RELIGION, CULTURE, AND WATER · For Christians the primary relationship with water is expressed in the initiation ceremony of baptism. Jesus, as a devout Jew, was baptized in the

American Water Resources Association

March 2012 | Volume 14 | Number 2March 2012 | Volume 14 | Number 2

RELIGION, CULTURE,AND WATER

RELIGION, CULTURE,AND WATER

Many Disciplines, One Community:Protecting Water Resources

Founded in 1964 by leading thinkers and practitioners in the field of water resources, AWRArepresents amultidisciplined community of professionals engaged in two of the most importantchallenges of our time:

1) Ensuring the availability of a safe, sufficient, and ecologically viable water supply, and

2) Protecting the future of that supply through effective management, practice, policy, research,and education

To address these challenges, AWRA provides an opportunity for learning and leadership that isunsurpassed in spanning the depth and breadth of water resources issues.

AWRA members – working, networking, and learning together across a broad spectrum of interests– have the opportunity to:

Identify & explore issues of concern with other committed professionalsDiscuss research findings & best practicesSupport undergraduate/graduate studies & researchEngage in policy dialogues at the highest levelDevelop partnerships to support innovationAdvance learning through online resourcesEducate one another on needs & best practices through published articles & presentationsDesign & attend topically focused conferences and

Take a stand on protecting & preserving water resources across our communities & globally

Our commitment to a highly professional and friendly association of managers, practitioners,educators, students, policy makers, and community leaders enables us to be unlike any otherassociation anywhere. Our uniqueness and combined sense of responsibility bring us together andset us apart.

We invite you to join our unique and progressive community. Your commitment and AWRA’scommunity can make the difference for the world ... joining and working together.

The management of water resources has never been more critical.

For more information, please visit www.awra.org or call AWRA at (540) 687-8390..

RELIGION, CULTURE, AND WATER

ERIC J. FITCH ~ Associate [email protected]

Culture and religion and the adherence to the beliefs inherentin both can impact how people interact with water resources.How can an understanding of a people’s faith help better un-derstand their world view and water’s place in that world view?Can cultures lead people to regard water with respect and care,or can they cause people to dismiss it and waste it? Can“modern” science and ancient water practices embedded in andtransmitted through cultural and religious practices and beliefscoexist? This issue of Water Resources IMPACT contains fourarticles reflecting a small slice of the world’s cultures and reli-gions and how they shape people’s views about water.

FEATURE ARTICLES

3 Irrigating the Mind-Stream: Buddhism andWater ... Michelle J. SorensenThis article provides an overview of the historical andfaith relationships between Buddhism and water,including obligations to life giving and life bearingwaters. The relationships between the modernengaged Buddhist and the environment and rightactions for the protection and preservation of thenatural resources, especially water, are discussed.

6 From Holy Water to Holy Waters... Gary ChamberlainThe author addresses how the Roman CatholicChurch views water resources and how these viewscan influence its members and broader society. Hetakes us from the personal and sacramental to theUniversal in explaining how water is addressed intheology and practice.

10 No One Eats the Fish Anymore: TribalReclamation of the Silver Valley, Idaho... Theodore N. FortierNative Americans in the Coeur d’Alene area of Idahoare struggling to regain control over the land andwater resources of their indigenous tribal areas.They are attempting to restore their water, land,and culture utilizing American/Western systems oflaw and justice especially regarding water pollutionfrom mining operations.

13 Foundations of Hawai’ian Culture and theImportance of Water ... Eric J. FitchNative Hawai ians had a complex and intricate set ofcultural values and knowledge and have retainedtheir culture and faith to this day. This articleexplores how indigenous faith and knowledgesystems of native Hawai ians teach the broadercommunity about how to live sustainably in anisland world.

Other features in this issue ...

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18 The New Economy of Water ... GrandioseWater Development Plans ... Clay Landry,Matt Payne, and Skye Root

19 What’s Up With Water ... Menia, Fenia, andThe Decline of the Oceans ... Eric J. Fitch

20 Could We Do Better ... Cliff? What Cliff?... Laurel E. Phoenix

21 Publishing Issues ... The Open AccessDebate ... Jennifer Lynch

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Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable

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Buddhism is a tradition that began in India approxi-mately 2500 years ago when Siddhartha Gautama at-tained his enlightenment (bodhi) under a Bodhi tree(ficus religiosa) in Bodhgaya (in modern Bihar, India) andsubsequently began teaching what he had realized. Theroot of his teaching is that there is nothing that abidesindependently and without change – everything is ulti-mately interdependent and impermanent including ourselves. Because humans have such a strong sense of selfand self-preservation, we are blinded to this deeper real-ity of interdependence and impermanence. Our igno-rance of this reality is the cause of our suffering: we areshocked and dismayed by change, decay, and death. Thisignorance also leads us to disregard how our actions af-fect others and our environment.

Central to Buddhism in all its forms is the concept of“dharma.” “Dharma” is rich in its connotations. t refers tothe underlying laws and conditions that make all thingspossible, the particular constituents of all things, and theteaching of the Buddha on these phenomena and theirinterconnections. Buddhists believe that all things arefundamentally impermanent in that nothing exists with-out change, and interdependent in that nothing existswithout causes and conditions. Buddhist teachings onthe natural environment accept the paradigm of five ele-ments – Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space – from theSouth Asian cultural environment in which Buddhismemerged. Each of these is considered to be subject tocauses and conditions, just like all other phenomena.

As Kimberley C. Patton (Patton, 2007) points out(using Greek, Inuit, and Hindu religious histories as ex-amples), human worldviews often display an ambivalentattitude toward water. Water, in particular the ocean andother large bodies, is at once a resource and a receptacle.Water symbolizes and can be a source of purification inmany religious traditions; however, water frequently alsosignifies contamination. Furthermore, water provides anorganizing principle for discussions of the relationshipsbetween religious pollution and environmental pollution.Buddhist teachings are similarly ambivalent towardwater: among other things, water is used to symbolize aresource that nurtures, to signify purity, and to embodyan area of contamination. Here I will consider three waysthat Buddhism represents these characteristics of water.

One such figurative use of water is found in the 9thCentury instruction by Kamalasila on meditation, theBhavanakrama II. In this work, water is used as ametaphor for a nurturing attitude as the basis for appro-priate ethical behavior. Kamalasila gives the following in-struction: “Moisten the mental continuum with the waterof loving-kindness and prepare it as you would a piece offertile ground. When the seed of compassion is planted insuch a mind, germination will be swift, proper and com-plete. Once you have irrigated the mind stream with lov-ing-kindness, meditate on compassion.” Here water is

used as symbol for the Buddhist concept of “loving-kind-ness,” or equitable and active goodwill toward all beings.Meditation on this concept and its practice is thought toinstill it in one’s mind and habitual behavior, preparingone for the practice of compassion. For Kamalasila, com-passion is a seed that will grow when properly irrigatedwith the water of loving kindness.

In “The Greater Discourse of Advice to Rahula,” a Palitext containing teachings by the Buddha to his son, thedevelopment of meditation is described in terms of thefive elements mentioned above. In this second example,water is emblematic of that which is innately pure andthus incapable of being contaminated. Water is used asan illustration of mental well-being that is not disturbedby emotional conditions. In the instruction on how to de-velop meditation that is like water, the Buddha states:“Just as people wash clean things and dirty things, ex-crement, urine, spittle, pus, and blood in water, and thewater is not horrified, humiliated, and disgusted becauseof that ... when you develop meditation that is like water,arisen agreeable and disagreeable contacts will not in-vade your mind and remain” (Majjhima Nikaya I.423-4,trans. Nanamoli and Bodhi, 1995). This teaching useswater as an ideal phenomenon, inherently pure and un-defilable. Water is personified as an exemplary Buddhistpractitioner, one who is ultimately unaffected by defilingconditions.

A famous image in Buddhist teachings is the lotus asrepresentative of the pure and natural state of one’smind. In this third example, water is the muddy and im-pure environment that is the habitat for the pure lotusrather than being the source of purity. A traditionalsource for this metaphor is the Lalitavistara Sutra, a de-piction of the life and teachings of the Buddha from thethird century BCE: “The spirit of the best of men is spot-less, like the lotus in the muddy water which does not ad-here to it.” Here we see water as capable of being pollut-ed; however, the muddy water is the environment inwhich the lotus flourishes. Likewise, we are meant to un-derstand, the mind of the ideal Buddhist practitioner isnourished by the pollution and decay that is the natureof all things, given their impermanence and intercon-nectedness.

While water has a range of metaphorical meanings inBuddhism, a crucial idea in all these teachings is inter-connection: humans are not distinct from their natural

Volume 14 • Number 2 Water Resources IMPACT • 3

IRRIGATING THE MIND-STREAM: BUDDHISM AND WATER

Michelle J. Sorensen

While water has a range of metaphorical mean-ings in Buddhism, a crucial idea in all theseteachings is interconnection: humans are notdistinct from their natural environment, but areproducts and producers of it

environment, but are products and producers of it. Bud-dhism emphasizes our interdependence with water, butit does not provide clear instructions for the managementof water as a natural resource. Although traditional Bud-dhist teachings do not provide explicit guidelines for themanagement of the natural environment, they can beseen as inspirational sources for thinking about the rela-tionship between humans and the natural world. Manyof these teachings are being reinterpreted by modernBuddhists in Asian and non-Asian societies to addresscontemporary challenges. As Christopher S. Queen ob-serves, returning to the essential concepts of a religioustradition to address mundane problems is a widespreadphenomenon: “amid the triumphs of science and tech-nology, the global competition for resources, markets,and loyalities, and the decay of many of the political andenvironmental systems that sustain human and biologi-cal life, people of religious faith are once again bringingancient teachings and practices into a new era” (Queen,2000, pg. 1).

Buddhist teachings and practices are especially help-ful in thinking about the role of intention in evaluatingactions. In his discussion on the merits of avoiding unin-tentional harm to the environment from a classical Bud-dhist perspective, Peter Harvey (2007) surveys a range ofwritings on traditional Buddhist ethics. Harvey examinesthe consequences of unintended harm in relation to en-vironmental concerns, including resource management.One source for his discussion of whether environmentalconcern for a contemporary Buddhist is morally obligato-ry or merely a voluntary positive action is found in thecanonical rules for monastics (vinaya). Harvey notes thataccording to Vinaya IV.125, if one does not know watercontains living beings that could be harmed, there is nooffense if one uses or contaminates it. However, accord-ing to Harvey’s reading of Vinaya IV.49, if one does suchan act “when one is not sure that the water does not con-tain life[, it] is an act of wrongdoing. In such cases, sus-picion that an action may kill something means that it isblamable to a degree” (Harvey, 2007, pp. 4-5). Therefore,Buddhist ethics entails a moral obligation to become asknowledgeable as possible about one’s environment. Oneof the conclusions that Harvey draws from his study isthat the biosphere, which we share with other beings,should be cared for so that “our knowledge of unintend-ed effects of our actions is used to modify our behavior”(Harvey, 2007, p. 29). Because the biosphere is createdthrough the impermanence and interdependence of allphenomena, the Buddhist should investigate and consid-er not only the intended but also the unintended conse-quences of her actions on the environment.

