Hard paths, soft paths or no paths? Cross-cultural perceptions of water solutions

Published in Hydrology and Earth Systems Sciences, January 13, 2014.

Authors

Amber Wutich, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, ASU

A.C. White, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, ASU

Dave D. White, School of Community Resources and Development, ASU

Kelli L. Larson, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, ASU

Alexandra Brewis, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, ASU

Christopher Roberts, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, ASU

Abstract

In this study, we examine how development status and water scarcity shape people's perceptions of "hard path" and "soft path" water solutions. Based on ethnographic research conducted in four semi-rural/peri-urban sites (in Bolivia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the US), we use content analysis to conduct statistical and thematic comparisons of interview data. Our results indicate clear differences associated with development status and, to a lesser extent, water scarcity. People in the two less developed sites were more likely to suggest hard path solutions, less likely to suggest soft path solutions, and more likely to see no path to solutions than people in the more developed sites. Thematically, people in the two less developed sites envisioned solutions that involve small-scale water infrastructure and decentralized, community-based solutions, while people in the more developed sites envisioned solutions that involve large-scale infrastructure and centralized, regulatory water solutions. People in the two water-scarce sites were less likely to suggest soft path solutions and more likely to see no path to solutions (but no more likely to suggest hard path solutions) than people in the water-rich sites. Thematically, people in the two water-rich sites seemed to perceive a wider array of unrealized potential soft path solutions than those in the water-scarce sites. On balance, our findings are encouraging in that they indicate that people are receptive to soft path solutions in a range of sites, even those with limited financial or water resources. Our research points to the need for more studies that investigate the social feasibility of soft path water solutions, particularly in sites with significant financial and natural resource constraints.

Citation

Wutich, A., White, A. C., White, D. D., Larson, K. L., Brewis, A., & Roberts, C. (2014). Hard paths, soft paths or no paths? Cross-cultural perceptions of water solutions. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18(1), 109-120. doi: 10.5194/hess-18-109-2014

Read the entire article at Hydrology and Earth Systems Sciences.

In the December 2013 issue of Sustainability: Journal of Record, Scott G. McNall and George Basile discuss the current discourse surrounding sustainability and how a new narrative on the corresponding issues can change the shape of our future.

In their article, “How to Create a New Narrative for Sustainability That Will Work: And Why It Matters,” McNall and Basile, a professor in the Executive Master’s for Sustainability Leadership program and a sustainability scientist in ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability, write that while climate change continues to affect our planet, “humans are hardwired to respond to the danger in front of them, not the danger on the horizon.”

Fortunately, we humans are “storytelling creatures” and can craft this new sustainability narrative with real-life metaphors, humor, emotion and applicable values, so suggest the authors.

“In crafting stories about the human condition and our future, we must remember that humans have proven themselves to be resilient, creative and adaptable over millennia,” write NcNall and Basile. In part 2 of their series, the authors will share specific guidelines for crafting a new narrative for action.

Kelli Larson’s interdisciplinary background lies in resource geography and environmental studies. Her research primarily deals with nature-society relationships and natural resource management. In the past, Dr. Larson has also investigated sustainable farming decisions and international water conflicts. Now at ASU, metro Phoenix serves as a primary laboratory for her work with the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research and the Decision Center for a Desert City. You can learn more in Dr. Larson’s courses: Society and the Environment, Human Dimensions of Sustainability, Geographic Research Methods, and Workshops on Residential Land Management and Urban Water Governance.

1. Can you describe the first time you became interested in sustainability?

I first approached the topic of sustainability through the lens of natural resource management, specifically the fact that environmental resources on which society depends are being depleted and degraded to points at which both communities and ecosystems are suffering around the world.

2. What made you want to become a professor?

I have a passion for knowledge and learning, including a deep curiosity in understanding how and why people do what they do in relation to natural resources and the environment. This was largely sparked by my undergraduate mentors, one of whom hired me to do research in my junior and senior years. I fell in love with the research process, and my mentors encouraged and recruited me to stay on for a master’s degree. From there, I just kept moving toward the academic path of research, teaching, and service. As a professor now, I highly value the flexibility I have in continuing to pursue my own intellectual interests and problems that are important for society and the environment.

3. Why did you choose to teach and conduct research at Arizona State University?

I chose ASU for the vast opportunities offered by various programs across the university, particularly in the realm of urban ecology and sustainability. The Decision Center for a Desert City and Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) programs especially sparked my interest, as did the focus on interdisciplinary, problem-driven research and teaching. In short, when I first read my position’s description, it seemed as though the job was written specially for me.

