Download In the coming decades, water will be the central issue

New York University
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
Water Sourcing and Delivery in an Era of Climate Change
URPL-GP.2666.001
Wednesday 4:55-6:35
Spring 2011
Meyer 157 - 455-635
Instructor:
Natasha Iskander
Puck Building
295 Lafayette St., Room 3043
212-998-7479
[email protected]
Office Hours: Mondays 5:00pm -6:30pm or by appointment
Teaching Colleague:
Jennifer Farmwald
[email protected]
Office hours: by appointment
Jessica Holmes, Administrative Assistant
[email protected],
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 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 (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, including:



water sources and climate change;
the political economy of water sourcing and provision; and
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 (class 3 in Module 2) features a guest speaker who is a recognized expert
on the issue covered in the module; the speaker will deliver a public lecture as part of the
Wagner Climate Coalition’s “Water Sourcing and Delivery in an Era of Climate Change”
Speaker Series. 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
URPL-GP.2666.001
2
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]
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:
Case selection: Please note that you need to select your top three choices for cases and email
them to the instructor by Jan 31, 5 p.m. (form is available on BlackBoard). You will receive
your case assignments in class on Feb 1. Please also note that each team will have to
designate a contact person (form available on BlackBoard).
Readings, class participation, and feedback (20% of total grade): 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. Feedback on student presentations and
memos is expected to be constructive and timely. Specific information on feedback for
memos is provided below. The completion of readings, class participation (including
providing constructive, thoughtful, and detailed oral and written feedback to colleagues), and
the initial reflection essay account for 20 percent of the final grade.
Presentations and memos (80% of total grade): (see below for instructions on submission).

Reflection essay on Fred Pearce’s When the Rivers Run Dry: The Defining Crisis
of the Twenty-First Century: 1,000-1,500 words. Please choose one or two themes
or one or two examples from the book. Briefly describe and summarize the themes or
examples that caught your attention (no more than 300 words) and then reflect on
why they resonated for you. Did they surprise you? Did they confirm or complement
something that you believed or knew? Did they raise unexpected questions for you?
Please write this essay thoughtfully and carefully. Essay due Tuesday, January 31,
midnight. Email essay to instructor ([email protected]) and Jessica Holmes
([email protected]) with the following in the subject line: WATER [your name]
[Pearce essay] – e.g. Alvarez Pearce Essay. Please make sure to include [your
name] [Pearce essay] on each page of the essay.

Module 1 Memo and Presentation (15% of total grade): Students are expected to
prepare a five-page memo and a PowerPoint 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. Memo due Monday, Feb. 20 at 5 p.m.
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—including
Q&A—should be 10 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. Please include a map in your presentation. 15 percent of
total grade. Evaluation: Memo 1 will be evaluated based on the robustness of your
URPL-GP.2666.001
3
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]
research, the depth of your analytical thinking, and the quality of your questions.
You are not expected to have the answers for this memo. It is an opportunity for you
to work through ideas and challenges. As part of the workshop format of the course,
the better your questions are, the more grounded they are in good research, the more
helpful the feedback you are likely to get.

Module 2 Memo (15% of total grade): Students are expected to prepare a 7- to 10page memo of the political and economic factors shaping water sourcing and
distribution, as well as sanitation provision, if applicable, in their water system.
Memo due Monday, April 2 at 5 p.m. All students in the class need to read the
memos of other teams and come to class prepared to give constructive and specific
feedback. There is no presentation for this module. Teams will be paired up and will
discuss each other’s memos in detail. 15 percent of total grade. Please note that
memos should build on each other: The second memo should build on the first.
Consider these memos white papers—building blocks—for the final memo.
Evaluation: same as for Memo 1.
o Team-to-Team Feedback: 300 words. Each team is expected to review the
memo of another team (team assignments will be made in class) and write a
thoughtful, if short, written commentary. Please come to class with additional
oral commentary. In your written feedback, please point out the strengths of
the memo. Please also point out areas that could be further developed,
questions that may have been overlooked or glossed over, inconsistencies or
internal contradictions, factual and conceptual. Please feel free to also suggest
helpful resources or readings. The feedback should be sent to the team contact
and the instructor and the TC before class – 12 p.m. on April 4.

