The Water Ethics Network

October 23, 2011

Water Ethics Newsletter - October 2011

Water Ethics News

The Network has a new Twitter account (@H2OWater) as well as a Facebook page on Water Ethics, and Linked-In group (Water Ethics Network). Please "follow" us on Twitter and "Like" us on Facebook, and simply express yourself on Linked-In! We will also be launching a new water ethics website which you are welcome to visit (www.waterethics.org), though the site is still under development. The next newsletter (November) will give a detailed description of the website's features, which we expect will be up and running by then.

Social media will be a major part of the Network's strategy, and is made possible through the volunteer work of our two Interns, Katey Blumenthal and Nadia Ahmad. Katey joined the Network as it was just getting started this past August. She has done research in Nepal for her MA in Anthropology from the University of Virginia, and now finds time to help the Network while taking graduate classes and deciding on a PhD topic. Katey manages the Facebook page and has now taken on the added job of website development. Nadia joined the Network in response to the announcement in last month's Newsletter. After practicing law in Florida for the past few years, she is now pursuing her LLM at the University of Denver, in Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy. Nadia manages the Twitter account. In addition to these tech-support roles, both Katey and Nadia will serve as "roving ambassadors" for water ethics, visiting blogs and other media sties dealing with water issues, making comments from an ethics perspective, and sharing intersting bits of information through tweets and postings. Please join them in offering your own abassadorial services to the Network through actively engaging in on-line discussions about water ethics. We'll see you in cyberspace!

Art Exhibit on the Value of Water

The Value of Water: Sustaining a Green Planet is an art exhibit at The Cathedral of St John the Divine, in New York, through March 25, 2012. The website offers samples of the art and info about the artists. For an interesting overview of the show, see the Ecocentric blog post.

Indicators and Standards for Water Stewardship

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has released guidance for companies to begin formally measuring and reporting their impact & dependence on ecosystem services. The report (called “Approach for Reporting on Ecosystem Services”) paves the way for ecosystem services metrics to be included as part of the standard package of measures used to report on an organization’s sustainability performance. For details, click here for the blog post by WEN Advisor, Eric Landen, explaining what the GRI is and why this report could be important. The full report, from the GRI website (www.globalreporting.org), can be downloaded here (6.7MB)

The Alliance for Water Stewardship, established in 2010, aims to establish a voluntary certification program for water managers and users based on (1) international standards developed through a multi-stakeholder process (2) verification to determine whether these standards have been met, (3) a global label that allows businesses to demonstrate compliance, and (4) Training and education on water stewardship. Alliance partners include The Nature Conservancy, Water Stewardship Australia, Pacific Institute, WWF, Water Witness International, Water Environment Federation, European Water Partnership, IWMI, The CEO Water Mandate, and the Carbon Disclosure Project. The program is divided regionally into Africa, Europe, Latin America, and North America (Asia is not yet represented). For details, see www.allianceforwaterstewardship.org. For their latest (July/Aug) newsletter, click here.

Tribute to David Getches

David Getches, who passed away in July 2011, was professor of law at the University of Colorado, and a strong advocate for indigenous water rights in the American West and internationally. His work exemplified the connections of water rights with cultural rights. Last month the National Congress of American Indians posthumously awarded him their Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his many services. Click here for the announcement.

Local Water Ethics

The EU's Committee of the Region has called for a multi-level, cross-border approach to the management of river basins and proposes targets for water efficiency and extending the Covenant of Mayors to include sustainable water use. The Committee proposes setting targets for 2020 similar to those on energy consumption: a 20% increase in water-saving in all sectors; a 20% increase in the number of water courses being re-naturalised to reduce flood risk and a 20% increase in the volume of water re-used and/or recycled in farming and industry. Click here for the report of a survey about “The role of regional and local authorities in promoting a sustainable water policy." (Source: www.emwis.net).