4. How did your personal university education shape the way you teach now?

Both as a human-environment geographer and a scholar in the environmental sciences, I cannot imagine approaching sustainability without a transdisciplinary mindset. This pervades my teaching, along with a problem- and goal-centric focus. Some of my favorite teachers in the past employed a “devil’s advocate” path to critical thinking, which has also led to my inclusion of debates and attention to differing perspectives and viewpoints in my classes—be they scientific, political, cultural or otherwise.

5. What can students expect from your courses?

I encourage my students to back up their own views with knowledge and sound logic, regardless of what they think about various sustainability matters as they enter my courses. This includes questioning assumptions and preconceived ideas about the causes and consequences of particular problems. In addition to thinking critically (rather than simplistically) about sustainability, I feel strongly about the need for students to draw from credible and diverse information sources in their own research and projects. I also emphasize writing skills and professionalism, as I see these as essential tools regardless of where students’ futures lead them after their time at ASU.

6. What is one main “golden nugget” of knowledge you infuse into all of your courses?

What people think and do matters, as we ourselves are agents of change! Further, we don’t all think or act in the same manner for diverse and complex reasons that are critical in pursuing sustainability.

7. In your own words, describe your research interests.

My research lies at the intersection of human-environment relations and environmental governance, particularly water management. This primarily means I focus on what people do and why they do it, so that policies and programs can be structured to solve sustainability problems and to manage natural resources both fairly and effectively. Right now, the overarching questions guiding my ongoing research projects are: 1) How and why are residential landscapes managed in certain ways, and what are the implications for water resources, ecosystem services, and urban sustainability, and 2) How and why are community water systems vulnerable or resilient to climate changes, urbanization, and other perturbations, and how might water management and environmental planning be transformed toward a sustainable future.

8. How do your research interests help achieve a more sustainable future?

My interests help understand human behavior as well as the social acceptability and political feasibility of various natural resource management regimes. My research provides recommendations for how we might govern resources in ways that meet societal goals, while also providing insights on how to improve the well-being of diverse communities and ecosystems now and into the future.

9. What is the global sustainability challenge that concerns you the most?

I am most concerned with equitable access to water of a sufficient quality, both for people and ecosystems.

10. Finally, what does the word “sustainability” mean to you?

Simply put, sustainability means living in ways that can continue into the future. Although my own educational training was based more in the environmental sciences, I see sustainability as distinctive in that it more centrally considers not just the natural environment, but also society and the economy. Moreover, as a problem- and goal-centered field of study, and because of complex human-environment dynamics involving difficult tradeoffs, sustainability must adaptively address multiple objectives with effectiveness, efficiency, and equity as important criteria for decision-making.

The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has appointed Cheryl Selinsky as senior director and chief operating officer. In this role, Selinsky will direct all operational and financial aspects for the research institute.

Biodesign combines the talents of more than 500 scientists and staff to advance research that will improve human health and the health of our planet and make the world a safer place.

“The atmosphere within the Biodesign Institute is one of true collaboration and teamwork, an environment conducive to big science,” says Selinsky. “I count my time there as one of the best opportunities I have had to develop technical skills, mentor junior scientists and drive scientific programs forward.”

Selinsky has 20 years of experience in translational research and product and technology development. Her most recent position was as the senior director for translational research development at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix.

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City of Phoenix, Arizona State University to Partner on New Regional Resource Innovation Center

Annual savings expected from regional public/private waste reduction collaborative

PHOENIX – The city of Phoenix took another substantial leap forward as a global sustainability leader Tuesday afternoon as its city council gave policy approval of a four year agreement to work with Arizona State University to establish a ground-breaking public/private sustainability incubator focused on converting waste and other resources into economic value.

The Center for Resource Intelligence (CfRI) will be a network of public and private entities that provides a wide array of research, development, education and solution services to more effectively manage resources and create economic value. Industries ranging from energy, water, resource extraction, product development, manufacturing and recycling will collaborate in this effort that city staff project could result in $1-3 million of savings annually.

"This is about turning trash once destined for the landfill into business opportunities and jobs for our community," said Mayor Greg Stanton. "With this effort, Phoenix can lead the way to discover how to reduce our waste in a way that spurs innovation and advances our economy."

CfRI will be managed by the Sustainability Solutions Services (S3), a program within the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives at ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability, in collaboration with the city, private sector affiliates and other municipalities and institutions. The city’s investment will initially focus on creating value, economic opportunity and jobs out of waste streams.