Module 3: 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.
o Final memo (35% of total grade): Student teams will write a final 10-page
memo 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. Draft copies of the final memos are due on Monday, April 23
at 5 p.m.. Students will present their draft concepts on Wednesday, April 25,
when we will discuss them. Presentations—including Q&A—should last no
more than 15 minutes. They should be considered a complement to team
memos—NOT a summary of the memos. Please note that Tuesday, April 25,
we will have an extended class session to accommodate student presentations.
Class will be held from 4:55 p.m. to 8:25 p.m. 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, Wednesday, May
2. Final memos account for 35 percent of the final grade. Evaluation of final
version of Memo 3: this memo should provide working solutions to the
URPL-GP.2666.001
4
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]
problems you have identified in previous memos. Your solutions should be
explained and justified using data. Finally, the final version of Memo 3
should be polished, carefully written and organized, and accessible.
o Individual-to-Team Feedback: 250 words. Each person will be assigned a
team memo and will be required to provide individual feedback. This means
that each team memo will receive 4 separate individual commentaries. For
guidelines on the quality of feedback, please refer to the description under
Module 2. Please send feedback to the team contact (see below), the TC, and
the instructor before class – 12 p.m. on April 25.
Email memos to instructor ([email protected]) and Jennifer Farmwald
([email protected]) with the following in the subject line: WATER [your team]
[Memo 1] – e.g. Peru Pearce Essay. Please make sure to include [your team] [Memo
1] on each page of the memo. Also please make sure that you include the name of
your teammates on the first of the memo. Then use BB to circulate the memo to your
colleagues.

Final essay (15% of total grade): Each student will write a final individual 1,500word essay on an aspect of water and climate change that he or she 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 Tuesday, May 15 at 5 p.m., and accounts for 15 percent of the final
grade. Final essays should be turned into the instructor ([email protected])
and Jessica Holmes ([email protected]) per the regular submission format:
WATER [your name] [final essay] in email subject line.
A word on teams: team work that is this intensive can be challenging and can strain even the
best of interpersonal interactions. If your team is starts to experience interpersonal strain,
please seek support from the instructor or TC – do this sooner rather than later.
Also, all teams must designate a contact person—this is the person the instructor and TC will
communicate with regarding all team related matters. It is the responsibility of the contact
person to pass along the information to all team members.
Ongoing feedback and check-in: each team is required to send a check-in email to the TC –
Jennifer Farmwald—by Tuesday 5pm on weeks when we will be hosting speakers. So, emails to
Jennifer are due on Feb 14, March 27, and April 17. The emails should provide a brief update
(1-2 paras) on your progress toward completing the relevant memo, and identify areas where
your team may need additional guidance and support. At least one member of each team must
personally check in with Jennifer after the speaker session.
See end of syllabus for schedule summary.
URPL-GP.2666.001
5
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]
4. Cases:

Improving access to water in rural Senegal: This project examines the large
disparity that exists between access to water in urban and rural areas in Senegal.
Despite rapidly increasing access to potable water in Dakar and its environs, the
public-private partnership forged between the government and private sector in
Senegal has proven incapable of translating its successes to rural areas. For example,
the situation is particular poor in southeastern state of Tambacounda, where only an
estimated 31 percent of rural communities have access to safe drinking water.

Flooding, sea level rise, and governance in the Khulna district of Bangladesh: This
project will explore the impact of increasing flooding and higher sea levels in the
deltaic southwestern district of Khulna, Bangladesh. One of the country’s poorest
districts and one with particularly weak political representation at the central
government level, Khulna is faced with a bleak future owing to flooding and siltation,
more catastrophic weather, and sea-level rise and salinity of river water.

Adapting to climate change in Peru’s Santa Ana River Basin: The Santa Ana River
Basin supports many small and large communities and activities that range from
small, subsistence farming and grazing to larger farms and hydropower generation.
Rapidly disappearing glaciers are dramatically increasing the vulnerability
experienced by people living in this arid area and demanding that local, regional, and
national institutions adapt to face this challenge.

