Water Resources Management

Students will discuss and give examples of historic and modern water-resource issues from North America and around the world. Identify affected or involved persons and groups; their concerns and viewpoints; and predict possible future events.

Students will describe current and historic water allocation and protection policy and law.

Students will describe the interdisciplinary nature of management and decision-making processes that involve use of water resources. Identify political, legal, economic, ecologic, and other non-scientific factors, as well as describing hydrologic resource problems in terms of scientific and engineering characteristics.

Students will compare various approaches to hydrologic analysis and decision making: engineering, economic, and systemic/ecologic/scientific.

Students will demonstrate appropriate use of available quantitative tools commonly applied in hydrologic analysis during decision-making and management of water resources. Describe the role of hydrologic analysis in such processes.

Students will choose and use appropriate quantitative techniques, mathematical models, and computers to solve problems involving surface and sub-surface water resources, in particular, problems involving flood and drought risk analysis, contamination vulnerability assessment, basin and stream management, and aquifer management.