Watershed Planning and Governance.

Catalog description

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course presents an interdisciplinary approach to planning and governance for watersheds. Students will learn concepts from environmental science, hydrology, landscape ecology, environmental engineering, urban planning and geography, gaining baseline knowledge about the science, policy and practices of how humans interact with water and the biosphere within which it moves. Students will build on and apply this knowledge as they discuss and analyze case studies from around the world: interjurisdictional water allocation in the Colorado River, disaster management for colonias in the Rio Grande, privatization of water supply in Lagos, sanitation solutions in Nairobi and intersections of potable, storm and waste water infrastructures in Delhi. Throughout the semester, students will also examine watershed management for one of the nine major watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay. This semester-long group project provides an opportunity to not only gain in-depth knowledge about a nationally important watershed ecosystem, but also learn — through structured exercises/labs — how to collect and analyze data on water quality, quantity, movement and watershed land use, using various web tools and databases.