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 to Vegas.

Pacific Islands and climate change: Of the island and archipelago countries all over
the world, the Pacific Islands are most vulnerable to climate change, manifested most
saliently through rising sea levels. This is because all of the islands are near the
equator and are experiencing a rise in sea level higher than the global average.

Drought and agriculture in Australia: This project is an exploration of how human
pastoral and agricultural activities have intensifying broader climate change effects in
New South Wales and the River Red Gum Forest of the Northeastern Savannah.
URPL-GP.2666.001
6
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]
5. Speaker Series
Three of our class sessions will feature researchers working on various aspects of
hydrology, water sourcing and provision, and adaptation. This speaker series is open to
the public and is co-sponsored by the Wagner Climate Coalition, an alliance of Wagner
students and student groups concerned about climate change.

Dr. Tara Troy
Earth Institute Post-Doctoral Fellow, IRI, Columbia University
Wednesday, Feb. 15, 4:55 p.m. – 6:35 p.m.
Kimmel Center 805
Tara Troy holds a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from Princeton
University, where she studied the hydrology of northern Eurasia with a focus on change
in terrestrial water and energy cycles. As an Earth Institute fellow, she is conducting a
holistic study that accounts for seasonal variability, climate change, population change
and human effects on the water cycle that would provide critically needed information
about the effect of water scarcity on sustainable development.
The Interaction Between Climate, Surface Hydrology, and Human Water Demands
This discussion explores two case studies that shed insight on how climate, surface
hydrology, and human water demands interact. The first case focuses on how changes in
climate are driving changes in the surface hydrology. Northern Eurasia has experienced
significant warming trends during the past century as well as increases in streamflow.
Through the use of a numerical land surface model and in-situ observations, Dr. Troy
shows that the interactions of precipitation and temperature trends during the past century
have resulted in changes in the snowpack that then caused the documented increases in
streamflow. The second case focuses on the interactions of climate variability and human
water demands in the Indus River Basin, the breadbaskets of India and Pakistan.
Monsoon rainfall dominates the seasonal cycle of precipitation, but large agricultural
water demands occur during the drier winter season, which has led to an overreliance on
groundwater pumping to ensure a constant irrigation supply.

Professor Greg White
Professor of Government and the Elizabeth Mugar Eveillard '69 Faculty Director of the
Global Studies Center, Smith College
Wednesday, March 28, 4:55 pm – 6:35 p.m.
Rudin Forum, 295 Lafayette St., 2nd Floor
Gregory White teaches courses on international political economy, global environmental
politics, migration and refugees, and North African politics at Smith College. He is the
author of Climate Refugees or Mere Migrants: Climate-Induced Migration, Security, and
Borders in a Warming World (Oxford University Press, 2011) and articles in journals,
such as the Review of International Political Economy, Perspectives on Politics, Middle
East Journal, and Middle East Policy. Professor White is currently an associate editor of
the Journal of North African Studies and serves on the boards of the American Institute
for Maghrib Studies, the Tangiers American Legation Museum and Research Center in
Morocco, and the World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts.
URPL-GP.2666.001
7
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]
The Securitization of Climate Change: 'Threat Multipliers' and Climate Migration
in Africa
This presentation unpacks the security discourse that emerged in the last decade
concerning climate change. It examines the framing of climate change as a "threat
multiplier," "fire accelerant," and "security risk." It argues that such a framing is a
strategic choice that supports key interests and agendas, while undermining more
productive ways of adapting to the likely effects of climate change.

