Open AccessBook
Water ethics : foundational readings for students and professionals
Peter G. Brown,Jeremy J. Schmidt +1 more
TLDR
Water Ethics as discussed by the authors is a collection of contributors from Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church to Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom and water policy expert Sandra Postel.Abstract:
The world's emerging water crisis has ignited efforts to reconnect policy to human values. According to the book, all approaches to managing water, no matter how grounded in empirical data, involve moral judgments and cultural assumptions. Each of the book's six sections discuses a different approach to thinking about the relationship between water and humanity, from utilitarianism to eco-feminism to religious beliefs. Contributors range from Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church to Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom and water policy expert Sandra Postel. "Water Ethics" will help readers understand how various moral perspectives have guided and will continue to guide water policy around the globe.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Ethics and Water Governance
TL;DR: In this paper, a values-based approach to water governance is proposed, which aligns tacit values and creates space to align local values with those needed for effective water governance at the global level.
Journal ArticleDOI
Water ethics on a human‐dominated planet: rationality, context and values in global governance
TL;DR: A discourse on water ethics has emerged as a field linking practical water demands, social practices, and hydrological constraints to philosophic norms as discussed by the authors, which has emerged parallel to growing, global understandings of the interconnected nature of water management and governance challenges.
Journal ArticleDOI
Artificial intelligence in the water domain: Opportunities for responsible use.
TL;DR: A review of current AI applications in the water domain and develops some tentative insights as to what “responsible AI” could mean there, suggesting that the development and application of responsible AI techniques for the water sector should not be left to data scientists alone, but requires concerted effort by water professionals and data scientists working together.
Journal ArticleDOI
Reconstructing the duty of water: a study of emergent norms in socio-hydrology
Abstract: This paper assesses the changing norms of wa- ter use known as the duty of water. It is a case study in historical socio-hydrology, or more precisely the history of socio-hydrologic ideas, a line of research that is useful for interpreting and anticipating changing social values with re- spect to water. The duty of water is currently defined as the amount of water reasonably required to irrigate a substantial crop with careful management and without waste on a given tract of land. The historical section of the paper traces this concept back to late 18th century analysis of steam engine efficiencies for mine dewatering in Britain. A half-century later, British irrigation engineers fundamentally altered the concept of duty to plan large-scale canal irrigation systems in northern India at an average duty of 218 acres per cubic foot per second (cfs). They justified this extensive irrigation stan- dard (i.e., low water application rate over large areas) with a suite of social values that linked famine prevention with revenue generation and territorial control. The duty of water concept in this context articulated a form of political power, as did related irrigation engineering concepts such as "com- mand" and "regime." Several decades later irrigation engi- neers in the western US adapted the duty of water concept to a different socio-hydrologic system and norms, using it to es- tablish minimum standards for private water rights appropri- ation (e.g., only 40 to 80 acres per cfs). While both concepts of duty addressed socio-economic values associated with ir- rigation, the western US linked duty with justifications for, and limits of, water ownership. The final sections show that while the duty of water concept has been eclipsed in prac- tice by other measures, standards, and values of water use efficiency, it has continuing relevance for examining ethical duties and for anticipating, if not predicting, emerging social values with respect to water. 1 Problem statement In a doctoral qualifying exam, a senior faculty member asked the candidate to discuss the duty of water concept in irriga- tion, to which the candidate briefly replied that while it had been an important standard for application rates in the early 20th century, it had been replaced by more precise standards of water use efficiency. While accurate, my answer at that time stopped short of considering how and why these water norms have changed over time, and whether such changes can be anticipated if not predicted. I did not question the odd sound of the duty of water expression at a time when soci- eties were increasingly asking whether there were duties to water. Nor did I reflect upon why the word "duty" was used, or what connotations it has had, past and present? This paper strives to address these questions. The duty of water concept is still used in some irrigated re- gions to establish basic standards of water use. An influential judicial opinion defined it as:
Reconstructing the duty of water: a study of emergent norms in socio-hydrology
TL;DR: The duty of water is defined as the amount of water reasonably required to irrigate a substantial crop with careful management and without waste on a given tract of land as mentioned in this paper, and it has been defined as: