On Water

LA258 Spring 2008, Instructor: Tim Ramirez

California Water: An Interdisciplinary Seminar

This seminar meets monthly during the California Water colloquia and for small seminar meetings in between. Besides attending the colloquia themselves, course requirements are background readings, participation in seminar discussion, and short (<5pp) paper on a topic relevant to one of the colloquia subjects. (1 unit, S/U or P/F, can be repeated for credit)

Colloquia (Spring 2009) held in 250 Goldman School of Public Policy (2607 Hearst Ave.) 5:30-7pm. Reception and meet the speaker, outside 250 Goldman, 5:00 - 5:30 p.m; lecture, including questions & answers - 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m.

In addition to the lectures (see schedule and related readings below), the class will meet from 5:30-7:30pm in 217 McLaughlin Hall on the following Tuesdays: March 3rd, April 7th, and April 28th.

February 10 - "Taking a Lesson from Australia's New Water Law Regime" - Jennifer McKay, Director of the Centre for Comparative Water Policies and Laws, University of South Australia.

Readings: (I.D. and password available from your Instructor.)

Insubstantial, tenous and vague laws - The achievement of ecologically sustainable development by water supply business CEOs
Jennifer McKay
Australian Business Law Review (Dec. 2008), v.36, no.6, pp.432-445

Water institutional reforms in Australia
Jennifer McKay
Water Policy 7 (2005), 35-52.

The Legal frameworks of Australian water: Progression from common law rights to sustainable shares
Jennifer McKay -- Chapter 4 of "Water policy in Australia: The impact of change and uncertainty" / Lin Crase (ed.), Resources for the Future, 2008.

March 10 - "California Water: Managing Crisis and Opportunity" - Tim Quinn, Executive Director, Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA).

Readings:

Delta Vision Strategic Plan - Final Report
Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Oct. 2008)

Envisioning futures for the Sacramento-SanJoaquin Delta
Public Policy Institute of California (2007)

Comparing futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Public Policy Institute of California (2008)

April 14 - "Converting Concrete Channels in Urban Settings into Natural Creeks and Streams: The 50-Year Plan" - Mitch Avalon, Deputy Public Works Director, Contra Costa County

Readings: (I.D. and password available from your Instructor.)

The 50 Year Plan, From Channels to Creeks (PDF)
Mitch Avalon (March 2009)
-An outline of an approach and long-range planning process by the Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District to convert concrete channels to natural creeks.

Restoring Streams in Cities (PDF)
Ann Riley (1998)
-This is a good book on urban stream restoration and has a lot of local examples and context. Section on watershed planning, pp 48-56.

Second Nature - Adapting LA's Landscape for Sustainable Living (PDF)
TreePeople (1999)
-This is the original charette in LA, and is a good description of the charette process and the issues of sustainability in an urban city.
 

May 5 - "Ground Water Depletion: A National Assessment and Global Perspective" - Leonard Konikow, Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey

Readings: (I.D. and password available from your Instructor.)

Groundwater depletion: A global problem
Leonard F. Konikow and Eloise Kendy
Hydrogeology Journal (2005), v.13, pp. 317-320.

A method to estimate groundwater depletion from confining layers
L. F. Konikow and C. E. Neuzil
Water Resources Research (2007), v. 43, W07417.

Anthropogenic Disturbance of the Terrestrial Water Cycle
Charles J. Vörösmarty and Dork Sahagian
BioScience (Sept. 2000), v.50 no.9 pp.753-765.