Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Hydrologic Interdependencies and Human Cooperation: The Process of Adapting to Droughts

Joanna Endter-Wada Department of Environment and Society, Utah State University, Logan, Utah

Search for other papers by Joanna Endter-Wada in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Theresa Selfa Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas

Search for other papers by Theresa Selfa in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
, and
Lisa W. Welsh Department of Environment and Society, Utah State University, Logan, Utah

Search for other papers by Lisa W. Welsh in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
Print Publication:
01 Oct 2009
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/2009WCAS1009.1
Page(s):
54–70
Restricted access

Abstract

The Bear River Basin, which includes portions of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming in the United States, has a dynamic history of human hydrologic adaptations in relation to a highly variable water supply. These adaptations are embedded in a geographical setting highly influenced by the legal, policy, and institutional contexts that govern allocation of water in this generally arid region. In response to several years of drought and a historically low water year in 2004, water users in the Bear River Basin tested the efficacy of the “law of the river” and innovative agreements that they had negotiated in recent years to help mitigate impacts related to water shortages. Three innovations were identified as being key to a successful response to the 2004 drought: 1) a precedent-setting voluntary settlement agreement, 2) technical work in river modeling and instrumentation, and 3) extraordinary communication strategies employed throughout the drought. Based on case study research and utilizing a “ways of knowing” theoretical framework, the authors report on an unfolding contemporary history of how people in the Bear River Basin have learned to deal with uncertainties and risks associated with both droughts and floods. Their story has important implications for the understanding of conflict and cooperation in water systems, management of transboundary waters, and the promotion of sustainable water resource governance.

Corresponding author address: Joanna Endter-Wada, Department of Environment and Society, Old Main Hill 5215, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322–5215. Email: Joanna.Endter-Wada@usu.edu

Abstract

The Bear River Basin, which includes portions of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming in the United States, has a dynamic history of human hydrologic adaptations in relation to a highly variable water supply. These adaptations are embedded in a geographical setting highly influenced by the legal, policy, and institutional contexts that govern allocation of water in this generally arid region. In response to several years of drought and a historically low water year in 2004, water users in the Bear River Basin tested the efficacy of the “law of the river” and innovative agreements that they had negotiated in recent years to help mitigate impacts related to water shortages. Three innovations were identified as being key to a successful response to the 2004 drought: 1) a precedent-setting voluntary settlement agreement, 2) technical work in river modeling and instrumentation, and 3) extraordinary communication strategies employed throughout the drought. Based on case study research and utilizing a “ways of knowing” theoretical framework, the authors report on an unfolding contemporary history of how people in the Bear River Basin have learned to deal with uncertainties and risks associated with both droughts and floods. Their story has important implications for the understanding of conflict and cooperation in water systems, management of transboundary waters, and the promotion of sustainable water resource governance.

Corresponding author address: Joanna Endter-Wada, Department of Environment and Society, Old Main Hill 5215, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322–5215. Email: Joanna.Endter-Wada@usu.edu

Save
Cover Weather, Climate, and Society
Weather, Climate, and Society

  • Adger, W. N., 2006: Vulnerability. Global Environ. Change, 16 , 268–281.

  • Allen, T. F. H., Tainter J. A. , and Hoekstra T. W. , 2003: Supply-Side Sustainability. Columbia University Press, 459 pp.

  • Arnold, T. C., 2008: The San Luis Valley and the moral economy of water. Water, Place and Equity, J. M. Whiteley, H. Ingram, and R. W. Perry, Eds., MIT Press, 37–68.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Arrington, L. J., 1958: Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-Day Saints, 1830–1900. Harvard University Press, 534 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Barlow, M., 2008: Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water. The New Press, 208 pp.

  • Beach, H. L., Hamner J. , Hewitt J. J. , Kaufman E. , Kurki A. , Oppenheimer J. A. , and Wolf A. T. , 2000: Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Resolution: Theory, Practice, and Annotated References. United Nations University Press, 320 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bear River Commission, 1997: Findings concerning the need for compact revision: A report made as a part of the twenty-year review effort provided for by Article XIV of the Amended Bear River Compact. Bear River Commission, 13 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Berkes, F., and Folke C. , 1998: Linking Social and Ecological Systems: Management Practices and Social Resilience. Cambridge University Press, 476 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bernhardt, E., and Coauthors, 2006: Perspective: The challenge of ecologically sustainable water management. Water Policy, 8 , 475–479.

  • Blatter, J., and Ingram H. , Eds. 2001: Reflections on Water: New Approaches to Transboundary Conflicts and Cooperation. MIT Press, 356 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Blatter, J., Ingram H. , and Doughman P. , 2001: Emerging approaches to comprehend changing global contexts. Reflections on Water: New Approaches to Transboundary Conflicts and Cooperation, J. Blatter and H. Ingram, Eds., MIT Press, 3–29.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Burton, I., Huq S. , Lim B. , Pilifosova O. , and Schipper E. L. , 2002: From impacts assessments to adaptation priorities: The shaping of adaptation policy. Climate Policy, 2 , 145–159.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Clark E. H. II, , Bingham G. , and Orenstein S. G. , 1991: Resolving water disputes: Obstacles and opportunities. Resolve, 23 , 1–7.