Maryam Hariri
Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Amsterdam VU
Wednesday, April 18, 4:55 p.m. – 6:35 p.m.
Location TBD
Maryam Hariri is an urban planner, researcher, and writer on climate change adaptation
issues in cities. She is currently a visiting fellow at the Institute for Environmental
Studies at the University of Amsterdam VU where she is conducting a comparative
research study on spatial planning policies and flood resilience in dense, aging coastal
cities such as New York City, Rotterdam, and London. She has worked on related water
and sanitation, land use, and municipal sustainability planning policies with government
and community stakeholders in California, Bangladesh, and Turkey. She received her
masters in Urban Planning from New York University and bachelors in International
Development and Middle Eastern Studies from University of California Berkeley.
Using ‘Softer’ Interventions for Technological Innovation in Climate Change
Technological solutions to climate change threats have traditionally focused on protection
and prevention through “hard” (engineering-oriented) solutions (i.e. building dykes,).
More recently, however, there has been a shift toward “softer” (ecologically-oriented)
interventions that replicate and/or enhance nature to increase resiliency—an approach
sometimes referred to as “building with nature.” This lecture will focus on the
intersection of technological innovations and climate adaptation in urban environments. It
will use New York City and Amsterdam as case studies.
Previous speakers have included (podcasts of several of the discussions can be found
on http://wagner.nyu.edu/podcasts/):
o Upmanu Lall, Director, Earth Institute at Columbia University
(http://www.columbia.edu/~ula2/)
o Jessica Barnes, Sustainable Development, Columbia University, Ph.D. candidate
(http://www.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/education/phd/JBarnes_CV.pdf)
o Mark Carey, Assistant Professor, Washington and Lee University, author of In the
Shadow of Melting Glaciers (http://home.wlu.edu/~careym/)
o Daniel Hillel, Senior Research Scientist, The Earth Institute, Columbia University
(http://www.giss.nasa.gov/staff/dhillel.html)
o Fred Pearce, author of When the Rivers Run Dry
(http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1775)
o Bryan Mark, Assistant Professor, Ohio State University, Department of Geography &
Byrd Polar Research Center (http://www.geography.osu.edu/faculty/bmark/)
URPL-GP.2666.001
8
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]
6. Required Books
These titles are available at the NYU bookstore, and the remaining readings are available
on Blackboard or through hyperlinks in this syllabus.

The Weather of the Future
Heidi Cullen
ISBN: 006172694X

When the Rivers Run Dry: Water—The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-first Century
Fred Pearce
ISBN: 0807085731
7. Recommended readings on hydrology (not required)




Brutsaert, Wilfried. Hydrology: An Introduction. http://www.amazon.com/HydrologyIntroduction-Wilfried-Brutsaert/dp/0521824796
Loucks, D. et al. Water Resources Systems Planning and Management: An
Introduction to Methods, Models, and Applications. UNESCO.
http://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/2804
Tindell J., Kunkel J. Unsaturated Zone Hydrology for Scientists and
Engineers. http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/projects/GW_Unsat/Unsat_Zone_Book/index.h
tml
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate Change 2001: Chapter 4:
Hydrology and Water. http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg2/index.php?idp=159
URPL-GP.2666.001
9
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]
8. Modules:
Introduction: Water systems, water sourcing, water delivery
Readings:

Pearce, F. (2006). When the Rivers Run Dry. Boston: Beacon
Press

“The truth about water wars.” (2009). Seed Magazine.
http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/the_truth_about_water_w
ars/

Mann, Charles. (2007). “The Rise of Big Water.” Vanity Fair.
May 2007. http://charlesmann.org/articles/Water-Vanity-Fair-0507-a.pdf

G. Howard et al. (2010). Securing 2020 vision for 2030: climate
change and ensuring resilience in water and sanitation services.
Journal of Water and Climate Change.
http://www.iwaponline.com/jwc/001/0002/0010002.pdf
Due: Reflection essay on Fred Pearce’s When the Rivers Run Dry
URPL-GP.2666.001
10
Jan. 25 – Feb. 1
Jan. 31, midnight
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]
Feb. 8, Feb.
15, Feb. 22
Module 1: Climate Change, Water Availability, and Social Impacts
Readings:

Cullen, Heidi. (2010). The Weather of the Future. Harpercollins
ebooks. Part 1, 2 chapters from Part 2 (your choice), and epilogue.

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.