Although one might be able to trace concern for so-cial and environmental transformation throughout Bud-dhist history, a significant recent development is theworldwide movement of “socially-engaged Buddhists.”This movement gained prominence in 1989 with thefounding of the International Network of Engaged Bud-dhists (INEB) by Thich Nhat Hanh (a Vietnamese monk,teacher, and activist), Sulak Sivaraksa (the Director ofthe Thai NGO Sathirakoses-Nagapradeepa Foundation),Tenzin Gyatso (the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet), and Maha

Ghosananda (a Cambodian monk and peace activist).“Engaged Buddhism” refers to contemporary methods ofusing Buddhist insights and practices to have positive ef-fects on the social, political, economic, and environmen-tal conditions in which we live. This movement is gainingin momentum throughout the world [Bstan-‘dzin-rgya-mtsho, Dalai Lama XIV, 2003 (2001)].

Concrete examples of groups working from a stand-point of engaged Buddhism include the Cambodian NGOMlup Baitong, which has developed a “Buddhism Envi-ronment Program” with a network of hundreds of monksand monastic communities throughout the country.Mlup Baitong promotes Buddhist environmental ethicsand grassroots ecological practices through trainingmonks in conservation and sustainability initiatives, in-cluding water and wood management programs. Anotherexample is the South Korean Buddhist NGO, “GoodHands,” which funds borehole water projects in Kajiado,Kenya, as part of its project to address problems of inad-equate access to sufficient clean water supplies.

While the “engaged Buddhist” movement originatedin Asia where the vast majority of Buddhists live, Bud-dhist thought is becoming more popular worldwide, asmore people find the ethical, analytical, and practicalideas and principles of Buddhism to be instructive. Thespread of Buddhism is due both to the migration of Bud-dhists and to the increasing interest in and conversion toBuddhism by those who were not raised Buddhist. Ac-cording to the most recent Religion in America Reportprepared by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life(http://religions.pewforum.org/; retrieved December 22,2011), 0.7% of adult Americans – over two million people– consider themselves Buddhists. In addition, with thepopularity of figures such as the current Dalai Lama andThich Nhat Hahn, who emphasize interreligious dialogueand are considered by many to be moral exemplars,many Americans who would not consider themselves tobe “Buddhists” are increasingly influenced by Buddhistideas.

Following on this increased interest in Buddhismoutside of traditional Buddhist societies, there are strongconnections developing between Asian and Western Bud-dhists. The development of Asian engaged Buddhismmovements are influencing similar movements in theWest among individuals and communities who are inter-ested in Buddhism. As Stephanie Kaza notes in heressay, “To Save All Beings: Buddhist Environmental Ac-tivism” (Queen, 2000, pp. 159-183), Western “engagedBuddhists” have been most successful when they workwith well established environmental groups. One facilita-tor in this movement is Joanna Macy, an Americanscholar of Buddhism, systems theory, and deep ecology,who lectures widely on environmental sustainability andhas developed a theoretical and practical program called“The Work That Reconnects” (Henning, 2002). Another isJohn Seed, an Australian activist and founder of theRainforest Information Center, whose work is informedby the idea of the fundamental interconnection of allthings. He is outspoken on the necessity for humans toattend to the underlying psychological or spiritual dis-ease that allows people to feel separate from nature.


Irrigating the Mind Stream: Buddhism and Water . . . cont’d.

From Seed’s perspective, such disease is concomitantwith issues of environmental disrespect and mismanage-ment. As Buddhist ideas gain traction in the West, theyare increasingly influential in appreciating the intercon-nections between people and environmental resourcessuch as water. Particularly in the engaged Buddhistmovement, we see the confluence of traditional Buddhistideas and environmental ethics.

REFERENCES

Bstan-‘dzin-rgya-mtsho, Dalai Lama XIV, 2003 (2001). Stages ofMeditation, by Kamalashila. Trans. Geshe Lobsang Jordhen,Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell. SnowLion, Ithaca, New York.

Harvey, Peter, 2007. Avoiding Unintended Harm to the Environ-ment and the Buddhist Ethic of Intention. Journal of Bud-dhist Ethics 14.

Henning, Daniel, 2002. A Manual for Buddhism and Deep Ecol-ogy. World Buddhist University, Np.

Nanamoli, Bhikkhu and Bhikkhu Bodhi, 1995. The MiddleLength Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of theMajjhima Nikaya. Wisdom, Boston, Massachusetts.

Patton, Kimberley C., 2007. The Sea Can Wash Away All Evils:Modern Marine Pollution and the Ancient Cathartic Ocean.Columbia University Press, New York, New York.

Queen, Christopher S. (Editor), 2000. Engaged Buddhism in theWest. Wisdom Publications, Boston, Massachusetts.

Michelle J. Sorensen2165 Poplar Avenue, Apt. #3Memphis, TN 38104(901) 252-6271

[email protected]>

Michelle J. Sorensen is a Ph.D. Candidate in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. She iscurrenty completing her dissertation entitled “Making theOld New Again and Again: Ma gcig lab sgron, Rang byungrdo rje and the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition of Prajña-paramita Gcod.”

� � �


Irrigating the Mind Stream: Buddhism and Water . . . cont’d.

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For Christians the primary relationship with water isexpressed in the initiation ceremony of baptism. Jesus,as a devout Jew, was baptized in the holy waters of theJordan. Baptism is the primal initiation into new life inthe Christian community, an instrument of spiritualbirth. At the same time baptism is a purification, releas-ing the initiate from past sins: John the Baptizer whenbaptizing Jesus is described in the Gospel as “proclaim-ing a baptism of repentance.” (John 7:37) Baptism is notonly a symbolic link to Jesus’ own immersion and rebirthas God’s beloved servant, but also replaces circumcisionin the Jewish tradition in becoming an adult in the faith.

Thus Christianity transforms water from its inherentpowers of cleansing and purifying to become a powerfulmeans of preparing an initiate for emersion into new lifein a new community of believers. Past misdeeds are dis-solved in the water, and the initiate emerges from the wa-ters as a new person. A new garment of a new life is puton – a powerful symbol at a time when baptism was pri-marily a ritual for adults. Baptism became not just acleansing from sin but a reality of spiritual birth.

John Chrysostom, a theologian of the early Easternchurch, stated that baptism “represents death and bur-ial, life and resurrection. When we plunge our head intowater as into a tomb, the old man [sic] is immersed,wholly buried; when we come out of the water, the newman [sic] appears at that moment.” In the Christianscriptures the Gospel according to John reveals thepower of this symbolic merging when the author de-clares: “No one can enter the kingdom of God withoutbeing born of water and spirit” (John 3:5).

Although full immersion is still practiced in many de-nominations of Christianity, others pour water on theforehead of the initiate as a symbol of immersion, subli-mating but losing somewhat the power of the original rit-ual itself. By the 4th Century many Christian centers hadmoved the baptism ritual from the river to the churchand so transferred the emphasis from cleansing to re-birth into the community, particularly as increasingly theinitiates were infants.

Mircea Eliade, a renowned student of religion, notes,however, that it is not the waters themselves that are nowholy or sacred; rather it is the ceremony that valorizes thetransformation (Eliade, 1958). The waters are here themeans. The power of the actual waters have as it werebeen “Christianized” (Eliade, 1969).

However, there remains in the Catholic tradition anunderstanding of the power of water itself which slipsthrough the traditional emphasis upon clergy and ritu-als. The second and third century theologian Tertullianwrote that water is the first “seat of the divine Spirit, whogave it preference over all the other elements. Water wasthe first to produce what has life . . . therefore all natur-al water, because of the ancient privilege with which itwas honored, gains the power of sanctifying.” But he

ends his sentence with the words “in the sacrament.”Water is almost a sacred reality, but again it is the ritualsacrament which renders one holy (deVillers, 2000).

Many of the ancient pre-Christian practices and be-liefs about the sacred powers of waters persisted in theCatholic tradition of Christianity, although often in sub-limated form. The Celts in particular venerated well wa-ters and local springs, placing them under the protectionof the mother goddess. Many of the great rivers of Europesuch as the Rhine, the Seine, the Marne, the Clyde andothers still retain Celtic names. With the arrival of Chris-tianity, Christian leaders were quick to recognize thepowers associated with these waters, and the watersthemselves were “Christianized,” often named after aChristian saint or the Virgin Mary. For example, the wellwaters at Cartres, St. Winifred’s , and St. Beuno’s Wellsin Wales, Chalice Well of Glastonbury or the “miracu-lous” spring at Lourdes are regarded as sacred preciselybecause they produce miracles of healing.

Pope Gregory I in a letter to an English abbot in 601c.e. recommends rather than destroying the pagan wellspouring “holy water upon said temples . . . that theymight be converted from the worship of demons to theworship of the true God.” R.C. Hope, writing his account,The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England, in1893, found that 129 wells in England had been sotransferred to Christian saints, the most common theVirgin Mary. The Grimm brothers, authors of fairy talesused for generations, in their text Teutonic Legends,named many examples of Christianized wells in theRhine basin. They also noted that “The heathen practiceof sprinkling a new born babe with water closely resem-bled Christian baptism.”

Even today, sick children are dipped three times inSt. Mandron’s well in Cornwall, England, in hopes of acure. There are estimated to be some 3,000 holy wells inIreland alone. From the 13th Century even into the early20th Century, dipping a crucifix or a statue of Mary intowater was seen as a way to end drought and producerain. Pilgrimages to these holy waters involved a ritualcalled “the pattern,” recitation of prayers and perfor-mance of rites for healing. Such beliefs have persisted inspite of the persecution of all such water cults by theCatholic and other Christian churches.

Monasteries and churches were often built alongsidestreams and rivers, where Celts worshipped a water god-dess. Christians would place a statue of Mary near thewater site. Cistercian monks in particular shared an


FROM HOLY WATER TO HOLY WATERS

Gary Chamberlain

In relation to water, God is suffering in thepollution of water, in the thirst of peoples denied access to clean water, in the diseasesexperienced by living creatures because ofinadequate sanitation

affinity for the sacredness of water with the Celts andchose lands near water temples. The architecture cen-tered around fountains, and fonts of water were built forritual purposes of purification and initiation, even themundane task of cleansing hands before eating. Irishecological theologian Sean McDonagh suggests that, atleast in Ireland, “each parish ought to revisit and redis-cover its holy well. The quality of water in the holy wellcould become a barometer for the quality of groundwaterin the locality.”

Catholicism is replete with rituals and practices uti-lizing water as symbols of purification, cleansing, andhealing. This is most clearly seen in the uses of “holywater.” During the rituals surrounding Easter a largecandle, incised with symbolic emblems, is lit and plungedinto the waters of the font three times; this represents thebaptism of Jesus whereby the waters became sanctified,possessed of sacred powers of regeneration. The ritualalso symbolically plunges fire, the masculine, into water,the feminine, recapturing archetypal symbols of humanintercourse.

Those waters are used throughout the year for cere-monies in which the water symbolizes a purification andblessing process, particularly in baptism. Likewise, uponentering a church or other sacred place, the entrant dipsfingers into the “holy” water to purify oneself, set asidethe impurities of the world outside, and prepare for thesacred rituals to come. Since the 9th Century, the con-gregation has been sprinkled at the rituals surroundingMass, in preparation for reception of the communionhost signifying the body of Christ. The ritual of the “as-perges” replicates in some form the belief in Hinduismthat bringing just one drop of the waters of sacred riverssuch as the Ganges to the forehead is enough to purifythe impure. During the Mass ceremony itself water ismixed with wine, recalling the mixing of water and bloodat Jesus’s crucifixion; the water symbolizes his humani-ty while the wine/blood symbolizes his divinity.