Conference Reports

"Water in the Green Economy in Practice: Towards Rio+20" was the title of a UN-Water conference held in Zaragoza, Spain from 3-5 October, 2011. There is a rich set of papers available on the conference website. Presentations from many of the speakers can be downloaded here. There is also a series of “Issues Information Briefs” covering water and (a) agriculture, (b) cities, (c) industry) and (d) ecosystems. Of direct relevance to water ethics is the paper by Rafael Romero et al. “Water Planning in the Transition to a Green Economy.”

“Building a Global Awareness and Education Campaign about Water” was the theme of an International Water Forum at the UN Headquarters in New York, Sept 16, 2011. More than 500 people attended the event aimed at enlisting support and partnerships from US-based organizations working on water. For details and links to presentations, see the Water Matters blog from the Columbia University Water Center.

Books, Reports, and Articles

"Environmental Ethics in River Water Management" by Ravichandran Moorthy and Ganesan Jeyabala, American Journal of Environmental Sciences (7)4:370-376; [Click here to go to the journal site, then click on “View Fulltext PDF” in the left margin].

"The Fight to Save the Gila River" by Sandra Postel, appears in the National Geographic's Daily News Blog for Sept 27. The article describes efforts by local conservation groups to make the case for river conservation by appealing to cultural values. The immediate threat is a dam to impound water on the New Mexico side of the state border with Arizona. This is an interesting case of conservation values (the dam would be the first on this still free-flowing river) at odds with land developers.

Ethical Water: Learning to Value What Matters Most, by Robert Sandford and Merrell-Ann Phare, is a new book just released on October 17. From the publisher's description: "This ground-breaking and approachable work, by two of Canada’s most authoritative experts on water issues, redefines our relationship with fresh water and outlines the steps we as a society will have to take if we wish to ensure the sustainability of our water supply for future generations." We will include a review of this book in the next (November) newsletter.

Featured Programs

Earth Ethics Institute (EEI) was established in 1993 at Miami Dade College in Florida, USA to foster a new literacy about the Earth’s natural systems. These understandings serve as a foundation for sustainable environmental practice. The Institute offers hands-on service learning opportunities for students and sponsors workshops and programs about sustainable living and business practices. This month the Institute is hosting a workshop featuring Cynthia Barnett, an advisor to the Water Ethics Network and author of Blue Revolution: Unmaking Americas Water Crisis, and Mirabel Balbin, Program Manager for the Miami-Dade County Office of Sustainability responsible for green economy initiatives and water resources. For more information, contact the Director, Colleen Ahern-Hettich, cahemhe@mdc.edu.

NEW Wilderness Alliance. NorthEast Wisconsin (NEW) Wilderness Alliance is an emerging initiative to restore the water ecosystems of the Fox River Basin and the region surrounding the city of Green Bay. Making the beaches of Green Bay swimmable and fishable serves as the overall goal of the Alliance. But while the central focus is water, the Alliance is taking a broad approach and addressing six themes: Green Infrastructure, Ecological Planning and Design, Restoring the Health of Local Nature, Leave no Child Inside, Cultural/Artistic Perspective, and Climate Change. Members of the Alliance will include local governments, businesses, Indian tribes, civic and enviornmental organizaitons, and local schools and colleges. Click here for a background paper. Click here for a background paper. For further info, contact Paul Linzmeyer at isointernationalllc@gmail.com.

Are You Working on Water Ethics Issues?

Please share your news with interested colleagues. Submit a brief description to network@waterculture.org. Submit before 12 November for the next Newsletter to be issued on 15 November.

September 15, 2011

Upcoming Events

WaTER Conference, 24-25 October, University of Oklahoma (USA). The Water Technologies for Emerging Regions (WaTER) conference on “Synergy at the Interface: Integrating Technology, Social Entrepreneurship and Behavior Change.” Highlights include the presentation of the OU International Water Prize to Ben Fawcett, Professor and Environmental Health Engineer at the University of Queensland, Australia and co-author of The Last Taboo: Opening the Door on the Global Sanitation Crisis. Other speakers include Ned Breslin (Water for People, Annette Johnson (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology), Dennis Lettenmaier (University of Washington), John Oldfield (WASH Advocacy Initiative), Kurt Soderlund (Safe Water Network), and Peter Winch (Johns Hopkins School of Public Health).

