A trip to San Diego affords me the opportunity to see how an American city -- in an arid region -- has had to strategize the planning of its "water portfolio."
Water management, especially "manufactured water," was in the news again: "World desalination industry is dumping 50% more toxic brine than thought." (Haaretz, January 14, 2019) The article cites a newly-published journal paper sponsored by the United Nations University / Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), based in Canada. The paper is considerably less sensational than Haaretz makes it out to be, but emphasizes the steadily-increasing number of desalination projects around the world. Not surprisingly, the aggregated environmental impact of all those projects, including so many new ones, has yet to be determined.
Thanks to Isabelle Kargon for the link to the Haaretz piece! Thanks also to my colleague, architect Jerome Gray, who sent link to the National Geographic's website with a related article. This article has some additional information about the environmental challenges facing wholesale adoption of desalination as a cure-all for water scarcity.
I'm reading this while sitting in UCSD's Theodor Geisel Library, a modernist architectural icon entirely appropriate to its namesake's pen name, Dr. Seuss. I'm sitting inside, not outside, because San Diego is experiencing one of its rare rainy days, as if to protest the urgency of southern California's ongoing drought. While I'm visiting my son Raphael, who moved out here last June, I plan to make use of the library's water technology readings to develop my course outline. I will have the opportunity also to meet with a representative of the San Diego County Water Authority, which commissioned the megascale desalination plant in Carlsbad, to discuss how they plan to expand their use of recycled water to supplement their investment in desalination.
As of today, I have already a draft outline for the class! (See below.) My next step will be to select readings for each class session. Once I'm in Israel, I'll start to assemble the class content (lectures) based on the material I've collected so far.
Class Calendar for Spring 2020 (Based on Tuesday/Thursday Schedule)
Week 1 JAN 21 A: Introduction and Class Overview (Lecture)
JAN 23 B: Topics in Environmental Sociology (Lecture)
Week 2 JAN 28 A: Guest Lecture: Water in Culture and Religion
JAN 30 B: Water for Nation Building (Reading Review & Lecture)
Week 3 FEB 04 A: Guest Lecture: Geography, Resources, and Spatial Systems
FEB 06 B: Water Resources and Geography (Reading Review & Lecture)
Week 4 FEB 11 A: Supply Water Systems (Lecture I)
FEB 13 B: Supply Water Systems (Reading Review & Lecture II)
Week 5 FEB 18 A: Waste Water Systems (Lecture I)
FEB 20 B: Waste Water Systems (Reading Review & Lecture II)
Week 6 FEB 25 A: Guest Lecture: Information Systems in Water Management
FEB 27 B: Energy Systems in Water Management (Reading Review & Lecture)
Week 7 MAR 03 A: Desalination (Lecture I) ** Guest Lecture?
MAR 05 B: Desalination (Reading Review & Lecture II)
Week 8 MAR 10 A: Desalination (Case Studies and Applications)
MAR 12 B: Student Presentations I
Week 9 MAR 17 A: -- No Class (Spring Break)
MAR 19 B: -- No Class (Spring Break)
Week 10 MAR 24 A: Review of Semester Topics to Date (Lecture & Discussion)
MAR 26 B: Water Management, Governance, & Politics ( Review & Lecture)
Week 12 MAR 31 A: Guest Lecture: Water Consumption & Conservation
APR 02 B: Urbanism, Planning, & Water Resources (Reading Review & Lecture)
Week 13 APR 07 A: Architecture and Design (Lecture)
APR 09 B: -- No class (JK Out)
Week 14 APR 14 A: Assignment Review (Symposium Preparation)
APR 16 B: Assignment Review (Symposium Preparation)
Friday APR 17 Symposium: Design, Health, and Water Manufacture + Management
Week 15 APR 21 A: -- No class APR 22 B: Symposium Assessment (Discussion)
Week 16 APR 28 A: Class Conclusion & Review of Topics to Date (Lecture & Discussion) APR 30 B: -- No class
Week 17 MAY 05 A: -- No class (Grades Due for Graduation Candidates) MAY 07 B: -- No class
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