Boats, houses, animals, and other possessions aresprinkled with “holy” water as part of their dedication forGod’s purposes. For example, the annual Blessing of theFleet festival takes place in many United States and Eu-ropean ports. Saints Peter and Anthony are called uponboth to protect sailors and to ask for abundant fishing,“Peter because he was a fisherman himself and Anthonybecause he stood on the riverbank and preached to thefishes, who rose up on their tails and listened . . . Thisoften somber ceremony not only asks for divine protec-tion of both the fishermen and their boats, but commem-orates those who lost their lives while performing one ofthe most dangerous jobs in the world.”

In addition, holy water is used as a powerful instru-ment to ward off the attacks of the devil, especially in theexorcism of evil spirits from people and places. The me-dieval reformer and mystic Teresa of Avila writes of thepower of water to ward off the devil, stronger than eventhe cross:

I know by frequent experience that there is nothing which more puts the devils to flight than holy water; great, then, must be the power of holy water. As for me, my soul is conscious of a special and most distinct

consolation whenever I take it. Indeed, I feel almost al-ways a certain refreshing . . . together with an inward joy, which comforts my whole soul.

Finally as in other traditions, water at a funeral sym-bolizes both a return to the earth as the water flows awayand as a final purification as the spirit moves into newlife. The coffin itself has the shape of an ancient bap-tismal font, an immersion in the depths again to be re-born to new life in the Resurrection. Tim Unsworth, aRoman Catholic writer for the Catholic magazine, Ameri-ca, states somewhat with tongue in cheek:

Before they put me in the ground, the priest will sprin-kle the gaping grave with holy water. My grieving rel-atives will be relieved. Their sturdy faith will have convinced them that holy water can cool the fires of hell in a race for my soul. (My Irish mother believed that holy water wouldn’t even boil.) My family will have to wait for Judgment Day to see if the water will have spared me. Meanwhile, the gesture with water will symbolize external cleansing and internal purifi-cation (Unsworth, 1996).

Although not sacred in itself or a direct revelation ofthe divine or cosmic power as in indigenous, Hindu, Bud-dhist, Taoist, or Confucian traditions, water in theCatholic tradition does have powerful symbolic meaningas an instrument of God’s powers for healing, purifying,and cleansing. This is particularly true in the initiationritual of baptism, but also finds its place in the symbolicmixing of water and wine in the Eucharist/communionrituals, blessings, and burial rites. At the same time in-teresting questions emerge about holy water, or reallyholy waters: what makes the water “holy” and imbues itwith power? Is the water “holy” only in symbolic patternsor is the water “holy” and filled with power as in Exorcismrituals, the healing powers of wells, or the waters of Lour-des, which can even be bought over the internet as a“medicine” for healing?

Mircea Eliade (1969) argues that Christianity in thisway provides a new valorization of ancient, pre-Christian,even pre-Judaic symbolism of water to a particular his-tory, the Christ history. It is not water itself that is so val-orized, but water symbolism forms a typology of a Bibli-cal valorization. That is, in baptism, the initiate re-nounces the darkness of the abyss, now known as Satan – the actual words of the baptismal ritual ask, “Do yourenounce Satan?” and the congregation replies, “Yes –and the sacrament itself, the baptism ritual rather thanthe waters, becomes the only representative that medi-ates salvation. The waters themselves no longer purifyspiritually, bring salvation; the rituals do. In this wayChristianity uses the natural symbol of water, but addsto it new value.

For far too long the Christian tradition placed hu-mans’ ultimate concerns upon the next life in a spiritual-ity divorced from the realities of God’s creation. Histori-cally, water and nature were not seen as places of God’srevelation; rather, history became the locus of God’smanifestation and relation to humans. Fortunately weare awakening to the threats we ourselves bring to this


From Holy Water To Holy Waters . . . cont’d.

earth which God has given us in trust. At the same timewe re-awaken to the role of the Spirit in the natural worldand so in the waters. The Genesis creation accounttellingly reminds us that the beginnings of the earthemerged from the waters: “In the beginning God createdthe heavens and the earth. There was darkness over thedeep, and God’s Spirit hovered over the water . . . andGod saw that it was good.”

Beginning in the 1980s and continuing to the presentday, Catholic theologians have attempted to developmore fully the understanding of God’s presence in thenatural world. The Catholic tradition has not employedthe “stewardship” model of much Protestant reflection onhuman interaction with nature due to its managerialsense, still separating humans from the environmentaround them. Thus Fr. Thomas Berry, who calls himselfa “geologian,” worked on the theme of a new “intimacy”with the natural world to overcome our “autism” in rela-tion to nature. Theologians Michael and Ken Himesspeak of a “companionship” with nature, while RosemaryRadford Ruether uses the notion of a “covenant” with na-ture. Protestant theologian Mark Wallace adds to thismore developed understanding of nature as a site ofGod’s residence in developing a creative, dynamic recon-figuration of the role of Holy Spirit as “the earthen Godenfleshed within all the life-forms upon the earth.” Spir-it “ensouls” earth, and thus water, as its life-givingbreath, while earth embodies Spirit’s animation of thewhole of creation. Using by analogy the formula of Chal-cedon concerning the dual natures of Jesus as fully di-vine and fully human, Wallace (2001) formulates anequally “internal and abiding union” between Spirit andearth: the Spirit “is the ‘soul’ of the earth,” and “the earthis the ‘flesh’ of the Spirit.”

As a consequence just as the Jesus-God suffered onthe cross, the Spirit-God suffers whenever the earth suf-fers. The Spirit’s suffering from present environmentaltrauma results in agony to the Godhead. In relation towater, God is suffering in the pollution of water, in thethirst of peoples denied access to clean water, in the dis-eases experienced by living creatures because of inade-quate sanitation. This theme of God’s Spirit at work inthe world recaptures the theological insight that the Spir-it has always been present in the works of the createdworld, of nature, and is an important element in devel-oping a renewed intimacy with water on the part of Chris-tians.

HUMAN RIGHT TO WATER

In the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II’sLenten address of 1993 outlines the problems of water inthe world and expressed his worry that “entire peopleshave been reduced to destitution and are sufferinghunger and disease because they lack drinking water”(John Paul II, 1993). By 2004 the Vatican’s PontificalCouncil for Justice and Peace had arrived at the directstatement that: “By its very nature water is a public good.The right to water finds its basis in human dignity andnot in any kind of merely quantitative assessment thatconsiders water as an economic good” (Vargas, 2004).

The Council’s statement continues: “By its very na-ture water cannot be treated as just another commodity,and it must be used rationally and in solidarity with oth-ers. The distribution of water is traditionally among theresponsibilities that fall to public agencies, since water isconsidered a public good. If water distribution is entrust-ed to the private sector, it should still be considered apublic good. The right to water, as all human rights, findsits basis in human dignity and not in any kind of merelyquantitative assessment that considers water as a mere-ly economic good. Without water, life is threatened.Therefore, the right to safe drinking water is a universaland inalienable right.” At the 4th World Water Forum inMexico City, March 16-22, 2006, the Council declaredthat wasting water is unacceptable and noted the rolewater plays in peace and security issues, citing in partic-ular the harsh drought in southern Africa “which is in-tensifying ethnic tensions.”

Then in September 2008, Pope Benedict XVI againunderlined the basic right to water in a letter for the in-ternational exposition on “Water and Sustainable Devel-opment” in Zaragoza, Spain: “With regard to the right towater, it should be stressed that this right is founded onthe dignity of the human person.” Benedict continues:“The fact that water today is considered principally as amaterial commodity must not make us forget the reli-gious meanings that believing humanity, especiallyChristianity, has developed on the basis of water, givingit great value as a precious immaterial good which neverfails to enrich human life on this earth” (Benedict XVI,2008).

HOLY WATERS

As important as these statements of the principle ofthe human right to water are and as profound as thesymbolic meaning of water found in earlier statementsand indicated in rituals, an important step muststrengthen the understanding of water in its sacred char-acter.

In a 2006 document, “Water and the Community ofLife,” the Roman Catholic Maryknoll religious communi-ty proposes such a profound understanding, stating that“Water . . . claims it own ‘right to be’ by the very fact thatit is! To honor water is to go deep into the very mystery ofcreation.” The authors then refer to the Spirit’s presencein water: “as we better understand the full implications ofour being members of a single, sacred (author’s empha-sis) earth community, the common good must be ex-panded to include all other expressions of earth life aswell . . . Therefore, our concern for the common goodmust reach out and incorporate the ‘good’ of water.” Herethe principle of participation must “ensure that the rightsof the natural world are also represented at the table. . . our work with sister water moves us beyond socialparticipation to include ecological participation.”

In the words of the statement, water itself has rights,and Spirit then animates the waters of the earth as itdoes for all members of “a single, sacred earth communi-ty.” Baptism as the primary sacrament of Christian lifeproduces in the purity of the waters a purification of theinner person from moral and spiritual “dirt” just as water



itself dissolves physical dirt and cleanses what it touch-es. The “holy” water blessed during the Easter cere-monies in the Roman Catholic tradition becomes thewater of purification for a variety of rituals. In Ireland,holy wells still are used to cleanse body and spirit. Thou-sands journey to the shrine at Lourdes, France, yearly inhope of bodily healing and spiritual cleansing. These an-cient and current rituals signify more than just a spiritu-al cleansing and purification; they intimate and in somecases powerfully exemplify the place of water as a sacredmanifestation and presence of the divine.

Perhaps this new emphasis in the Catholic traditionsof theology and practice will result in greater realizationof Spirit’s presence in the waters and so the need to con-serve, preserve, restore, and foster waters around theearth – from the sources in the high mountains to thestreams, creeks, and rivers that wind their ways down tothe wetlands, deltas, and watersheds pouring into theseas. Water, as embodiment of Spirit, has not only a rightto be in itself as a part of creation, but also a right toflourish, to be freed from pollution and contaminationand to run clean and clear to the sea, to contribute to thewell-being of all peoples and the entire earth. The rightsof water when in conflict with other rights, includingbasic rights of humans, may be overridden, but such anoverriding demands fair adjudication. While specificsaround such a recognition of rights of water are yet to beformulated, the basic principle remains: water has a rightto existence in as natural a state as possible and watertoo has obligations to nurture the rest of creation. This isthe new “good news” (Wallace, 2001).

In the words of advocate Maggie Black in The No-Nonsense Guide to Water: “Future water peace will de-pend . . . on whether water’s status as a commons overwhich all humanity has rights can be upheld. Perhapswater will manage to redeem the sacred status it has en-joyed since life appeared and divest itself of the commod-ity-driven character which is only a recent incarnation”(Black, 2004).

REFERENCES

Benedict XVI, Pope, 2008. An Essential and Indispensable Good.” Letter to Cardinal Renato Rafaele Martino, representa-tive of the Holy See to the Day of the Holy See at The interna-tional exposition on “Water and Sustainable Development,” Zaragoza, Spain.

