The third annual Water Law, Policy and Science Conference was Thursday and Friday (May 4-5) in Nebraska City.
Kyle Hoagland, director of UNL's Water Center and co-leader of the Water Resources Research Initiative, said Nebraska is uniquely positioned as a national and global leader in water-management and water-quality research. It has the largest underground aquifer in the Western Hemisphere, and perhaps the world; ranks 10th among states in stream miles; and 16th in number of wetlands.
"Not bad for a state once dubbed 'The Great American Desert,'" added Prem Paul, UNL vice chancellor for research.
Presentations focused on the conference theme of "Adaptive Management Strategies for Resilient Water Resources." Lance Gunderson, an environmental engineer from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., used his research on two very different ecosystems -- Florida's Everglades and Arizona's Grand Canyon -- to explain principles of adaptive management.
"Humans for thousands of years have intervened in ecosystems ... As we intervene ... they change in ways we are essentially unable to predict," Gunderson said.
A century of history in the Everglades illustrates humans' attempts to control nature, he added. Floods in 1903 led to creation of drainage districts and hurricanes in the 1920s sparked projects by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Another round of flooding in 1947 led to establishment of flood control districts, and a drought in 1971 spurred new water management districts. Later developments have sought to undo environmental damage to the Everglades.
A similar pattern has characterized evolving management strategies for the Grand Canyon during about the same time period.
"Our attempts to stabilize these systems lead to dramatic changes in ecology," Gunderson said. Using adaptive management approaches means acknowledging that scientists and policymakers cannot wait to act until there's certainty about the impact of their decisions. Instead, they must act on often incomplete research -- and be prepared to change approaches when necessary.
"A lot of people want certitude in knowing what they do is going to be right," Gunderson said.
Social constraints often work against an adaptive management approach, he added. The risks of failure are considered unacceptable, and some parties have an interest in perpetuating conflict rather than ending it.
Karina Schoengold, an assistant UNL professor of environmental economics, noted there are three types of adaptive management decisions: those that are easily reversible, such as tinkering with water releases below a dam; those that are reversible but costly, such as building new dams; and those that are irreversible, such as steps that cause extinction of species.
Adaptive management is flexible enough to accommodate changing circumstances, said J. Michael Jess, a senior lecturer in UNL's School of Natural Resources and longtime former director of Nebraska's Department of Water Resources.
The approach also recognizes that while parties all have their self-interests, "people generally want to accommodate one another," Jess added.
But Bruce Hooper, an associate professor of geography at Southern Illinois University, said, "We're moving away from consensus-driven decision making" and toward relying on politicians and judges to set water-management policy.
Some parties feel more urgency than others in resolving water issues. Jerd Smith, a reporter who covers water, drought and growth issues for the Denver-based Rocky Mountain News, noted that her "headwaters state" expects its water needs to increase by 63 percent in the next 25 years.
"Water on the ground as opposed to water in the ivory tower is a very rough and tumble sport," she said. "We're looking to adaptively manage very fast."
Dan Moser
IANR News
|
 | ||
| Published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperating with the counties and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. | ||
| The University of Nebraska-Lincoln does not discriminate on the basis of gender, age, disability, race, color, religion, marital status, veteran's status, national or ethnic origin, or sexual orientation. | ||