LA C229
(Cross-listed with IAS C299)

Mediterranean-climate Landscape

Spring 2007

Instructors:
G. Matt Kondolf (UC Berkeley, Environmental Planning)
Stefan Scheuer (Hydrologist and Former Policy Dir. of the European Environment Bureau, Brussels) Juliet Christian-Smith (UC Berkeley, ESPM)
Graca Saraiva (Technical University of Lisbon)
Clara Landeiro (Technical University of Lisbon)

Lecture (CCN: 48616) Th 5:00 – 8:00P 315A Wurster Hall

Units: 2

http://landscape.ced.berkeley.edu/~kondolf/courses/LA229/LA229.html

The Mediterranean climate prevailing in California and Portugal exerts a pervasive influence on patterns of human settlement and resource use. Some of the characteristics of Mediterranean climate regions that pose challenges to land-use planning and design include summer drought, highly seasonal precipitation and river flow, and adaptations to these conditions by biota, high inter-annual variability in precipitation, episodic floods and sediment transport, and the human response to this natural variability in constructing massive water supply and control infrastructure at a scale far exceeding that degree of control seen in more humid climates. Drawing on the strong parallels among Mediterranean-climate regions, this course involves study of natural processes, planning, policy and legislation in California and Portugal. Students conduct original research and/or develop plans or designs to enhance environmental and social conditions.

In Spring 2007, the course will focus on the European Water Framework Directive (WFD), a law adopted by the European Union in 2000 and currently being implemented by its 25 member states. The WFD represents a bold change in river management, emphasizing catchment-scale, public participatory and environmental economics approaches and requiring member states to make substantial progress towards improving water quality and aquatic ecology in their rivers by specific deadlines. River basin plans are now being completed. For students of water resource management in the US, the WFD represents the implementation of many changes recommended for American water management for over a century, but which have generally not occurred because of institutional and political barriers. In this course, students will review the origins of the WFD, its elements, its implementation to date, focusing on the Mediterranean-basin countries, and comparison with water management in California.

The course work will be concentrated from early February through mid-April. Students will complete background research on topics of their choosing, and will conduct field work and other research on their topics in preparation for a study travel in Portugal, where Berkeley students will work in teams with students at the Technical University of Lisbon on analysis and planning projects related to implementation of the WFD in Portugal, and will present results of these studies in symposia in Lisbon and Berkeley. Results of the research will also be presented in a published report and posted on the web.

The course will be co-taught by Matt Kondolf (LAEP) and Juliet Christian-Smith (ESPM), Stefan Scheuer former Policy Director of the European Environment Bureau (who will be on the Berkeley campus February through mid-April, supported by European Studies Proseminar and Beatrix Farrand Fund grants), Graca Saraiva and Clara Landeiro (Technical University of Lisbon, who will be in Berkeley for several weeks supported by PSP grants).

Specific research topics will be developed during the course, but will likely include:

• Setting objectives for water management
  • “The science”: Ecosystem assessment, the importance of hydromorphology and interconnectivity of ground- and surface waters
  • “The politics”:
    • Water pricing: who pays the cost of water services, including their environmental and resource costs? Is this fair and supports sustainable water management?
    • Public participation: its role in effective and robust decisions
• Developing and implementing cost-effective programs of measures:
  • Climate change and adaptation: Inter-basin transfers, reservoirs and other technical approaches versus demand management and increasing resilience of aquatic ecosystems