Black, Maggie, 2004. The No-Nonsense Guide to Water New In-ternational Publ., Oxford, U.K.

de Villiers, Marq, 2000. Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource Houghton-Mifflin, New York, New York.

Eliade, Mircea, 1958. Patterns in Comparative Religion. Sheed and Ward, New York, New York.

Eliade, Mircea, 1969. Images and Symbols. Sheed and Ward, New York, New York.

Paul II, John, 1993. Water Is Sacred: Protect It. National Catholic Reporter, February 19, 32 pp.

Unsworth, Tim 1996. Holy Waters Run Deep. U.S. Catholic, 50 pp.

Vargas, Laura. 2004. A Common Good. Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Scarboro Missions Magazine. Available at www.scarboromissions.ca.

Wallace, Marc I., 2001. Finding God in Singing River. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Gary ChamberlainProfessor Emeritus of Christian EthicsTheology and Religious Studies Dept.,

Environmental Studies ProgramSeattle University901 12th Ave., P.O. Box 222000Seattle, WA 98122(206) 296-5322

[email protected]

Dr. Gary Chamberlain is Professor Emeritus of ChristianEthics in the Theology and Religious Studies Departmentat Seattle University. Dr. Chamberlain has publishedpreviously in Journal for Peace and Justice Studies, Amer-ica, National Catholic Reporter, New Catholic World, Chris-tianity and Crisis, Theology Today, Worship, Journal ofReligious Education, Chicago Studies, Belizean Studies,The Iliff Review, The Critic, Encounter, Japan ChristianQuarterly, The Journal of Value Inquiry and several otherjournals and magazines. His first book, Fostering Faith,was published by Paulist Press in February 1989, and heco-edited, with Fr. Patrick Howell, S.J., Empowering Au-thority, published by Sheed and Ward in 1990. His mostrecent book, Troubled Waters: Religion, Ethics, and theGlobal Water Crisis, was published by Rowman and Lit-tlefield Press, 2008. Dr. Chamberlain continues with re-search, writing, and lectures in the area of human sexu-ality and global and local water issues.

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INTRODUCTION

During my first few years working as an anthropolo-gist on the Coeur d’Alene Indian reservation in Idaho I as-sisted in a youth program that took place far from thereservation, on the Snake River. I asked one of the eldersearly on if I could help relocate this program back to thetraditional homeland of the tribe on Lake Coeur d’Alene. She just shook her head and said to me, “No oneeats the fish anymore.” This was in 1994. Today, lessthan 20 years later, the people are starting to return tothe lake and its rivers and streams, and they are againbeginning to harvest the fish, plants, and game that theyonce avoided. What had been polluted and destroyed bydecades of mining in the Silver Valley of Idaho is being re-stored.

THE HISTORY

According to the legend of the origins of the Coeurd’Alene people, they found themselves created in the fourmillion acre homeland centered on the banks of thebeautiful lake from which they share a name. Tradition-ally a group of hunting and gathering bands until late inthe 19th Century, the Coeur d’Alene’s had establishedpermanent winter villages on the North and South Forksof the Coeur d’Alene River. They depended on the vastnorthwestern waterways for travel, and for the trout,salmon, and other fish that teemed in these waters. Anearly Jesuit to the area, Nicholas Point, S.J., wrote in hisjournal that, “where the lake empties into the SpokaneRiver, the waters are teeming with fish which are caught…” (Point, 1967). According to contemporary Tribal ElderLavinia Felsman, the ancestral people hunted deer, bear,elk, small game, and collected water potatoes and vari-eties of berries and other plants throughout the year(personal communication). It was, according to Point, amarvel at the ease in which so much food could be gath-ered.

All of this came to a crashing halt near the end of the19th Century. Gold was discovered in the valleys ofNorthern Idaho, and the largest gold rush in the UnitedStates (U.S.). ensued in 1860. In 1881 gold was discov-ered on the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River, and in1885 Noah Kellogg discovered silver in the same area. Inrapid succession the Morning Star Mine (the deepestAmerican Mine), the Bunker Hill Mine (the largest under-ground mine) and the Sunshine Mine (America’s richestsilver mine) were opened in the sacred mountains of theCoeur d’Alene people. In 1985, the one billionth ounce ofsilver was extracted from the area. Tons of lead, zinc,copper, phosphate and gold also were extracted(http://idahomining.net/ima/mhistory.html). Miningwas king in the industrializing American milieu, and the

Silver Valley, had no place for the indigenous people whohad cared for the land and waters for millennia. The tribewas forced to move out of the mountains, and to a reser-vation far from the lake and rivers, and away from theirtraditional foods. And, while they were displaced, tons ofmining detritus washed into the waterways, turning thewaters and land toxic.

WORLD VIEWS

The story of the transformation of the land and thewater has to be understood in light of conflicting worldviews. For the indigenous people of the ColumbiaPlateau, the plants, animals, and processes of the landare imbued with spirit. The role of the people is to carefor them and in doing so, what Westerner’s refer to as na-ture cared for the people. It is a symbiotic relationship inwhich an embedded spirituality is connected to the landand people. The food that nourished the ancestors is nota commercial commodity or a utilitarian entity. Perhapsthis is best illustrated by the importance of traditionalfoods during a funeral wake or remembrance ceremony.At these events, even today, people are sent out to collectelk, berries, deer, fish, etc., for the tribal feast in honor ofa person who has died. These are shared fruits of theland, and reconnect the people to their ancestral landsduring the community feasts. But, as the land becamemore polluted and large fish kills were seen on the riversand lakes, a crisis occurred for the people; how to main-tain their identity in the face of ongoing pollution?

According to Tribal Elder Henry Sijohn (tribal histori-an and culture keeper), the people stopped drinking thewaters from the lake and eating the fish and plants be-cause of strange tastes that developed there. People sawwildlife dying, and at times the rivers ran white with minewaste. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, in oneday, in 1996, one million pounds of lead washed into theCoeur d’Alene drainage system during a flood. They alsoestimate that at least 75 million tons of heavy metal tail-ings lie on the lake bottom. Overall, there are over 500abandoned mines in the Silver Valley, which continue topollute the system. What are affected are over 12,000miles of rivers, 180,000 acres of lakes, and a half millionacres of land (Satchell, 1998).


NO ONE EATS THE FISH ANYMORE:TRIBAL RECLAMATION OF THE SILVER VALLEY, IDAHO

Theodore N. Fortier

Overall, there are over 500 abandoned minesin the Silver Valley, which continue to pollutethe system ... what are affected are over 12,000 miles of rivers, 180,000 acres of lakes,and a half million acres of land

CONFRONTATION FOR CHANGE

In 1983 the Coeur d’Alene tribe was poor. At timesover 60 percent of the tribe was unemployed, and thetribe struggled with all the problems that lack of housing,health, and education bring to a people. Yet, the tribealso realized that their future rested on the preservationand the reclamation of their heritage in the mountainsand waters of their homeland. The tribe demanded acleanup of their ancestral lands, as the impact of the pol-lution was tearing apart the fabric of tribal identity. TheU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the State ofIdaho, and the mining companies rejected this out ofhand (Philip Cenera, Manager of Lake Cleanup Depart-ment, Coeur d’Alene Tribe, personal communication).But, the Coeur d’Alene’s lived up to the name given tothem by the French fur trappers, “Those With Hearts asSharp as Awls,” and filed a billion dollar lawsuit for lostand damaged resources and to restore the lands and wa-ters to their original condition. This brave and coura-geous act caught the attention of the U.S. Department ofJustice, who joined with the tribe to force the cleanup ofthis beautiful territory.

This led to an astounding series of events that re-sulted in two important U.S. Supreme Court rulings. Be-cause the statuses of federally recognized tribes, such asthe Coeur d’Alene, are seen as sovereign nations, theycannot sue a state (11th Amendment). In order for theU.S. Justice Department to assure that a Super Fund(that was estimated to be at least four billion dollars over50 years) could be established. A state in which thisoccur must contribute 10 percent of the cost of the fund.The State of Idaho refused to contribute this amount.What occurred, through the negotiation of tribal lawyersand the U.S. Justice Department, was the Coeur d’Aleneassertion that the submerged lands under the Coeur d’Alene River belong to the tribe, not the state, by virtueof the executive order establishing the reservation in the1870s. However, the U.S. Supreme Court did rule thatthe tribe could not sue state officials (Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho, 521 U.S. 261 (1997)), but fouryears later ruled that the Federal government could suethe state in order to reestablish aboriginal title (Idaho v.United States, 533 U.S. 262 (2001)). Clean up workbegan almost immediately (see also Hart, 2000).

THE CLEANUP PROCESS

According to Philip Cenera (Manager of Lake CleanupDepartment, Coeur d’Alene Tribe, personal communica-tion), the U.S. EPA assessed the cleanup plan as a 50-year process, done in three stages. The first phase sched-uled to last 20 years, includes such projects as excavat-ing pollutants on the old Union Pacific Railroad and cap-ping the excavation with asphalt (this has resulted in thebeautiful Trail of the Coeur d’Alene Bike trail, over 70miles from Plummer to Mullan, a mountain mining townnear the Montana border). Chuck Matheson, Tribal Mem-ber and overall manager of the Coeur d’Alene Tribal De-partment of Ecology Tribal Environmental concerns, toldme recently that the tribal effort to reclaim the southernpart of Lake Coeur d’Alene, and establish a regular trib-

al presence there, will enable a steady improvement ofthe water resources. He noted that even today tribalmembers have noticed geese dying after eating waterpotatoes on the eastern shore of the lake, which is stillheavily polluted with lead.

One of the ongoing concerns of the tribe at this timeis that efforts around Kellogg and Wallace, north of theLake, are receiving considerable U.S. EPA and state at-tention. On the other hand, the lake itself, a valuabletourist area for the state, is not being addressed in thesame manner. Dr. John Rosen, who designed the lead re-moval project for the Kellogg area, stated in 1998, refer-ring to Lake Coeur d’Alene, “As far as playing in the wateror eating the fish, I would not let a child near that lake,”(Satchell, 1998). Again, Cenera notes that the deep blueclarity of the lake is an indication of algae death, or, moreproperly, eutrophication. The ongoing argument here iswhat to do with the tons of toxic sediments that are ce-mented on the lake floor: to dredge it could result in acatastrophic reaction to the system. And, on the other, itsits as a possible time bomb that continuously releasespoisonous sediments (see also Sengor et.al., 2007).

THE PEOPLE TODAY

I am not a scientist, and I do not understand thechemical interactions or the long-term impact of variousmining practices on the land. I am a cultural anthropol-ogist, and I have been privileged to live and work with theCoeur d’Alene people for a number of years, and to be apart of their family life. In my work I have observed thedeep heartfelt connection to the beauty and the processof the land that the people were forced to leave over ahundred years ago. This is reflected in the aboriginal lan-guage. The geographical locales are not named for fa-mous people or for the other things Westerners nameplaces: rather, in the Coeur d’Alene language, geograph-ical places are named for processes (Where the MuskratsAre) or for references to the whole body (Grandfather’sHair) (Palmer, 1990). The Indian people do not claim landfor themselves. In other words they accept it as a part ofa deep relationship. And when a part of the social body isharmed, everyone is harmed. One can only imagine thehorrors they experienced seeing mine tailings flowing intothe streams and rivers, the ripping open of the earth, thedeforestation, and smelters spewing acrid smoke into theclear skies.