"Sustainability is the 'low-hanging fruit' when it comes to identifying new ways to save taxpayer dollars and generate new revenue to run our city," said Vice Mayor Bill Gates, chairman of the City Council Finance, Efficiency, Economy and Sustainability Subcommittee. "This public-private partnership will maximize our efforts by

encouraging green entrepreneurs to bring their businesses and ideas to life right here in Phoenix."

The center will work with various businesses and government entities to address types

of waste streams including food scraps, recyclables and yard waste using a project oriented collaborative model. Center collaborators will be able to introduce and sponsor projects while taking advantage of the knowledge base and synergies present within the CfRI’s network.

"The city of Phoenix is leading the way in supporting green entrepreneurs and reducing our solid waste," said Councilwoman Kate Gallego. "Sustainable businesses are the future of Phoenix."

The CfRI resulted from a series of stakeholder workshops conducted by S3 in collaboration with Phoenix’s Public Works Department to facilitate a regional partnership that will develop technologies and markets and create economic opportunities.

"This seed investment from the city of Phoenix will allow the Center for Resource Intelligence to develop a large network of organizations in the Valley and potentially around the globe that can collaborate to help achieve the levels of resource effectiveness required for 9 billion people to live well on the planet by 2050," said Dan O’Neill, general manager for S3. "We appreciate the leadership of John Trujillo and the team in the city’s Public Works Department for having the vision to find solutions to our Valley’s – and planet’s – sustainability challenges."

City staff estimates an additional 10 to 25 percent diversion of solid waste from landfill to other uses through the research and development of the CfRI and partnerships with the private sector.

The Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives are the result of a $27.5 million investment in Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability by the Walton Family Foundation. Within the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives, diverse teams of faculty, students, entrepreneurs, researchers, and innovators collaborate to deliver sustainability solutions, accelerate global impact, and inspire future leaders through eight distinct initiatives. For more information visit sustainabilitysolutions.asu.edu.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

ASU Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives

Jason Franz, 480-727-4072

City of Phoenix

Yvette Roeder, 602-495-0189

The City of Phoenix city council approved a four-year partnership with Arizona State University to create the Center for Resource Intelligence. The center will provide a wide array of research, development, education, and solutions services to more effectively manage the city's resources and create economic value.

Industries such as energy, water, resource extraction, product development, manufacturing, and recycling will collaborate to convert trash once destined for the landfill into business opportunities and jobs. The center is part of the City's effort to create value, economic opportunity, and jobs.

The center will be managed by the Sustainability Solutions Services program, part of the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives at ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability.

Colorado River Drought Forces a Painful Reckoning for States

By Michael Wines via The New York Times on January 5, 2014

The sinuous Colorado River and its slew of man-made reservoirs from the Rockies to southern Arizona are being sapped by 14 years of drought nearly unrivaled in 1,250 years.

The once broad and blue river has in many places dwindled to a murky brown trickle. Reservoirs have shrunk to less than half their capacities, the canyon walls around them ringed with white mineral deposits where water once lapped. Seeking to stretch their allotments of the river, regional water agencies are recycling sewage effluent, offering rebates to tear up grass lawns and subsidizing less thirsty appliances from dishwashers to shower heads.

But many experts believe the current drought is only the harbinger of a new, drier era in which the Colorado’s flow will be substantially and permanently diminished.

Faced with the shortage, federal authorities this year will for the first time decrease the amount of water that flows into Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, from Lake Powell 180 miles upstream. That will reduce even more the level of Lake Mead, a crucial source of water for cities from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and for millions of acres of farmland.

Reclamation officials say there is a 50-50 chance that by 2015, Lake Mead’s water will be rationed to states downstream. That, too, has never happened before.

"If Lake Mead goes below elevation 1,000" — 1,000 feet above sea level — "we lose any capacity to pump water to serve the municipal needs of seven in 10 people in the state of Nevada," said John Entsminger, the senior deputy general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

Since 2008, Mr. Entsminger’s agency has been drilling an $817 million tunnel under Lake Mead — a third attempt to capture more water as two higher tunnels have become threatened by the lake’s falling level. In September, faced with the prospect that one of the tunnels could run dry before the third one was completed, the authority took emergency measures: still another tunnel, this one to stretch the life of the most threatened intake until construction of the third one is finished.