Featured Program: Wine to Water

2Water organizes wine tasting events globally to 'metaphorically transform wine to water'. Their focus is on using campaigns and social media tools to support initiatives in developing countries (currently focusing on Nepal and Malawi) to provideclean, drinking water to communities. 2Water uses a two tiered business model by which fund-raising to meet administrative costs is kept separate from its project-oriented fund-raising at the wine tasting events, so that all event donations go directly towards water projects. The organization started in 2010 when two London based professionals visited Bordeaux for the release of the greatly anticipated 2009 En Primeur wine campaign, and saw the opportunity to apply the art of wine for a social cause. Learning that it takes 120 litres of water to make just one glass of wine led to the idea of trying to give back some of that water through community water projects. Click here for a 3 min. video of 2Water CEO, Diana Isac, explaining the philosophy behind this innovative organization. Contact: diana.isac@2water.org

Water Ethics Newsletter - September 2011

Letter from the Editor

Welcome to the second monthly issue of the Water Ethics Network Newsletter! The Network's purpose is to raise awareness about ethical dimensions of water, promote collaboration among the members, enhance understanding, and promote the practical application of ethical concepts and perspectives. The Network is an initiative of the Water-Culture Institute in partnership with the individuals and organizations listed in the sidebar below. The content of this Newsletter, as well as past issues, is permanently posted on this Blog. To subscribe to the "home edition" of the Newsletter, (delivered by email) fill out the subscription form here. It's free! To submit news to include in upcoming newsletters, contact me at network[at]waterculture[dot]org. Your news should have some connection to water values/ethics, but other that that we have no strict filter. One of the purposes of the Network is to expand our understanding of how and where ethics play a role in water behaviors. And don't worry about sending in polished prose; it's my job to edit! Thanks in advance for your contributions.

- David Groenfeldt, Editor

Water Ethics News

The biggest water ethics news coming out of North America during the past month was the Tar Sands Action in front of the White House in Washington, DC. Environmental celebrities (Bill McKibben, Gus Speth, Jim Hansen) joined rank and file demonstrators to urge President Obama to not allow construction of a pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico, carrying oil extracted from Canada’s tar sands. The central reason given in most of the statements focused on climate change and the extra CO2 contained in tar sands oil, but there is an equally compelling water story. Strip mining of vast areas of tar sands is contaminating the interconnected lakes and rivers which are home to both wildlife and people: First Nations tribes who have co-evolved with this land and water-scape over thousands of years. The environmental justice issues are well documented in a report from the Indigenous Environmental Network. Click here for a video report on the White House demonstration.

Rivers and Wildlife in South Africa
The Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Healthy Rivers Programme was initiated as a response to the poor protection of and intensifying pressures on South Africa’s our freshwater resources. The programme is focusing on the North West Province of South Africa, in the Crocodile (West)-Marico Catchment (the upper reaches of the international Limpopo River basin). The perception of rivers as boundaries, rather than the focus of protected areas, has meant that freshwater resources are often overlooked in national conservation planning initiatives. Only 16 of the 112 main river ecosystems are moderately to well represented within protected areas. We need to start appreciating the value of rivers and wetlands, as immensely biodiverse ecosystems in their own right and this may involve adopting a new approach to the way in which we perceive water. The ecological value of functional springs, watersheds, riverine corridors, wetlands, etc. cannot really be measured. It is only when they have been traded in for short-term economic gain will we begin to understand their true value. For more info visit: www.ewt.org.za.