Today, as the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police patrol thewaters of the south end of the lake, and some people arebeginning to gather in the fall to harvest water potatoeson the east bank of the river and lake, there is a resur-gence of hope. The people are beginning to see the resultsof the clean up around the head waters of the lake, by thetraditional fall gathering spot near Cataldo, Idaho. As thehard work continues to remove the old tailings, and tohelp redirect the channels to their original courses, thereis a growing sense that the lands that were kept so pureby their ancestors will be restored. This audacity of asmall tribe to confront the century of displacement andpollution of their lands stands as a powerful testament toall of us on how we can reclaim that which is most dearto us. (see also Rastogi et al., 2009).


No One Eats the Fish Anymore: Tribal Reclamation of the Silver Valley, Idaho . . . cont’d.

I recently accompanied Tribal Elder Felix Arripa on ahike deep into the mountains, to a beautiful lake carvedinto a mountain. Here, he told me, was a sacred gather-ing place for the people that they can now return to.Around me were tribal members that had accompaniedus to this beautiful spot: other elders, mothers and fa-thers with their children, as well as some of the tribal sci-entists. After the long hot hike into this place, peoplejumped into the clear waters, and drank deeply from it.Life is being restored!

REFERENCES

Hart, E. Richard, 2000. The Continuing Saga of the Indian Land Claims. Journal of American Indian Culture and Research 24(1):183-188.

Palmer, Gary, 1990. Where There Are Muskrats: The Semantic Structure of Coeur d’Alene Place Names. Anthropological Lin-guistics, Vol. 32.

Point, Nicholas, 1967. Wilderness Kingdom: The Journal and Paintings of Father Nicholas Point. Translated by Joseph Donnelly, S.J., Loyola University Press, Chicago, Illinois.

Rastogi, Gurdeep, R. Sani, B. Peyton, J. Moberly, and T. Ginn, 2009. Molecular Studies on the Microbial Diversity Associat-ed With Mining-Impacted Coeur d’Alene Sediments. Microbi-ology of Aquatic Systems 58:129-139.

Satchell, Michael, 1998. Taking Back the Land That Was So Pure. U.S. News and World Report, Vol. 124 Issue 17.

Sengor, S., N. Spycher, T. Ginn, R. Sani, and B. Peyton, 2007. Biogeochemical Reactive-Diffusion Transport of Heavy Metals in Lake Coeur d’Alene Sediments. Applied Geochemistry 22:2569-2594.

Theodore (Ted) N. FortierAssociate Professor of AnthropologyDept. of Anthropology, Sociology, and

Social WorkSeattle University900 BroadwaySeattle, WA 98122(206) 296-5385

[email protected]

Theodore (Ted) N. Fortier is an Associate Professor inAnthropology at Seattle University in Seattle, Washing-ton. Ted has had an amazingly diverse set of careersspanning the western United States from California toAlaska. He has been, among other things, a minister/pastor, a high school teacher, and a court con-sultant on issues related to preserving the heritage ofFirst Peoples.

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No One Eats the Fish Anymore: Tribal Reclamation of the Silver Valley, Idaho . . . cont’d.

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Many Disciplines, One Community:Protecting Water ResourcesAmerican Water Resources Association

Waves of humans moving onward and outward fromAfrica along with subsequent events that lead to ethnic,social, and cultural diversification have been occurringfor tens of thousands of years. Colonization by thehuman species of lands from the Arctic to the southerntips of Africa, Australia, and South America was accom-plished on the feet of ancestral humans. Crossing theseas to establish new homes was accomplished largely inareas where lands could be followed for guidance. Inwestern culture, most of the ancient epic voyages wereaccomplished in relatively small water bodies such as theMediterranean and Black Seas, or via short distance is-land hopping in places like modern Indonesia. Landbridges interconnecting continents helped humans toreach North and South America and then rising seas iso-lated them for thousands of years from the rest of theworld. At least from a landmass situation, humans hadsought and found most of the habitable landmasses ofthe world: with one exception. Peoples who today are col-lectively called Polynesians, Melanesians, and Microne-sians came out of east Africa, southeastern Asia, andTaiwan to sail vast distances to colonize lands found inthe last remaining third of the habitable world: the Pacif-ic.

In their wa’a kaukahi (double hulled, large sailing ca-noes), the kupuna (the ancestors) huaka’i (voyaged)moana (the ocean) to find manalo (water), fertile soil, andother resources to support their people. European ex-plorers such as Cook, Tasman, and others marveled athow there were living, vibrant cultures on places thatwere challenges for their “modern” technologies to locate.Even today when looking at the largest of the doublehulled canoes, one must marvel at what it took to surviveand navigate to a place like Hawai’i in the middle of thevast Pacific. When one examines the history of the Poly-nesian people and Hawai’i, the “mystery” comes some-what clearer. (For a readable but thorough discussion ofthe Polynesian Diaspora, see Vaka Moana: Voyages of theAncestors, Howe, 2007.)

The Polynesian peoples were true colonizers. Unlikethe mythos that has arisen in some quarters that Hawai’iand other Pacific archipelagoes were ripe for human set-tlement, the truth was far from it. Although the three Ws,water, wind, and wings, brought life to the Pacific Is-lands, critical plants and animals for human settlementwere almost never part of the mix. Most of the food andfiber crops, terrestrial food animals such as pigs, andother essential crops were not native to the islands andhad to be brought by the settlers. The Polynesian peopleswere some of the earliest agriculturalists out of necessi-ty. As Dr. Bill Steiner (2006) points out in his research bythe time James Cook “discovered” Hawai’i in 1778, thehuman population of the main Hawai’ian Islands wascomparable to the 1.3 million of today. A key differencebetween then and now is that everything that was eaten,

worn, used for shelter or into which tools were madesuch as the large and small canoes had to be grown,gathered, fished or hunted in and around the islands.Compare this to today where 90 to 95% of all food con-sumed in Hawai’i is brought in by airplane or ship (Stein-er, 2006).

How did a civilization of the beauty and complexityarise on the Hawai’ian Islands over as short a period of1,300 years? Current theory has it that the explorers andsettlers came out of French Polynesia (Tahiti, Marquesas)and brought with them what they could safely carry. Onthe Vaka Moana (the voyages of the ancestors in the ear-lier language), they brought with them canoe plants: es-sential to their diet and clothing , medicine, shelter andother purposes: kalo (taro), ‘ulu (breadfruit), ‘ape (ele-phant ear), ‘awa (kalo), etc. Pigs and poultry came alongas well. Most importantly, like with many indigenouspeoples, the oral traditions and folk knowledge of thosevoyaging Polynesian ancestors carried with them a richbackground of spiritual and practical knowledge. TheHawai’ian people shared an ancient religious backgroundthat was adapted to meet the reality they encountered inthese new islands. This religion was both polytheistic andanimist, providing for a cosmology, an afterlife and dove-tailing with the practical knowledge necessary to adaptthese lands to their needs.

Essential for the survival of the tribe and for estab-lishment of a long term home for the Hawai’ian peoplewas fresh water in abundance. Thousands of years ofvoyaging gave them rich traditions to draw upon. Kahu-na were the wise men and women who were experts intheir fields. They kept both the oral traditions and thepractical skills of their field. The kahunapule were thepriests; they performed essential religious ceremoniesand kept the knowledge of their faith. Hawai’ians prayedto the gods that were essential for the success of their ac-tions; growing crops, hunting, fishing, etc. For the ancient Hawai’ians, the land or ‘aina provided for the people both spiritually and physically: theland is inherently sacred. All that the land provides forthe people is intimately tied into the relationship between‘aina, wai (water), kai (ocean), and lewa (sky). As KepaMaly (2001) points out, the Hawai’ian sense of place hasevolved over hundreds of generations of evolving culturalattachment to the natural, physical, and social environ-ments. The division between nature and human culture


FOUNDATIONS OF HAWAI’IAN CULTURE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER

Eric J. Fitch

Native ways of watershed management may be an answer to the chronic dought conditions foundin parts of the islands ... certainly theindigenous knowledge of the Hawai’ian peoples is worthwhile for more study

found in Western civilizations does not exist in Hawai’ianculture, rather the two blend together as one (Maly,2001).

HAWAI’IAN GODS AND SPIRITS

The stories of the gods both underlie the cosmologyof the culture and define the rules and restrictions forliving or the kapu. Any understanding of the Hawai’ianpantheon must start with the ka ha or the four principalgods: Kane, Ku, Lono, and Kanaloa. Kane was the cre-ator, the maker of the universe, man, and ancestor of theHawai’ian nobles. Ku was the god of war. Kanaloa wasthe ruler of the oceans and a companion to Kane in ac-tion. Lono was associated with fertility, agriculture, rain-fall, and music. Beneath these four principles and theirspouses were 40 male gods representing aspects of Kanein action, and beneath them multitudes of local gods andspirits including ancestors. No one god could be prayedto for success in an endeavor. Although Lono could beprayed to for rainfall and fertility in a crop, if you wantedto have groundwater to back up the rainfall for a waterthirsty crop then prayers could be said to Kane orKanaloa who were skilled at water witching. The mythsand legends of the Hawai’ian people are too rich to re-count here, but it is important to remember that all thehappenings of nature are interwoven with the gods andthe lives of the people. Two sister goddesses Pele (Pele-honua-mea) and Namaka (Na-maka-o-kaha'i) rose in im-portance above their counterparts in other Polynesianfaiths in part because of the need to explain the interac-tion between the lava coming out of the active volcanoeson the Big Island of Hawai’I and the sea. Pele in her as-pect as fire goddess sends for lava to punish enemies oreven when she simply gets too excited. Namaka as seagoddess cools off the lava making new land that Lono caneventually transform into fertile soil. Even the most vio-lent of the gods/nature’s acts can in the long run benefitthe peoples.

Understanding the spirits in dwelling places andwhether the spirits are good or mischievous will help thepeople to succeed. For example, to understand the Puna-hou Spring and its origins you should know the story ofthe two children who ran away to escape their cruel step-mother’s treatment of them. Or if you wish to understandhow the Manoa Valley is so lush and green year rounddespite being on the leeward side of Oahu, then it wouldbe important to understand the persecution of a maidenby her betrothed who was convinced she had cheatedupon him. To keep and revere the lands where a family’s(‘ohana) ancestors (kupuna) are buried is essential tomaintain good relations with the land. The relationshipsbetween living people and living spirits are active andalive in Hawai’ian culture (Beckwith, 1970).