  • Clark, W. C., and Dickson N. M. , 2003: Sustainability science: The emerging research program. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 100 , 8059–8061.

  • Dean, W. E., Forester R. M. , Bright J. , and Anderson R. Y. , 2007: Influence of the diversion of Bear River into Bear Lake (Utah and Idaho) on the environment of deposition of carbonate minerals. Limnol. Oceanogr., 52 , 1094–1111.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Denton, C., 2007: Bear River: Last Chance to Change Course. Utah State University Press, 250 pp.

  • de Villiers, M., 2000: Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource. Houghton Mifflin, 368 pp.

  • Draper, S., Ed. 2006: Sharing Water in Times of Scarcity. American Society of Civil Engineers, 156 pp.

  • Durley, J. L., and de Loe R. C. , 2005: Empowering communities to carry out drought contingency planning. Water Policy, 7 , 551–567.

  • Epstein, P. R., and McCarthy J. J. , 2004: Assessing climate stability. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 85 , 1863–1870.

  • Feldman, D. L., 1991: Water Resources Management: In Search of an Environmental Ethic. Johns Hopkins University Press, 264 pp.

  • Feldman, M. S., and Khademian A. M. , 2007: The role of public manager in inclusion: Creating communities of participation. Governance, 20 , 305–324.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Feldman, M. S., Khademian A. M. , Ingram H. , and Schneider A. S. , 2006: Ways of knowing and inclusive management practices. Public Adm. Rev., 66 , 89–99.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Fischhendler, I., 2004: Legal and institutional adaptation to climate uncertainty: A study of international rivers. Water Policy, 6 , 281–302.

  • Fraser, E. D. G., 2007: Traveling in antique lands: Using past famines to develop an adaptability/resilience framework to identify food systems vulnerable to climate change. Climatic Change, 83 , 495–514.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gleick, P., Wolff G. , Chalecki E. L. , and Reyes R. , 2002: The new economy of water: The Risks and benefits of globalization and privatization of fresh water. Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, 61 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Grover, V. I., Ed. 2007: Water: A Source of Conflict or Cooperation? . Science Publishers, 360 pp.

    • Crossref
    • Export Citation

  • Guston, D. H., 2001: Boundary organizations in environmental policy and science. Sci. Technol. Human Values, 26 , 399–408.

  • Harvey, J. S., 1989: A historical overview of the evolutions of institutions dealing with water resource use, and water resource development in Utah—1847 through 1947. M.S. thesis, Dept. of History, Utah State University, 106 pp.

  • Hayes, M. J., Svoboda M. , Le Comte D. , Redmond K. T. , and Pasteris P. , 2005: Drought monitoring: New tools for the 21st century. Drought and Water Crises: Science, Technology, and Management Issues, D. A. Wilhite, Ed., Taylor and Francis, 53–69.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hulme, M., 2007: Geographical work at the boundaries of climate change. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr., 33 , 5–11.

  • Ingram, H., and Endter-Wada J. , 2009: Frames and ways of knowing: Key considerations for policy responses to climate risk and vulnerability. Proc. Seventh Int. Science Conf. on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change, Bonn, Germany, International Human Dimensions Programme. [Available online at http://www.openmeeting2009.org/pdf_files/Pdf%20papers/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20Ingram_Endter_paper1_final-1.pdf].

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Janssen, M. A., Schoon M. L. , Ke W. , and Börner K. , 2006: Scholarly networks on resilience, vulnerability, and adaptation within the human dimensions of global environmental change. Global Environ. Change, 16 , 240–252.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Jibson, W. N., 1991: History of the Bear River Compact. Bear River Commission, 35 pp. [Available online at http://waterrights.utah.gov/techinfo/bearrivc/history.html].

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Just, R. E., and Netanyahu S. , Eds. 1998: Conflict and Cooperation on Trans-Boundary Water Resources. Springer, 460 pp.

  • Lejano, R. P., and Ingram H. , 2008: Collaborative networks and new ways of knowing. Environ. Sci. Policy, in press, doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2008.09.005.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • McCarthy, M. R., 1987: The Last Chance Canal Company. Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, Brigham Young University, 131 pp.

  • Nicholls, N., Coughlan M. J. , and Monnik K. , 2005: The challenge of climate prediction in mitigating drought impacts. Drought and Water Crises: Science, Technology, and Management Issues, D. A. Wilhite, Ed., Taylor and Francis, 33–51.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • O’Brien, K., Eriksen S. , Nygaard L. P. , and Schjolden A. , 2007: Why different interpretations of vulnerability matter in climate change discourses. Climate Policy, 7 , 73–88.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ostrom, E., 2008: Frameworks and theories of environmental change. Global Environ. Change, 18 , 249–252.