Can Religion Save India’s Yamuna River?
A workshop held in January 2011, co-organized by Yale University (Forum on Religion and Ecology) and Teri University in New Delhi, explored how religious values might motivate environmental action along the Yamuna River. Click here for the papers and news clippings from that workshop

Donate to the Water Ethics Network!
Please consider making a donation to the Water Ethics Network and help us become financially sustainable. The Network is currently run entirely through pro-bono contributions of staff time. We are working to change that through grand proposals to various foundations, but we need bridge funds in the meantime. To make an on-line donation, click the "Donate Now" button on the Water-Culture Institute's homepage and type "Water Ethics Network" in the "Designation" box. On-line donations are processed through Network for Good, which adds a 5% processing fee, but they are also a worthy NGO providing financial services to groups like ours.

Ethics of Water Planning

This month we feature several reports dealing with the complex issues of planning water infrastructure, and how values and ethical perspectives makes a difference in how planning is done.

1. Ethics and Unintended Consequences
We routinely hear development horror stories about well-intentioned projects making things worse, but rarely do we get the details. Senior scholar, Prachanda Pradhan has documented how a municipal water and sanitation program in Bhaktapur, Nepal had unintended environmental and health consequences. The local river became an open sewer when the centralized sewage treatment system fell into disrepair, and farmers tapped into drain pipes for irrigation, resulting in further health risks. If we think of ethics as a way of enlarging our arena of concern, e.g., to include neglected rivers and marginalized people, what are the implications for planning? Focusing on a narrow set of intended outcomes (smoothly functioning water and sanitation services) without accounting for the natural environment (pollution from the treatment plant) or local culture (farmers viewing sewer drains as an irrigation source) leads to unintended consequences. You can read Dr. Pradhan’s account here (PDF, 500KB).

2. Who Should Be Involved in Planning?
A new report from UNESCO’s Ethics and Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific (ECCAP) Project, addresses the issue of Representation and Decision-Making in Environment Planning. While the main focus is energy infrastructure, water is usually a central issue (e.g., hydroelectric dams and mining-related water pollution). Click here to go to the download page.

3. Stakeholders in Urban Water Governance
Who should be involved in water planning and governance? How can the diverse views of stakeholders be effectively incorporated into water decisions? A synthesis from the experience of urban water programs is available from the SWITCH program, a just-completed EU initiative to enhance the environmental and social benefits of urban water supply in a dozen cities around the world. This newly released report focuses on stakeholder issues.

New Journal on Water and Gender

wH2O is a new special-issue academic journal on women and water and sanitation from the University of Pennsylvania. Women face disproportionate impacts from a lack of sanitation and clean water, yet in many areas are systematically excluded from water/sanitation decisions. We are aiming to be an academic hub for information, research and thought, to augment work already being done, and to help facilitate more work on the issue across the globe. We are soliciting papers, case studies, opinion pieces, photo journalism, interviews and other research on women/gender dimensions of water or sanitation. Topics can be international or domestic, but must address the nexus of women and water. The first issue will be published online in the spring of 2012. A one-page abstract should be submitted by September 30th, 2011 to wh2ojournal@gmail.com.

New Books and Reports

Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis by Cynthia Barnett exposes the extent to which the nation’s green craze missed water — the No. 1 environmental concern of most Americans, according to Gallup. As a journalist (“I’m not an academic!”) Barnett offer lots of inspiring stories, and presents solutions from across the nation and around the globe. Reporting from San Antonio to Singapore, Barnett shows how local communities and entire nations have come together in a shared ethic to dramatically reduce consumption and live within their water means. Barnett credits the late hydrologist Luna Leopold, son of Aldo Leopold, with having articulated an ideal water ethic for the United States – a set of guiding beliefs for government, large water users and citizens. Barnett says that, having written for many years about the efforts of government and large water users to solve water problems, she wrote this book for citizens. [Cynthia Barnett is a member of the Water Ethics Network advisory committee.]