LAND AND WATERSHED DIVISION FOLLOWING THERULES AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE

Mo’olelo, or the traditions of the Hawai’ian people re-view a sophisticated culture. The Hawai’ian people did not believe in a separation between culture and nature but that they were aspects of the same phenomenon.Knowledge of the gods and spirits combined with the traditions lead to a rich and productive life on the is-lands. Of the 132 island, reefs, and shoals the make upthe greater Hawai’ian Islands, the eight major islands areconsidered geologically to be High Islands. High Islandsare especially adaptable to the Hawai’ian/Polynesianmethod of land/watershed division called ahupua’a.Moku puni or islands were divided into moku-o-loko ordistricts, the districts into ‘okana and finally intoahupua’a. Additionally, the land and watersheds were di-vided from the mountaintops out into the sea by their ge-ological and physical features. The lands were dividedamongst extended families in the ahupua’a in wedges ofthe land area from the sea heading up the mountains.Some kahuna were well versed in understanding of wa-tershed (catchment) delineations and the formalized dis-tricts and family holdings that were created match upwell with modern understanding of watersheds. The localchief or ali’I picked a manager or konohiki to oversee op-erations of the ahupua’a and to collect taxes. Each kono-hiki had subject specific experts called luna to help withthe overall management. Each ahupua’a had a naturalresource base sufficient to support that tribe and fortaxes if managed properly. It contained enough freshwater for drinking, washing, irrigation, etc. There weresufficient areas of fertile soil to grow and harvest plantsnecessary for food, shelter, clothing, tools, canoes, etc.Access to the sea and to ponds provided further sourcesof resources and protein. The system usually worked wellenough that the tribe could provide for itself, pay theirtaxes, and have goods to trade and sell. Certain goodsthat the tribe needed or wanted but could not produceout of local resources could be acquired. The commonersor maka’ainana were the actual farmers, fishermen,craftsmen, etc. Everyone had roles and where commit-ment to the system existed, the peoples thrived (Cox etal., 1999; Derrickson et al., 2002).

Even after King Kamehameha I unified Hawai’i andcreated a monarchy, after his descendents created a con-stitutional monarchy, after mass conversions to Chris-tianity, after annexation by the United States and state-hood, and many other changes, the myths and legends,the stories and the folk knowledge of Hawai’i remainedalive in the people so that today the lessons of the pasthave not been lost. Native ways of watershed manage-ment may be an answer to the chronic drought condi-tions found in parts of the islands. Certainly the indige-nous knowledge of the Hawai’ian peoples is worthwhilefor more study. Before the advent of Europeans andNorth Americans on the Islands, there was a culture thatwas productive and sustainable. Each month was dedi-cated to a different god in the Hawai’ian pantheon and fora part of each month the bounty of the Islands wasshared in feasts. Not a bad way of living indeed.


Foundations of Hawai’ian Culture and the Importance of Water . . . cont’d.

REFERENCES

Beckwith, Martha, 1970. Hawaiian Mythology. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii, ISBN: 978-0-8248-0514-2.

Cox, Linda J., Sandy Swan, and Carl I. Evensen, 1999. Manag=ing Hawaii’s Watersheds: Why Watersheds Are Important and How Hawaiians Kept These Resources Healthy. Cooperative Extension Service , College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa Resource Manage-ment Bulletin RM-1.

Derrickson, S.A.K., M.P. Robotham, S.G. Olive, and C.I. Evensen, 2002. Watershed Management and Policy in Hawaii: Coming Full Circle. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 38(2):563-576.

Howe, K.R., 2007. Vaka Moana, Voyages of the Ancestors: The Discovery and Settlement of the Pacific. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii, ISBN-10: 0824832132.

Maly, Kepä, 2001. Mälama Pono I Ka ‘Äina – An Overview of the Hawaiian Cultural Landscape. Kumu Pono Associates LLC, Hilo, Hawai‘i, [email protected].

Steiner, William W.M., 2006. The Coming Paradigm Shift: Sustainable Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Future. Journal of Hawaiian Pacific Agriculture 13:2-8.

Eric J. FitchAssociate Professor of Environmental

Science and LeadershipDirector Environmental Science ProgramMarietta College215 Fifth St.Marietta, OH 45750(740) 376-4997/Fax: (740) 376-4753

[email protected]

Dr. Eric J. Fitch received his B.S. in Biology from St.Meinrad College, his Masters in Environmental Sciencefrom Miami University, and his PhD at Michigan State inResource Development (Environmental Policy). His areasof research are Water Policy, Coastal Zone Management,and Religion and the Environment. He is currently direc-tor of the Environmental Science Program at MariettaCollege. He’s an associate editor of Water Resources IM-PACT, and authors the “What’s Up with Water?” column.He is the President of the Interdisciplinary Environmen-tal Association, a member of the Board of ORBCRE, a fel-low of the East-West Center and the recipient of the 2010Icko Iben Award from AWRA.

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Foundations of Hawai’ian Culture and the Importance of Water . . . cont’d.

AUTHOR LINK

E-MAIL

�� HIGHLIGHTS OF JAWRA TECHNICAL PAPERS • FEBRUARY 2012 • VOL. 48 • NO. 1

Edmunds et al. quantify glacier area and volume changes through the use of historical aerial photographs in Wyoming’sTeton Range.

Chaffin et al. use data collected from a single survey instrument to determine the status, structure, and success of wa-tershed groups in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, respectively.

Abudu et al. compare several models for forecasting monthly total dissolved solids in the Rio Grande River.

Moore et al. assess the accuracy of a simple water balance model for physiographically complex regions that can be runusing existing spatial datasets.

Collentine and Johnsson evaluate the effect of one possible new measure for reducing nitrogen loads to the Baltic Sea,introducing mandatory discharge permits for crop cultivation as one component of a proposed discharge permit system.

Stephens et al. assess the importance of decentralized methods to reduce stormwater runoff, including methods such aslow-impact development (LID) technology, and to enhance recharge in urban areas.

Newburn and Woodward evaluate the economic and institutional aspects of the Great Miami Trading Program in Ohio,including cost effectiveness, efficiency of bidding, transaction costs, trading ratios, and innovation.

Hope and Bart test a regionalization approach previously developed for perennial and ephemeral watersheds in Portugalfor use in central and southern California.

Woznicki and Nejadhashemi determine how the sensitivity of BMPs performance vary due to changes in precipitation,temperature, and CO2 using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool.

Shrestha et al. present a modeling study on climate-induced changes in hydrologic and nutrient fluxes in the UpperAssiniboine catchment, located in the Lake Winnipeg watershed.

Buchanan et al. describe a geographic information system-based operational model that simulates the spatio-temporaldynamics of variable source area (VSA) runoff generation and distributed runoff-routing, including through complex ar-tificial drainage networks.

A full Table of Contents may be viewed at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/jawr/48/1

JAWRA ~ Journal of the American Water Resources Association


AWRA’s Spring Specialty Conference on GIS and Water Resources, heldonce every two years, is a unique international forum addressinggeospatial solutions to the ever-growing list of challenges and

applications in Water Resources.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)and Water Resources VII

New Orleans, March 26-28 2012

This conference will include presentations and topics on a number of exciting newdevelopments and research findings at the intersection of GIS and water resourcesengineering and sciences. Topics to include – but not limited to – the following:

Join us for an exciting opportunity to dialogue about where your work fits into the bigpicture and where the big picture is headed. To learn more, visitwww.awra.org.

John C. “Jack” HampsonConference Chair

PrecipitationClimate Change and GISCollaborative Water ResourcesInternet-Based Data SharingModel and Tool DeploymentSoil and WaterNew Geospatial and Analytic TechnologiesGroundwaterFloodsWater QualityWatershed Management PlansLand Use ClassificationPublic InfrastructureGIS and Hydrologic Simulation Models

Natural Disasters - Geospatial ApproachesRemote SensingNational Hydrography Dataset (NHD)Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) and

State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) DatasetsNational Elevation Dataset (NED)LiDARHydrologic Information SystemsArc HydroOutreach and EducationOther related topics

ACROSS

1 more inclined

7 followed by chest or island

14 converted into leather

15 marina sight

16 math subj.

17 elev.

18 state nickname for Maine

21 neither’s partner

22 tall grass stalk

24 anagram of cratered

26 lift

28 allures

31 basic training instr.

32 ER worker

34 09/11/01

36 thoughts

37 ______ of humor

40 type of grass

42 At. no. 28

43 agrees

45 Ialian spewer

47 “Open, sesame!” speaker

48 nutritional amt.

49 rip and crosscut

52 followed by whale or wing

54 trype of spider

56 to entangle

58 summer cooler

59 American ______

61 dread

62 followed by value or vector

64 At. no. 26

65 complete

66 weight program

68 meas. system

70 wire measure

71 famous

75 a red fruit

77 soon-to-be grad

78 arm covering

80 hosp. section

81 fermenting agent

82 CA national park


�� WATER RESOURCES PUZZLER (answers on pg. 23)

DOWN

1 eyed intently

2 yarn

3 go in

4 printer’s space

5 vigor

6 anagram of diets

7 chemistry procedure

8 appraised again

9 upright

10 cousin of ave.

11 footed vase

12 followed by Bravo or Grande

13 exit

15 each

19 comuter obsessed person

20 weird

23 mends socks

25 family member

27 puts in

30 infect

32 map boundary

35 beast of burden

38 a puzzling situation

39 lineman

41 followed by life or humor

43 cautiously

44 make lace

45 Paris school

46 study of heavenly bodies

50 unseals

51 tip one’s hat

53 shepherds

55 to tease

57 pays attention to

60 anagram for tied

63 location of Tiber and Po

67 At. no. 77

69 gossip column entry

70 dark area of the moon

72 Fed. property manager

73 ______ Speedwagon

74 affirmative reply

76 encountered

79 05/08/45� � �

16

3

32

22

6

14

44

25

31

39

43

17

1 11 1310

15

18 20

8

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30

5 129

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42

38

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60

54

63

35

50

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49

7069

61

7

19

27

37

26 28

24

34

29

45

71

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81

72 73 74

33

48

53

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42

23

62

41

5857

76

77 78 79 80

64

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75

Water is scarce in the parched American West. Concernsurrounding impending water shortages is palpable aspublic water managers and private water-industry in-vestors scramble to design infrastructure projects aimingto bolster supply availability and reliability. In the No-vember 2010 edition of this column, various water infra-structure investing mechanisms were reviewed. Specificwater infrastructure funding structures include govern-ment appropriations, private investment, and public-private partnerships. This month we will focus on threenoteworthy water development proposals that are viewedby some to be grand plans and by others to be grandscams. While all water development projects presentchallenges, some proposals are surely more outlandishthan others.

THE NORTH AMERICAN WATER ANDPOWER ALLIANCE (NAWAPA)

The NAWAPA is perhaps the most outlandish waterdevelopment scheme to emerge in the past 50 years.Originally proposed in the 1950s by the U.S. Army Corpsof Engineers with enthusiastic support from Canadian fi-nancier Simon Reisman and Washington State SenatorScoop Jackson, NAWAPA plans to divert Alaskan watersupplies south to the Western United States. Throughmore than 360 separate construction projects, YukonRiver water would be diverted and stored in the RockyMountain Trench for delivery to the Great Lakes region,each western state, and Mexico. While the Canadian gov-ernment strongly opposes this water export plan, currentsupport for NAWAPA comes from controversial politicalactivist Lyndon LaRouche, who claims the project wouldend North American water shortages while creating 3-4million new jobs.

THE GREAT RECYCLING AND NORTHERNDEVELOPMENT CANAL (GRAND)

The GRAND also proposes to export Canadian watersupplies for use in the lower 48. Recycled runoff fromJames Bay would be transported to the Great Lakes, witha canal crossing the Canadian Prairie conveying suppliesWest. The quantity of water provided by this projectwould amount to 17% of the total fresh water supplies inQuebec and Ontario. In 1994, project cost estimatesamounted to $100 billion for construction, and $1 billionin annual operation expenses.