  • Polsky, C., and Cash D. W. , 2005: Drought, climate change, and vulnerability: The role of science and technology in a multi-scale, multi-stressor world. Drought and Water Crises: Science, Technology, and Management Issues, D. A. Wilhite, Ed., Taylor and Francis, 215–245.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Postel, S., and Richter B. , 2003: Rivers for Life: Managing Water for People and Nature. Island Press, 220 pp.

  • Powell, J. W., 1878: Report on the lands of the arid region of the United States, with a more detailed account of the lands of Utah. Government Printing Office, 195 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rolfe, J. T., 2008: Risks, vulnerability and participation: A layered management approach. Economics and Management of Climate Change: Risks, Mitigation, and Adaptation, B. Hansjurgens and R. Antes, Eds., Springer, 79–96.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Sadler, R. W., and Roberts R. C. , 1994: The Weber River Basin: Grass Roots Democracy and Water Development. Utah State University Press, 283 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Schneider, A. L., and Ingram H. , 1997: Policy Design for Democracy. University Press of Kansas, 241 pp.

  • Schneider, A. L., and Ingram H. , Eds. 2005: Deserving and Entitled: Social Constructions and Public Policy. State University of New York Press, 371 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Schneider, A. L., and Ingram H. , 2007: Ways of knowing: Implications for public policy. Proc. 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, APSA. [Available online at http://www.cspo.org/documents/ways_of_knowing.pdf].

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Shiva, V., 2002: Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit. South End Press, 156 pp.

  • Simelton, E., Fraser E. D. G. , Termansen M. , Forster P. M. , and Dougill A. J. , 2009: Typologies of crop-drought vulnerability: An empirical analysis of the socio-economic factors that influence the sensitivity and resilience to drought of three major food crops in China (1961–2001). Environ. Sci. Policy, 12 , 438–452. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2008.11.005.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Smakhtin, V. U., and Schipper E. L. F. , 2008: Droughts: The impact of semantics and perceptions. Water Policy, 10 , 131–143.

  • Smit, B., and Wandel J. , 2006: Adaptation, adaptive capacity, and vulnerability. Global Environ. Change, 16 , 282–292.

  • Star, S. L., and Griesemer J. , 1989: Institutional ecology, translations and boundary objects: Amateurs and professionals in Berkeley’s museum of vertebrate zoology. Soc. Stud. Sci., 19 , 387–420.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Stegner, W., 1942: Mormon Country. Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 362 pp.

  • Stegner, W., 1954: Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West. Houghton Mifflin, 438 pp.

  • Steinemann, A. C., and Cavalcanti L. F. N. , 2006: Developing multiple indicators and triggers for drought plans. J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage., 132 , 164–174.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Tainter, J. A., 1988: The Collapse of Complex Societies. Cambridge University Press, 250 pp.

  • Watts, M., and Bohle H. , 1993: The space of vulnerability: The causal structure of hunger and famine. Prog. Hum. Geogr., 17 , 43–67.

  • Weber, E., and Khademian A. , 2008: Wicked problems, knowledge challenges, and collaborative capacity builders in network settings. Public Adm. Rev., 68 , 334–349.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Whiteley, J. M., Ingram H. , and Perry R. W. , Eds. 2008: Water, Place, and Equity. MIT Press, 318 pp.

  • Wilhite, D. A., Ed. 2005: Drought and Water Crises: Science, Technology, and Management Issues. Taylor and Francis, 406 pp.

  • Wilhite, D. A., and Buchanan-Smith M. , 2005: Drought as hazard: Understanding the natural and social context. Drought and Water Crises: Science, Technology, and Management Issues, D. A. Wilhite, Ed., Taylor and Francis, 3–29.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wilhite, D. A., Hayes M. J. , and Knutson C. L. , 2005: Drought preparedness planning: Building institutional capacity. Drought and Water Crises: Science, Technology, and Management Issues, D. A. Wilhite, Ed., Taylor and Francis, 93–135.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wilhite, D. A., Svoboda M. D. , and Hayes M. J. , 2007: Understanding the complex impacts of drought: A key to enhancing drought mitigation and preparedness. Water Resour. Manage., 21 , 763–774.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wolf, A. T., 1998: Conflict and cooperation along international waterways. Water Policy, 1 , 251–265.

  • Wolf, A. T., Ed. 2002: Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Water Systems. Edward Elgar, 823 pp.

  • Wolf, A. T., Yoffe S. B. , and Giordano M. , 2003: International waters: Identifying basins at risk. Water Policy, 5 , 29–60.

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 0 0 0
Full Text Views 319 97 5
PDF Downloads 194 57 3