Water Governance Key Approaches: An Analytical Framework. By L. Miranda, M. Hordijk, and R. K. Torres Molina. Literature Review No 4 – September 2011
Different actors have different approaches to water, governance, and water governance. In this document we present working definitions of water, as well as some insights regarding water conflicts and how different actors value water. We also present the four main approaches to water governance in an attempt to contribute to a greater understanding of the perspectives, interests and main concerns of the various actors in the water sector. An increased understanding of underlying values and approaches can foster consensus building for the reconfiguration of water governance to equip it to tackle the expected effects of climate change. Download the report here.

Improving Irrigation in Asia: Sustainable Performance of an Innovative Intervention in Nepal, by Elinor Ostrom, Wai Fung Lam, Prachanda Pradhan, and Ganesh P. Shivakoti. The 2009 Nobel Prize laureate joins forces with long-standing colleagues to explore Nepal’s experience in applying institutional reforms to the irrigation sector. Click here for the book announcement and summary.

Looking for a New Ethic? A UNESCO report, Universalism and Ethical Values for the Environment discusses how different world views deal with human relationships with the environment. This was the first report from the Ethics and Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific (ECCAP) Project, released in 2010. The report discusses the extent to which universal values can be agreed upon, exemplified by an empirical analysis of values contained implicitly and explicitly in UN treaties and international statements on the environment. Click here to go to the download page.

Sustainability Multiplier Effects from Cotton Production in the Aral Sea Basin. The environmental implications of cotton production in the Aral Sea Basin go far beyond the “front line” tragedy of the Sea itself. An ecosystem services Case Study provides an overview of the social, economic, and environmental costs linked to the cotton economy. Click here for the 4-page report. For more information, contact Landen Consulting.

Are You Working on Water Ethics Issues?
Please share your news with interested colleagues. Submit a brief description with a link to the details to network[at]waterculture[dot]org. Submit before 12 October for the next Newsletter to be issued on 15 October.

August 15, 2011

Water Ethics News

Letter from the Editor

Welcome to the first monthly issue of the Water Ethics Network Newsletter. Here we present updates from Network members as well as news about current issues dealing with ethical dimensions of water policies and practices. The Network's purpose is to raise awareness about ethical dimensions of water, promote collaboration among the members, enhance understanding, and promote the practical application of ethical concepts and perspectives. The Network is an initiative of the Water-Culture Institute (www.waterculture.org) in partnership with the individuals and organizations listed in the sidebar below. Anyone is welcome to subscribe to the Newsletter, and to submit news for upcoming newsletters to dgroenfeldt[at]waterculture.org.

News from Members

 Ethics Session at World Water Week 

A Side Event on "History, Ethics, Religious Values: Contributions to Water and Food Security" will be held on 22 August at World Water Week in Stockholm. Jointly sponsored by the Global Water System Project (GWSP), UNESCO-IHP, and Fundacion Botin, the session has the distinction of being the only hit for the word, "ethics" or "ethic" in the entire Water Week program! If you are one of the lucky ones to be in Stockholm for this event, please attend and encourage others to join you. We have a big task to popularize ethics as an essential perspective for understanding and improving water policies. Click to download the announcement of the Side Event (PDF, 420 KB). A GWSP background report on Water Secutiry: Challenges for Science and Policy, (PDF, 1.1 MB) is also available.

A Water Ethic for Florida

A Water Ethic for Florida (click for details and free download) by journalist Cynthia Barnett, is the first in a series of reports for the Collins Center’s Our Florida Our Future initiative. Barnett is the author of Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S. (University of Michigan Press, 2007) and Blue Revolution: Unmaking America’s Water Crisis (Beacon Press, coming in September 2011).

Sustainable Water Management in a Globalized World

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Change Research and the Institute for Social and Development Studies at the University of Munich are undertaking a project entitled, Sustainable Water Management in a Globalized World, with an emphais on ethical frameworks. The project sponsored a conference on water management options in June 2011, and the proceedings, edited by Martin Kowarsch, were released in July (click to download the conference proceedings, PDF, 9MB). As part of this project, a case study on water ethics in South Sudan will be pursued by a PhD student, Julia Ismar (click for research outline).