COLUMBIA RIVER DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS

Every few years, a new plan emerges to use Colum-bia River water from the Pacific Northwest to supply morearid regions of the West. Pipelines from Oregon andWashington to states relying on contentious ColoradoRiver supplies have been proposed. Most recently, a Cal-ifornia Institute of Technology team evaluated the feasi-bility of constructing aqueducts submerged in the Pacif-ic Ocean running from the mouth of the Columbia toShasta Reservoir and the San Francisco Bay-Delta. It isunlikely that such projects could provide cost-effectiveremedies to the West’s water woes. In addition, concernssurrounding endangered salmon and steelhead in theColumbia basin result in strong stakeholder oppositionto Columbia River water development plans.

The most grandiose water development plans standlittle chance of implementation but engender paranoiaamong stakeholders and environmentalists, creatingcontroversy that adversely impacts more feasible watersupply plans. These water pipeline dreams have manyactivists condemning water development, thereby creat-ing unnecessary fear for even the most modest projects.This paranoia has politicized water development, and inmany ways deterred private investment which ironicallymakes adapting to water scarcity increasingly difficult.

As public water authorities continue to tighten bud-getary belts, private investment is increasingly critical forwatering the arid American West. While the history ofwater development in the region has been plagued byoutlandish development plans, private investors wouldbe well served to look past the associated paranoia.There continue to be viable opportunities in water infra-structure development. In addition, political barriers tophysical water development increase the importance ofmarkets for water rights, which facilitate continued eco-nomic growth under water shortages by funneling avail-able supplies to their highest-valued uses. Water rightsmarkets also present diverse private investment opportu-nities, and when coupled with infrastructure develop-ment, the potential for the private sector to have a posi-tive impact on the water resource is immense.

[email protected]@[email protected]

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GRANDIOSE WATER DEVELOPMENT PLANS

Clay Landry, Matt Payne, and Skye Root

The New Economy of Water ... OPINION

EE--MMAAIILL CCOONNNNEECCTTIIOONN

Many cultures have folktales and myths about how theoceans became salty. One of the more widely distributedones is the Norse story of King Frodi of Denmark. Frodireceived a gift of the Grotti; magical millstones so largethat none of his subjects could turn them. The Grotticould grind out anything their owner desired, so as onecan image he really wanted them to be used. On a trip toSweden, Frodi came across two giantesses Menia andFenia whose stature and muscles seemed to be the an-swer to his problem. He bought them as slaves and tookthem home where he put them to work turning the Grot-ti in the mill. Frodi bid the millstones to grind out Peace,Prosperity, and Gold. Menia and Fenia went to workcheerfully singing for the King’s wishes as they poweredthe mill and soon the king’s coffers were overflowing withgold and peace and prosperity reigned throughout theland. Unfortunately, Frodi became greedy and would notlet the girls get any rest. Their joy turned to thoughts ofrevenge against their cruel master and while he sleptthey changed the song. They called for an army to comeand Mysinger and his Viking horde came. They slew theKing and his subjects while they were still asleep.Mysinger took the Grotti as well as Menia and Fenia. Heproved to be as bad a master as Frodi and had themgrinding out salt day and night. Having escaped one crueland neglectful master the girls were not going to let theirexploitation happen again. They ground so much of thevaluable salt that the ship they were on was on the vergeof sinking. They asked Mysinger if they could rest andwhen he said no. They turned the Grotti and the salt senttheir ship to the bottom. There in the depths, the Grottikept on grinding first producing a maelstrom (literally amill storm) and then filling the Ocean transforming itfrom fresh to salt.

In many of the world’s myths on the oceans becom-ing salty, the moral or caution revolves around avoidanceof greed or some other sin against man, nature, or both.Menia and Fenia were happy to grind out what was de-sired just so long as they got time to rest and recover. Itwas the greed and neglect of Frodi and then Mysingerthat resulted in the catastrophic transformation of theoceans. These lessons hold value for us today and notjust for the ancient Danes. Water professionals tend tofocus most of their efforts on the 2.5% of the world’swater that is freshwater and accessible and not on the97.5% that is saltwater. Perhaps it is time to changecourse.

Like Menia and Fenia, the global Ocean is oftenoverused and neglected until it is too late. The threats are manifold. Oil spills like the BP/Deepwater Horizon get at-tention but only contribute 5% of the oil entering ocean-ic waters. The Coast Guard estimates that U.S. sewagetreatment plants alone discharge twice the amount of oilto the oceans that spills do. Discharge of householdcleansers, industrial chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides,and other chemicals eventually make it to the oceans.Most have not been tested for toxic impacts; only ~300out of the 65,000 commonly used chemicals. Plastics areanother major pollutant. In 1970, Thor Heyerdahl andhis crew on the Ra Expedition observed evidence of plas-tics across the seas. Today in examples like the “PacificGarbage Patch” plastics pollution is everywhere. Asagronomists express concern about the exhaustion ofmineral fertilizer sources (phosphorus, potash, etc.),runoff is creating “dead zones” in the Gulf of Mexico andelsewhere. At least a third of the air pollution in the worldmakes its way into the oceans through direct depositionand runoff. Impacts from CO2 and other GHGs are hav-ing important impacts including rise in mean globalocean temperature, ocean acidification and sea level rise.Pollution impacts are not the only threats to the Ocean.

Marine biodiversity is being impacted from multiplesources. Fishing and whaling create threats not only totheir target species but many others through bycatchand ghost nets. Overfishing, bottom trawling, and facto-ry fishing accelerate the rates of damage. Reefs are regu-larly threatened by impact by ships.

Finally, human population globally is both growingand concentrating in the coastal zones with resultant in-crease in all human impacts on the Ocean. Not thinkingabout acting to protect the Ocean is no longer a luxuryhumans can afford. Going over all the ways humans relyon the Oceans is far beyond the scope of this column.Let’s go for a big one: 50% to 85% of the atmosphere’soxygen comes from marine photosynthesis. Changingconditions are negatively impacting the algae and mi-croalgae that do that photosynthesis. Put that in yourmill and grind it!

[email protected]� � �


MENIA, FENIA, AND THE DECLINE OF THE OCEANSEric J. Fitch

What’s Up With Water ... OPINION

We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back fromwhence we came. ... John F. Kennedy

I’m going to sleep this off. Please let me know if there’s some other way we can screw up tonight.Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country


Once in a while, someone steps back to observe the ebband flow of societies and the irony of choosing a pathagainst their own long-term interest. The curve above isnicknamed “The Seneca Cliff” after the Roman philoso-pher Lucius Seneca (ca. 4 B.C.E. to 65 C.E.), who noted:

“It would be some consolation for the feebleness of ourselves and our works if all things should perish as slowly as they come into being; but as it is, increas-es are of sluggish growth, but the way to ruin is rapid” (Letters to Lucilius, n. 91).

Depletion models tend to start with a normal distrib-ution (a symmetrical bell curve) but quickly find many re-sources show depletion curves that are skewed forward,which means that the increase of resource use (ascent ofthe curve) happens over a longer time period than thepost-peak of the curve (the descent of the curve). If acurve is sharply skewed forward, as the one above, it isoften referred to as the “Seneca Cliff,” and means that aresource’s decreasing availability will be far sharper andquicker than in the good old days of increasing resourceuse.

Last issue, I talked about “Observing a Lost Civiliza-tion” and “Observing a Civilization Losing Its Way,” andnoted that deepwater (and ultra-deepwater) drilling pro-duces very expensive and risky oil. This issue, I thoughtI would add the quest for economic growth to these ideasof “expensive” and “risky” and see how they combine toproduce the Seneca Cliff.

Pursuit of economic growth as the central goal doesa disservice to society when the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) includes the costs of mitigating destructive prac-tices (e.g., Superfund sites) and does not include suchthings as government subsidies to oil companies or thedepletion rates of water quality, air quality, topsoil, andother natural resources. The GDP ignores the massivetransfer of wealth from the public to the oil companies,

ignores the true biophysical economy, and ignores the risk implicit in both. In particular, it is the biophysicaleconomy that must be accounted for to deduce the truecosts of deepwater drilling. Although the real GDP (GDPper capita) announced quarterly and yearly is not meantto be a measure of the nation’s overall welfare, many peo-ple assume it is because politicians and the media use itas an example of progress. The public doesn’t know thatour current economic growth is dependent on using upnonrenewable resources upon which it depends. Peopleinnocently walk up the easy hillslope unaware of therockfall on the other side.

It is not even clear how expensive deepwater drillingis and how much these expenses will increase. Apartfrom the more easily quantifiable costs like capital costs,labor costs, etc., we can add several other things. First, itis unclear how much direct government subsidies (yourtax dollars and your future tax dollars to pay off increas-ing debt) go towards deepwater drilling. Much of ouroverseas military operations are tasked with protectingoil sources, pipelines, and trade routes, and none of thiswould be reduced by increased deepwater drilling any-where. So, these indirect government subsidies to oilcompanies in general can’t be included here. Second,Munich Re and other global reinsurers are raising theirrates to cover not only the increasing risks of deepwaterdrilling, but the associated risks of increasing naturaldisasters (e.g., hurricanes). As these more hidden costs ofdoing business rise, they will be passed on to consumers.Additionally, although Energy Returned on Energy In-vested (EROEI) does tell us how much energy is actuallyused to produce one barrel’s worth of deepwater oil (apoor investment indeed), it doesn’t measure how tomor-row’s energy required to produce one barrel’s worth ofdeepwater oil will be even harder to obtain and affordthan today’s. With deepwater drilling providing a verysmall portion of our current demand, it makes us no lessdependent on foreign oil, or any oil.

Although deepwater drilling adds to the one metricthe public hears, it gives a false sense of security to hearthat economic growth has been maintained or increased.We now have to run faster and faster just to stay in place,and tomorrow’s costs and risks from deepwater drillingwill be even heavier than they are today. Public invest-ment in deepwater drilling just pushes us closer toSeneca’s “way to ruin.”

[email protected]

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CLIFF? WHAT CLIFF?Laurel E. Phoenix

Could We Do Better? ... OPINION

Time

The Seneca Cliff


Iwas requested by AWRA to write a few articles detailingsome of the issues that are currently being discussed inpublishing. Because we jointly publish the Journal of theAmerican Water Resources Association (JAWRA), it is im-portant to keep the society and the members apprised ofdevelopments in the industry, and to invite discussionabout how to respond. We thought I might start with“Open Access.”

Most of you are familiar with the term Open Access.It indicates that an article is freely accessible to the pub-lic. While JAWRA achieves near universal access throughlicensing and subscription deals, Open Access wouldallow access without membership in a university orthrough AWRA. Most Open Access articles use CreativeCommon licenses, freeing up the options for re-use andintroducing the work to the public domain.

Green Open Access allows an author to deposit his orher work into a repository, or self-archive; sometimes im-mediately, and sometimes with an embargo period. GoldOpen Access requires the author to pay a fee for free ac-cess upon publication.

The business models for open access vary widely, aswell. There are journals, such as PLoS and a suite ofWiley journals, including Ecology and Evolution, that op-erate solely on Open Access fees. The fees can be coveredby authors directly, funding bodies, or sponsoring insti-tutions. Most, however, have hybrid models, where anOpen Access option exists for authors, but the majorityof the work continues to be supported by subscription oradvertising revenue. JAWRA is a gold, hybrid journal.

