006). When the Rivers Run Dry. Boston: Beacon Press
Esrey, S. A., J. B. Potash, L. Roberts & C. Shiff. (1991). “Effects of improved water supply and sanitation on ascariasis, diarrhea, dracunculiasis, hookworm infection, schistosomiasis, and trachoma.” WHO Bulletin OMS Vol. 69. Pp. 609-621
Mole, F. (2007). “Scales and power in river basin management: the Chao Phraya River in Thailand.” The Geographical Journal, Vol. 173 (4), Pp. 358-373
Abramovitz, J. (2001). “Introduction.” In Unnatural Disasters, Ed. L. Starke. Worldwatch Paper 158. Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute.
Catley-Carlson, M. (2003). “Working for water.” In Whose Water Is It? The Unquenchable Thirst of a Water-Hungry World. Eds. B. McDonald & D. Jehl. Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society.
Brown, L.R. (2003). “The effect of emerging water shortages on the world’s food.” In Whose Water Is It? The Unquenchable Thirst of a Water-Hungry World. Eds. B. McDonald & D. Jehl. Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society.
Dombeck, M. (2003). “From the forest to the faucet.” In Whose Water Is It? The Unquenchable Thirst of a Water-Hungry World. Eds. B. McDonald & D. Jehl. Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society.
Film: Thirst / Sept 4
Module 1: Climate Change, Water Availability, and Social Impacts / Sept 18- Oct 2
Readings:
Wilbanks, T.J., P. Romero Lankao, M. Bao, F. Berkhout, S. Cairncross, J.P. Ceron, M. Kapshe, R. Muir-Wood & R. Zapata-Marti. (2007). “Industry, settlement and society.” In Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Eds. M. L. Parry, O. F. Canziani, J. P. Palutikof, R. J. van derLinden & C. E. Hanson. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, pp. 357-390.
Kundzewicz, Z. W., L. J. Mata, N. W. Arnell, P. Doll, P. Kabat, B. Jimenez, K. A. Miller, T. Oki, A. Sen & I. A. Shiklomanov. (2007). “Freshwater resources and their management.” In Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Eds. M. L. Parry, O. F. Canziani, J. P. Palutikof, R. J. van derLinden & C. E. Hanson. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, pp. 173-210.
Rosegrant, M. W. & S. A. Cline. (2003). “Global food security: challenges and policies.” Science. Vol. 302 (Dec. 12). Pp. 1917-1919
Strzepek, K. M. & D. N. Yates. “Responses and thresholds of the Egyptian economy to climate change impacts on the water resources of the Nile river.” (2000). Climate Change 46. Pp. 339-356
Tao, F., M. Yokozawa, Y. Hayashi & E. Lin. (2005). “A perspective on water resources in China: interactions between climate change and soil degradation.” Climate Change 68. Pp. 169-197