Water Resources Sustainability CE 053:195:001 

3 credits, Spring 2010, Tuesday and Thursday 9:30‐10:45, 127 SHL  
 
Instructor: Nandita Basu 
Civil and Environmental Engg., 314 Stanley Hydraulics Lab, Ph: 3193841727,(nandita‐basu@uiowa.edu)  

Course Motivation and Description

There is a growing demand for freshwater resources to provide drinking water for the growing
population, while there is also increasing recognition that functionally intact and biologically complex
freshwater ecosystems provide many economically valuable commodities and ecosystem services to
society beyond simply direct water supply. These services include: flood control, transportation,
recreation, purification of human and industrial wastes, habitat for plants and animals, and production of
fish and other foods and marketable goods. These ecosystem benefits are often difficult and costly to
replace when aquatic systems are degraded because of adverse human impacts. Thus, competing societal
needs and combined pressures from multiple stakeholders define and constrain sustainable water resource
management.
This course is intended primarily for graduate students who are interested in the interactions
between human civilization and hydrologic systems. This course describes human impacts on hydrologic
ecosystems (aquifers, watersheds, coastal zones, lakes, and wetlands) with quantitative measures of
impacts and mitigation/attenuation efforts, and addresses key questions: What does water resources
sustainability mean? How can it be measured? How can it be implemented? Case studies from around the
world will be used to illustrate both the detrimental effects of unsustainable resource utilization, and the
benefits of implementing sustainable resource management strategies.

Course Format
This is a 3‐credit course with lecture & lab sessions. This course is also being offered
simultaneously this semester at the University of Florida (Prof. Jim Jawitz) & at Purdue University (Prof.
Suresh Rao). Our goal is to coordinate/share the course content (lecture materials; reading assignments;
class project information, etc) with these two groups throughout the semester. The class format, each
week, will be:
• One lecture period (two 45‐min sessions on THUR, scheduled back‐to‐back), and
• One discussion/lab period (two 45‐min sessions on TUE, scheduled back‐to‐back).
January 
Textbook

The first two books listed below are required. These two are an engaging compendium of case
studies on ground water use and misuse, and a discussion of ancient versus modern water management
strategies, respectively. The third is a general textbook that is listed only as a recommended text for those
seeking an introduction to hydrology and water resources.

1. Glennon, R., 2002. Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America’s
Fresh Waters, Island Press.
2. Pearce, F., 2004. Keepers of the Spring, Island Press.
3. Cech, T.V., 2003. Principles of Water Resources: History, Development, Management, and
Policy. Wiley: NY.
An extensive list of additional required reading materials will be uploaded on the ICON web site.

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Course Grading

There will be a mid‐term exam (30%) – consisting primarily of essay questions linking concepts with
specific information from case studies.
There are approximately 12 weekly reading/writing assignments that count for 30% of the total grade.
Group project & presentations count for an additional 30%
Class participation counts for the final 10%.
Class attendance is highly encouraged. Exam grades are highly correlated to class attendance and
participation in discussions.

Weekly Discussion Periods and Written/Oral Assignments

Weekly reading assignments will require one to two page written critique, submitted as either a
Word or PDF file on the class web site. The critique must include the following key components:

Brief description of the article,

Identify the fundamental concepts,
How does this information relate to previous information?
How may this information be applied?
A question or comment for in-class discussion must be included at the end of the one or two page
response.

Students enrolled in the class will be paired into five groups, with four to five students in each group.
Each week, one group will be designated as the “panel” to lead the class during the “discussion” sessions.
All other students are expected to contribute to the discussions.12, 2009

Group Projects
Students will also form groups (4-5 students in each), and each group will independently research
at least one water resources sustainability question during the semester. If suitable questions do not arise
naturally from our discussions, I will assign questions. Deliverables for this assignment include: a short
(<5 pages) written summary (with references) and an in class oral report (not to exceed 15minutes); be
sure to include reference/citation information for the information in your presentation. It’s also best to cite
on each slide, rather than a list at the end.

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Course Learning Objectives

Sustainability
1)  broad importance of freshwater resources 
2)  context for environmentalism and sustainability 
3)  resource supply, consumptive demand, and scarcity 
 
Water Resource History
4) natural and human‐induced water cycles 
5) important perturbations in Earth’s climate and associated effects on water resources 
and humans 
6) significance of water resources in rise of hydraulic societies 
7) critical role (broad) water resources may play in sustaining societies 
 
Global Freshwater Resources
8) uneven spatial and temporal distribution of water resources in the world 
9) water use by sector and how this affects water use in space/time 
10) basics of water law/management 
11) urban and municipal water issues, including scarcity 
12) specific examples of broader importance of water resources (transport, energy, etc.) 
 
Groundwater and Surface Water
13) basics of groundwater and surface water hydrology 
14) contaminant types, exposure pathways, and important cases 
15) unsustainable practices employed in using these resources 
16) better approaches for managing these resources 
 
Case Studies
17) the variety of water resource sustainability issues 
18) how people in different places/times face similar water resource management issues, 
with an emphasis on linking certain issues with corresponding place/time 
19) application of sustainability solutions to water resource problems. 
DRAFT October 29, 2009 

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DRAFT October 29, 2009 
Recommended Reading/Instructional Materials

1. Lenton, R. & Muller, M. (Editors). Integrated Water Resources Management in

Practice: Better Water Management for Development. Earthscan: London. 
2. McDonald, Bernadette & Jehl, Douglas. 2003. Whose Water Is It? The Unquenchable
Thirst of Water Hungry World, National Geographic, Washington, DC. 
3.   Glennon, R., 2002. Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America’s
Fresh Waters, Island Press. 
4. Pearce, F., 2004. Keepers of the Spring, Island Press.  
5. Pearce, F. 2006. When the River Runs Dry, Water The Defining Crisis of the
TwentyFirst Century. Beacon Press: Boston. 
6.   Barlow, Maude. 2007. Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle
for the Right to Water. The New Press: NY. 
7.   Cech, T.V., 2003. Principles of Water Resources: History, Development, Management,
and Policy. Wiley: NY 
8.   Gleik, Peter (Editor).1993. Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World’s Fresh Water
Resources. Oxford Univ. Press: NY & Oxford. 
9.   Gleik, Peter (Editor). 2009. The World’s Water 20082009:The Biennial Report on
Freshwater Resources. Island Press: Washington. 
10.   Reisner, Marc. 1993. Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Fast Disappearing
Water, Penguin Books: NY 
11.   Economy, Elizabeth. 2004. The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to
China’s Future, Cornell University Press: Ithaca, NY. 
 
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