Mao, Dahzi et al. (2010). “Development of a coupled soil erosion and
large-scale hydrology monitoring system.” Water Resources Research.
46 (8). Pp. 1-15.

Semadeni-Davies, A. (2004). “Urban water management vs. climate
change: impacts on cold region waste water inflow.” Climate Change
64. Pp. 103-126

Showers, K. B. (2002). “Water scarcity and urban Africa: an overview
of urban-rural water linkages.” World Development. Vol. 30(4). Pp.
621-648
Speaker: Dr. Tara Troy
Presentations: Consider the water system in which the water sourcing and
water delivery of your project is embedded. How will this system be affected
by climate change? What impacts will this have on the water sourcing and
delivery mechanisms of your project?
URPL-GP.2666.001
11
Feb. 15
Feb. 22
Memo due:
Feb. 20
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]
Feb. 29, Mar
7, Mar 28,
April 4
Module 2: Political Economy of Water Sourcing and Delivery
Readings:
Part 1: Water trade: Virtual water, privatization, and pricing schemes

Galiani, S., P. Gertler, E. Schargrodsky. (2002). Water for Life: The
Impact of the Privatization of Water Services on Child Mortality.
Stanford University: Center for Research on Economic Development
and Policy Reform. Working Paper No. 154.

Solo, T. M. (2003). Independent Water Entrepreneurs in Latin
America: The Other Private Sector in Water Services. Department of
Finance, Private Sector and Infrastructure, Latin American Region, The
World Bank and Energy and Water Department, Private Sector
Development and Infrastructure, The World Bank.

Wilder, M. & P. R. Lankao. (2006). “Paradoxes of decentralization:
water reform and social implications in Mexico.” World Development,
Vol. 34(11). Pp. 1977-1995

Neville, Kate. (2011). Adversaries versus Partners: Urban Water
Supply in the Philippine. Pacific Affairs 84. 2 (Jun 2011): 245-265.

Coppel, Gabriel Patrón; Schwartz, Klaas. (2011). Water operator
partnerships as a model to achieve the Millennium Development Goals
for water supply? Lessons from four cities in Mozambique. Water S.A
37. 4 (Oct 2011): 575-583.

Gleick, P. H., G. Wolff, E. L. Chalecki, R. Reyes. (2002). The New
Economy of Water: The Risks and Benefits of Globalization and
Privatization of Fresh Water. Oakland, CA: Pacific Institute for Studies
in Development, Environment, and Security.

Whittington, D., J. Boland, & V. Foster. (2002). Water: Understanding
the Basics. Paper 1.Washington DC: Public-Private Infrastructure
Advisory Facility (PPIAF) & Water and Sanitation Program.

Wheida, E. & R. Verhoeven. (2007). “The role of ‘virtual water’ in the
water resources management of the Libyan Jamahiriya.” Desalination
205. Pp. 312-316

Zhang, L., J. Wang, J. Huan & S. Rozelle. (2008). “Development of
groundwater markets in China: A glimpse into progress to date.” World
Development, Vol. 36(4). Pp. 706-726
URPL-GP.2666.001
12
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]

Yang, H. & A. J. B. Zehnder. (2002). “Water scarcity and food import:
A case study for southern Mediterranean countries.” World
Development, Vol. 30(8). Pp. 1413-1430

Chapagain, A. K., A. Y Hoekstra, & H. H. G. Savenije. (2005). Saving
Water Through Global Trade. Value of Water Research Report Series
No. 17. The Netherlands: UNESCO-IHE Delft.

Allan, J.A. (2003). “Virtual water – the water, food, and trade nexus: useful
concept or misleading metaphor?” IWRA, Water International, Vol. 28(1).
Pp. 4-11
Part 2: Water access: Gender, power, and place

Bennett, V. (1995). The Politics of Water: Urban Protest, Gender and
Power in Monterrey, Mexico. Pittsburgh and London: University of
Pittsburgh Press.
Speaker: Professor Greg White
March 28

Paul J. Smith. "Climate Change, Mass Migration and the Military
Response," Orbis, Fall 2007, 617-633.