New UNESCO Report on Water Ethics

Water Ethics and Water Resource Management, is a report of Ethics and Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific (ECCAP) Project Working Group 14 and is available on for free at: www.unescobkk.org/rushsap. The report systematically discusses how water ethics can make a difference to water related practices and provides a cross-cultural review of the issues. The report reveals gaps in existing knowledge to researchers, policy makers and funders of research, which could be used to examine linkages between research and policy making, and presents areas of policy options to governments.

Mega-Dairies and Water Ethics in Illinois

Eric Landen of Landen Consulting is finlizing a report on the economic, social, and environmental costs of CAFOs (Concentrated Agrcultural Feed Operations in northern Illionois. Along with the economic and social implications are environmental impacts in the form of surface and groundwater pollution. See his blogpost on Environmental Identity, Unsustainable Agriculture, and Nature's Botton-Line.

Religion and Environmental Change

A new book, Religion and Dangerous Environmental Change: Transdisciplinary Perspectives, edited by Sigurd Bergmann and Dieter Gerten explores religious as well as ethical perspectives on climate change. The book is available from the publisher, and can also be browsed through Google Books at this link.

Are You Working on Water Ethics Issues?

Please share your news with interested colleagues. Submit a brief description with a link to the details to info[at]waterculture.org. Submit before 12 September for the September Newsletter.

Featured Programs on Water Ethics

Sweden Textile Water Initiative started in 2010 as a joint project between 23 textile and leather retail companies in Sweden together with Stockholm International Water Institute. It is a learning process around water issues in the supply chains of textile and leather retailers with the aim of producing guidelines for sustainable water management, from thread and leather to product. During an initial two year process, the STWI companies will form working groups on topics such as production technique, choice of raw material, water treatment, sludge management, and policy engagement, which will serve as platforms for a learning process and the development of guidelines for sustainable water use.  More Info: www.stwi.se.

Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) strives to promote the preservation, responsible management and the equitable distribution of water for all, based on the understanding that water is a gift of God and a fundamental human right. Click for their latest newsletter.

River Life Program, University of Minnesota. Our programs are grounded in a fundamental belief that future river leaders must have knowledge and awareness in three broad areas—river science, river policy and planning, and expressions of river significance—in order to meet the challenges of the future. Beginning in September program coordinator Pat Nunnally will teach an Honors Seminar “Living With the Mississippi,” which will ask students to consider the myriad policy, scientific, and cultural threads involved in living “with” a river rather than “on” it. The River Life web site is at www.riverlife.umn.edu. We are also on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RiverLifeUMN) and Twitter (@RiverLifeUMN).

Viewpoint

What is a water ethic? How can we know when ethics are motivating water policies and how can we identify what those ethics are? Or evaluate whether the ethics are desirable or not or something in-between? What can we do to promote consideration of alternatives?

The Water Ethics Network is intended to promote the study of ethics in relation to water, and water in relation to ethics, and to expand the frame of analysis. The “right to water” is an ethical issue, but so are the rights of water (rights of nature) as well as the rights of communities to ecologically healthy lakes and rivers. And it is not just about the environment. Social justice and economic opportunity are also valued as aspects of human rights and need to be factored into any sustainable water equation.

The central premise of the Water Ethics Network is that ethical values and assumptions play powerful roles in motivating particular water policies and practices. The more we can learn about those dynamics, the better for arriving at sustainable and equitable solutions to the never-ending challenges of water management. We can all benefit from a diversity of considered views, and from learning about who is doing what. Please add your voice to the chorus, and we look forward to some beautiful if complex music as the Water Ethics Network evolves.

Special thanks to all who contributed news and ideas to this first issue of the Newsletter, and to Katey Blumenthal, our dedicated volunteer Intern, for her indispensible help in setting up this blog.

- David Groenfeldt, Editor and Network Coordinator