Water is a necessary, yet often scarce, resource. We need it to survive (and thrive), yet we often degrade it and sometimes fight over it. It shapes who we are as individuals and as a society. Because of the many challenges water brings with it, we need institutions or rules to help establish how we can sustainably use and treat water. We also need decision-making procedures for changing those rules when they fail or our needs shift. In this class, we discuss the policy and politics of water, including issues of water quality and supply. We will focus on rules of how water is used, the politics of water decision-making, and whether or not the rules are effective at providing safe and clean water to support human consumption and ecosystem demand. Broadly, we focus on US federal water policy, however we will also investigate a number of cases related to international water management and local water management.
Gopher Grades is maintained by Social Coding with data from Summer 2017 to Spring 2026 provided by the University in response to a public records request