These new realities are forcing a profound reassessment of how the 1,450-mile Colorado, the Southwest’s only major river, can continue to slake the thirst of one of the nation’s fastest-growing regions. Agriculture, from California’s Imperial Valley to Wyoming’s cattle herds, soaks up about three-quarters of its water, and produces 15 percent of the nation’s food. But 40 million people also depend on the river and its tributaries, and their numbers are rising rapidly.

Continue the article and view multimedia at The New York Times.

Arizona water shortage forecast for next year

From Channel 12 News in Phoenix, watch Brahm Resnik's interview with DCDC Director, Dave White, to get his take on the recent New York Times article by Michael Wines on drought in the West. Check out the video at AZCentral.com.

Read more about drought in the West from DCDC

Garrity, C.M., R.S. Cerveny, and E.A. Wentz. 2010. Vertical moisture profile characteristics of severe surface drought and surface wetness in the western United States: 1973-2002. International Journal of Climatology 30(6):894-900.

Balling, R.C., and G.B. Goodrich. 2010. Increasing drought in the American Southwest? A continental perspective using a spatial analytical evaluation of recent trends. Physical Geography 31(4):293-306.

Ellis, A.W., G.B. Goodrich, and G.M. Garfin. 2010. A hydroclimatic index for examining patterns of drought in the Colorado River Basin. International Journal of Climatology 32(2):236-255. DOI: 10.1002/joc.1882.

How Will the Current Drought Affect Our Future Water Supply? By Sally Wittlinger, DCDC Research Analyst in Arizona Indicators Policy Points.

According to a new report compiled by Arizona State University’s Sustainability Solution Services , the city of Phoenix achieved a 7.2 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, exceeding it goal by 2.2 percent three years ahead of schedule. In 2008 the city council adopted a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from city operations to five percent below the 2005 levels by 2015. The city met and exceeded that objective within four years.

The most recent greenhouse gas emissions report , was compiled by Sustainability Solution Services , a program within the Global Institute of Sustainability’s Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives , and states that in 2012, the city achieved a 7.2 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by emitting 629,504 metric tons of carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide equivalents.

"By already reaching its 2015 target for emissions reduction, the City of Phoenix has demonstrated its commitment to sustainability practices and reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said Rajesh Buch, practice lead for the Sustainability Solutions Services at ASU. "Continuing these practices and adopting the recommended actions should not only double emissions reductions by 2015, but also create a more resilient metropolitan region."

With support and guidance from the mayor and city council members, the city was able to reduce greenhouse emissions through the use of sustainable infrastructure and programs, including advanced methane capture systems at city-owned landfills; biodiesel and ethanol alternative fuels; energy-efficient streetlights, traffic signals, water and wastewater upgrades; energy efficiency measures in more than 45 city buildings; and various city solar power projects.

ASU helped assess and verify the results of the greenhouse gas emissions report by comparing the city’s emissions in 2005 and 2012, and evaluating the progress made toward the Climate Action Plan. With support and guidance from the mayor and city council members, huge improvements and changes were made by Phoenix since 2005, particularly in the use of sustainable infrastructure and programs including advanced methane capture systems at city-owned landfills, biodiesel and ethanol alternative fuels, energy-efficient streetlights and traffic signals, water and wastewater upgrades, energy efficiency measures in more than 45 city buildings, and various city solar power projects.

The findings of the 2012 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions Report was released by the Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton on Dec. 3 at the third annual Go Green Conference hosted by the city of Phoenix and the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives.

For more information on Phoenix’ greenhouse gas Inventory, contact Raj Buch, rbuch@asu.edu

For information on undertaking a greenhouse Inventory for your community, contact Mick Dalrymple, mick.dalrymple@asu.edu

Recommended links

- City of Phoenix 2012 Emissions Reduction Summary Report

Overharvest by commercial whaling has been a well-recognized world threat to stable whale populations since the International Whaling Commission (IWC) issued a moratorium against commercial whaling in 1986. However, because of loopholes, whaling countries at odds with the ban continue to hunt under the guise of scientific whaling or in outright objection to the IWC, while the IWC and its members, as well as whale conservationists, can offer few methods to enforce the ban or effectively curb whale harvests.

This lack of cooperation and constructive communication among whalers, the IWC and conservationists has posed a decade’s old roadblock to solution building and balancing whaling practices with stabilization of whale populations.

One recently proposed solution is the creation of “whale shares,” an approach developed by Leah Gerber, a professor in Arizona State University’s School of Life Sciences, and colleagues from the University of California, Santa Barbara, is published as a forum in the January issue of Ecological Applications.