Christian Parenti, Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New
Geography of Violence New York: Nation Books, 2011, chapters 13.
Presentations: Please evaluate the political economy of water as it applies to
your case. How is water traded in the water sourcing and distribution system in
your case? Consider pricing, ownership and distribution schemes. What kind
of access to water do people who use the water in your case have? What are
the factors that shape their access? Consider factors such as social identity
(gender), social power (social class), and spatial location.
Apr 4
Memo due:
Apr 2
Module 3: Technological and Institutional Innovation for Adaptation to
Apr 11, Apr
URPL-GP.2666.001
13
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]
Climate Change
Readings:
 Yuhas, E. & T. Daniels. (2006). The U.S. freshwater supply challenge:
Experiences with desalination as part of the solution. Journal of
Environmental Planning and Management. 49(4). Pp. 571-585

Connors, G. (2005). “When utilities muddle through: Pro-poor
governance in Bangalore’s public water sector.” Environment and
Urbanization. 17. Pp. 201-217

Burra, S., S. Patel & T. Kerr. (2003). “Community-designed, built and
managed toilet blocks in Indian cities.” Environment and Urbanization. 15.
Pp. 11-32

Funke, N., K. Nortje, K. Findlater, M. Burns, et al. (2007). “Redressing
inequality: South Africa’s new water policy.” Environment. 49(3). Pp. 11-23

Dutilly-Diane, C., E. Sadoulet, & A. de Janvry. (2003). “Household
behaviour under market failures: How natural resource management in
agriculture promotes livestock production in the Sahel.” Journal of
African Economies. 12(3). Pp. 343-370

Cohen, S., D. Neilsen, S. Smith, T. Neale, B. Taylor, M. Barton, W.
Merritt, Y. Alila, P. Shepherd, R. McNeill, J. Tansey, J. Carmichael &
S. Langsdale. (2006). “Learning with local help: expanding the
dialogue on climate change and water management in the Okanagan
region, British Columbia, Canada.” Climatic Change. 75. Pp. 331-358

Dizikes, p. 2010. Out of Thick Air (Fog Harvesting). MIT News.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/fog-harvesting0421.html?tr=y&auid=8231637

Rainwater Harvesting – River from the Sky: http://siusa.org/projects/rainwater-harvesting/
18, April 25

Jehl, D. (2003). “Alchemy or salvation? Desalting the sea.” 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.
Speaker: Maryam Hariri
Considerations to be included in final presentation/memo: What are the
technologies used to source and distribution water in your case? What are the
institutions that govern how water is sourced and distributed? How might both
of these be affected by climate change? Are technological and institutional
alternatives that would facilitate adaptation to climate change available?
Conclusion: Synthesis and Recommendations
URPL-GP.2666.001
14
April 18
Final Draft
Memo- Apr
23; final
presentation
– April 25
May 2
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]
9. Schedule Summary
Date
Course Section
Class Focus
Jan. 25
Introduction
Feb. 1
Introduction
Feb. 8
Feb. 15
Feb. 20
Feb. 22
Feb. 29
March 7
March 14
March 21
March 28
April 2
April 4
Module 1
Module 1
April 11
April 18
April 23
April 25
Extended Class Section
Ends at 8:25 p.m.
May 2
May 15
Module 3
Module 3
Lecture and Discussion
(Jan. 31, 5 p.m. – Case
Preference Form Due)
Discussion of When the
Rivers Run Dry
Reflection Essay Due –
January 31- midnight
Lecture and Discussion
Speaker
Module 1 Memo Due
Team Presentations
Lecture and Discussion
Lecture and Discussion
No Class (Spring Break)
Workshop Class -- TC
Speaker
Module 2 Memo Due
Team Presentations;
Team-to-Team Feedback
Due
Lecture and Discussion
Speaker
Final Draft Memo
Draft Concept
Presentations; Individualto-Team Feedback Due
Discussions
Final Essay Due
URPL-GP.2666.001
Module 1
Module 2
Module 2
----Module 2
Module 2
Conclusion
Conclusion
15
Natasha Iskander
[email protected]