Should the USA Have a Water Ethic?

A few days ago  I posted about AWRA's interest in learning what you think of a national water vision for the USA: Should the USA Have a National Water Vision? If So, What Should That Vision Be?

But perhaps what we should have is a water ethic. This was raised the other day by one of my colleagues. She specifically was thinking of something similar to Aldo Leopold's land ethic, promulgated over 60 years ago:

Download LandEthic

Water ethic? What would that look like?

From the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

2 a : a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values <the present-day materialistic ethic> <an old-fashioned work ethic> —often used in plural but singular or plural in construction <an elaborate ethics> <Christian ethics> b plural but sing or plural in constr : the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group <professional ethics> c : a guiding philosophy d : a consciousness of moral importance <forge a conservation ethic>

I like each definition, but A and C especially resonate with me.

So how would we construct a water ethic? Here is the abstract from a paper (pdf below) by Adrian C. Armstrong, "Further Ideas Toward a Water Ethic", published in Water Alternatives:

ABSTRACT: This essay expands the water ethic of Armstrong (2007) by identifying four main functions of water: as a source of life, as a land-forming element, as a habitat, and as a mover of materials (i.e., a geomorphologival agent).

It is suggested that from these functions, four guiding principles can then be derived: 1) in allocating water, human beings allocate life potential; 2) altering water fluxes affects the function of a whole system; 3) water is a (fundamental) component of the earth system in its own right; 4) water fluxes are essential for the continued function and maintenance of both biological and non‐biological systems.

From these a full ethical evaluation of any proposed action could be based on an environmental axis as well as on the economic axis in decision making. Such full analyses can often be reduced in practice to a series of 'rules of thumb' for everyday decisions. Some candidate rules are suggested. Focusing on practical decision making and action on the function of water offers a potential way of implementing the Leopold 'land ethic'.

Download Art2-1-9

Upshot: maybe we are asking the wrong question.

More wondrous things to ponder.

Thanks, Cynthia.

"A land ethic, then, reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land." -- Aldo Leopold, 1949

Comments

[Jeremy Schmidt]

Interesting post. Island Press is publishing: Water Ethics: Foundational Readings for students and professionals in Feb 2010. It's a bit of self promotion (I co-edited the work) but the book looks at a number of moral traditions that seek an improved relationship to water and makes an ambitious attempt to get these traditions into conversation. It adds to the growing literature on the topic from diverse persepctives, including Postel, Ostrom and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (among many others).

[Oregon Water Thorn]

Yes, we should have a water ethic, but doesn't that first require that the participants in our society have just plain old ethics first? Is it possible to layer a new code on top of a foundation that is sliding down a slippery slope to begin with? I'm thinking of a recent public discourse I witnessed where members of the public out and out lied in order to sway politicians faced with making a decision about their future. The discourse I witnessed was about water pollution but you can easily find similar examples related to climate change, health care reform, or the middle east. I don't have answers and maybe my questions are too big but how can we build this thing given our status quo? How can we change the status quo? (http:/.oregonh2othorn.blogspot.com)

[Sweetwater Tom]

Whatever the water ethic is, it needs to recognize that water is *not* an unlimited resource.

Contrary to Barbara's comment above, when a stream, river, or lake is totally on my property, I use as much of the water as I wish, regardless of the needs of others downstream. (Consider battles over the Colorado River.) The ethic needs to recognize that water is a shared resource.

Good luck!

[Lynn Montgomery]

Although I don't go into details and specifics, I get into the reasons for having an ethical approach to water planning and use in this op-ed. http://waterassembly.org/archives/Op%20Eds/ethicsfinal.pdf
This is not only on the Middle Rio Grande Water Assembly (a state created regional water planning association) website, but appeared in the Albuquerque Tribune. It is focused on NM, but might apply in part elsewhere.

[Gabriel Eckstein]

Hi Michael,
Here are a number of additional resources on water ethics that might interest you (or your readers):
The idea of a water ethic was the focus of two conferences I organized, one in 2005 at Texas Tech and the second in 2008 at Santa Clara. Some of the articles from the first were published in volume 38 of the Texas Tech Law Review in 2006, including my own essay “Precious, Worthless, or Incalculable: The Value and Ethic of Water.” Articles and transcripts of the second were published in volume 6 of the Santa Clara Int'l Law Journal in 2008. These latter pieces are also available on my website (the International Water Law Project) at http://waterlaw.org/bibliography/Ethics/ (half way down the page). Lastly, UNESCO's Int'l Hydrologfical Programme published a series of monographs on the subject. They are also available on my website at http://waterlaw.org/bibliography/Ethics/ (bottom of the page).

Gabriel Eckstein
[email protected]

[Barbara Spring]

Of course we should have a water ethic. Water belongs to the commons and should not be exploited for private gain.

Barbara Spring, author
The Dynamic Great lakes