While publishers and societies work to address achanging market – library budgets are not keeping upwith research output; there is more demand and fundingfor Open Access – government mandates are starting topressure the movement. One such initiative has been in

the news recently: the America COMPETES Reauthoriza-tion Act of 2010.

In accordance with Section 103(b) (6) of the AmericaCOMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (ACRA; Pub. L.111-358), the Office of Science and Technology Policy(OSTP) recently issued two Requests for Information (RFI)on public access to peer-reviewed scholarly publicationsand data resulting from federally funded research. Theinput from these RFIs will inform deliberations of the Na-tional Science and Technology Council’s Task Force onPublic Access to Scholarly Publications, which has al-ready reviewed information from OSTP’s previous publicconsultation, experience with the various policies cur-rently in use at a variety of Federal agencies, and a reportfrom the congressionally convened Scholarly PublishingRoundtable. If you are interested in reading the feed-back, it can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/library/publicaccess. Mr. KenLanfear (Editor of JAWRA) and Wiley-Blackwell both sub-mitted letters.

Open Access is not going away, nor do we want it to.It offers new opportunities for collaboration. There is abenefit and a value to a peer-reviewed article that hasbeen through a full production process, otherwise, thiswould be a discussion about raw data. Both AWRA andWiley-Blackwell have flexible and responsive approachesto publishing, and welcome your comments, questionsand concerns about Open Access. We hope that if this is important to you, you will take full advantage of ourOnlineOpen offering.

Jennifer Lynch, EditorWiley-Blackwell

[email protected]� � �


THE OPEN ACCESS DEBATEJennifer Lynch

Publishing Issues


Call for Nominations for2012 AWRA Annual Awards

AWRA is now seeking nominations for its Annual Awards to recognize outstanding water re-sources professionals, institutions, and AWRA affiliated organizations. There are ten awards inall. Nominations must be submitted by May 4, 2012. Awards will be presented at AWRAʼs An-nual Water Resources Conference in Jacksonville, Florida, November 12-15, 2012.

For more information and to submit nominations electronically,please visit the “About Us” page at www.awra.org


®


�� MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT ... William A. Battaglin, 2012

Iwent to an AGU meeting in December and I am sure some of you did as well. Here is something that you will not see atAGU. It will be the real me, or the real Carol Collier, or the “one-and-only” Michael Campana greeting you near the regis-tration desk, listening to your presentations, going on the fun-run, and loitering near the bar at the social event. At AWRAwe are serious about being inclusive, and strive to provide equal opportunities for our old members, new members, andnonmembers to interact with the leaders of the water resources community. FYI, the trees in Armstrong Redwood StateReserve near Gurneville, California, were much more interesting to meet than that cardboard cutout below!

Speaking of members and membership, I hope that if you were a member in 2011 or before, you have renewed yourAWRA membership, if you are a new member – Welcome, and if you are not yet a member you will consider becoming one. To me, membership in AWRA means many things and has many benefits. To be sure there are important tangible benefitlike access to the Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA), and not only the recent issues, but allissues back to number 1; discounts on conference registration fees; and Water Resources IMPACT.

But these tangible benefits represent only a fraction of your membership benefits, and perhaps more importantly whatyou support by being a member. AWRA conferences and other events are great opportunities for professional developmentand networking. If you participate in one of our events I hope that you will notice that we are scientifically diverse, inter-national, and inclusive to all participants. Your membership provides the resources that enable AWRA staff and boardmembers to interact with community leaders, resource managers, and representatives of Federal agencies and interna-tional organizations promoting greater public awareness and appreciation of the value of integrated water resources man-agement and the roles of water professionals like yourself. Finally, AWRA membership provides you with the opportunityto make a meaningful commitment to promote multidisciplinary integrated water resources research and management inthe U.S. and abroad.

We just finished our AWRA Board of Directors Business Meeting and Strategic Planning Meeting. I’ll summarize whatwe accomplished and plan to accomplish in 2012 in my next message in the May IMPACT issue.

Cheers ... Bill


[email protected]

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�� SCHEDULED TOPICS FOR FUTUREISSUES OF IMPACT

MAY 2012PIPELINES AND WATER RESOURCESLaurel E. Phoenix ~ Associate Editor

[email protected] E. Jones ~ Associate Editor

[email protected]

JULY 2012NEW YORK CITY WATER RESOURCESCHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

Joe Berg ~ Associate [email protected]

SEPTEMBER 2012SUSTAINABLE WATER RESOURCES

E. Tim Smith ~ Associate [email protected]

NOVEMBER 2012WATER AND FOOD

Eric J. Fitch ~ Associate [email protected]

Michelle Henrie ~ Associate [email protected]

The topics listed above are subject to change. For informationconcerning submitting an article to be included in the above is-sues, contact the designated Editor or the Editor-in-Chief Earl Spangenberg at [email protected].

AADDVVEERRTTIISSEE YYOOUURR PPRROODDUUCCTTSS AANNDD SSEERRVVIICCEESS IINN

AA BBII--MMOONNTTHHLLYY NNEEWWSS MMAAGGAAZZIINNEEOOFF TTHHEEAAMMEERRIICCAANN WWAATTEERR RREESSOOUURRCCEESS AASSSSOOCCIIAATTIIOONN

RREEAACCHH AA WWOORRLLDD--WWIIDDEE WWAATTEERRRREESSOOUURRCCEESS AAUUDDIIEENNCCEE

CONTACT AWRA FOR SPECS ANDPRICING INFORMATION

advertising space available for 1/6, 1/4, 1/3,1/2, 2/3, & Full-Page Advertisements

E-MAIL: [email protected] [email protected]

AWRA̓S unique multidisciplinary structureprovides your company the opportunity

to advertise to readers representingover 60 professions and living in over

65 countries around the world!

Solution to Puzzle (pg. 17)HAVE SOME COMMENTS ABOUTTHIS ISSUE OF IMPACT?

SEND US YOUR FEEDBACKWater Resources IMPACT is in its 14th year of publi-cation and we have explored a lot of ideas. We hope wehave raised some questions for you to contemplate.“Feedback” is your opportunity to reflect and respond.

We want to give you an opportunity to let your col-leagues know your opinions ... we want to moderate adebate ... we want to know how we are doing. For this issue send your letters by e-mail to:

Eric J. Fitch([email protected])

orN. Earl Spangenberg([email protected])

Please share your opinions and ideas. Please limityour comments to approximately 350 to 400 words. Ifpublished, your comments may be edited for length orspace requirements.


We Look Forward to Seeing You at

AWRA’s 2012 Summer Specialty ConferencesThis year’s Program will address two critical issues related to water resourcesand human and environmental health:

Contaminants of Emerging Concern in WaterResources II: Research, Engineering, and Community Action

Riparian Ecosystems IV: Advancing Science, Economicsand Policy

To cover these topics in the depth and breadth required, two separate conferences withover 150 presentations will be held for the purpose of:

Advancing the most up-to-date thinking, practice, and policy in these distincttechnical areas

Promoting exchange and learning on the linkages between these two conferencetopics including the connections between contaminants, water ways, buffer areas,and the related scientific, socio-political, economic, and health concerns

The shared location for this June 25 - 29 event will be The Sheraton Denver Downtownwith many opportunities for networking and enjoyment of the surrounding area.

For more information visit www.awra.org or call 540.687.8390.

2012 Membership Application (for full year membership January 1 – December 31)

Complete & fax to (540) 687 8395, or mail it to the address belowPayment must accompany application and be made in US dollars drawn on US bank.

Personal InformationName:______________________________________________________________

Title: _______________________________________________________________

Company Name: _____________________________________________________

Address 1: __________________________________________________________

Address 2: __________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip+4: _____________________________________________________

Country: ____________________________________________________________

Is this your Home address or Business address?

Phone: ___________________________ Fax: _____________________________

Email: ______________________________________________________________

Membership OptionsRegular Member ...............................................................................$165Online Only Member.........................................................................$135International Electronic Member ........................................................$25Student Member.................................................................................$30Associate Member – One office ........................................................$500Associate Enterprise Member – All offices......................................$2000Membership Certificate (optional) ......................................................$11

Payment OptionsCharge my credit card or Check EnclosedVISA Mastercard Diner’s Club AMEX Discover

Card #:______________________________ Exp. ______ CSC#:______

Signature: __________________________________________________

JOB TITLE (circle one)

JT1 Management (Pres, VP, Div Head, Sect Head, Manager, Chief Eng)JT2 Engineering (Non mgmt; i.e., Civil, Water Resources, Planning)JT3 Scientific (Non mgmt; i.e., chemist, biologist, hydrologist, etc.)JT4 Marketing/Sales (Non mgmt)JT5 FacultyJT6 StudentJT7 AttorneyJT8 RetiredJT9 Computer Scientist (GIS, modeling, etc.)JT10 Elected/Appointed OfficialJT11 Volunteer/Interested CitizenJT12 Non ProfitJT13 Other:_____________________________________________

DISCIPLINE (circle one)

AG AgronomyBI BiologyCH ChemistryEC EconomicsED EducationEG EngineeringFO ForestryGR GeographyGE GeologyGI Geographic Info. SystemsHY HydrologyJR JournalismLA LawLM LimnologyOE OceanographyPH PhysicsPS Political SciencePB Public HealthSO Soil ScienceOT Other: _____________

EMPLOYER (circle one)

CF Consulting FirmEI Educational Institution (Faculty/Staff)ES Educational Institution (Student)LR Local/Regional Gov't AgencySI State/Interstate Gov't AgencyIN IndustryLF Law FirmFG Federal GovernmentRE RetiredNP Non Profit OrganizationOT Other: _____________

EDUCATION (circle one)

HS High SchoolAA AssociatesBA Bachelor of ArtsBS Bachelor of ScienceMA Master of ArtsMS Master of ScienceJD Juris DoctorPhD DoctorateOT Other: ____________

How did you learn about AWRA?Promotional Mailing Word of MouthAWRA Website Other: ___________

What’s your reason for joining?Info from Journal/IMPACT NetworkingConference Discount Technical Committees

Other: ___________________Did someone recommend that you join AWRA? Who?

_________________________________

Thank You!

AWRA c/o Middleburg Bank | P.O. Box 2217 | Leesburg, VA | 20177 7580

Phone: 540.687.8390 | Fax: 540.687 8395 |[email protected]

Richard A. Herbert Memorial Scholarship

Each year AWRA awards $2,000 to a full-time undergraduate and graduate student. The purpose of these awards is to recognize academic performance and research in the area ofwater resources.

Information regarding eligibility, selection criteria, and how to apply can be found atwww.awra.org/about/scholarships.

Applications must be submitted by April 23, 2012

This scholarship fund is made possible through the kind contributions of members and friends of AWRA.

2012 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATIONPRESIDENT

WILLIAM A. [email protected]

PRESIDENT-ELECT SECRETARY/TREASURERCAROL R. COLLIER DAVID R. WATT

[email protected] [email protected]

PAST PRESIDENT EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTMICHAEL E. CAMPANA KENNETH D. REID, FASAE, [email protected] [email protected]

Have Questions About IMPACT?Contact AWRA HQ

By Phone • (540) 687-8390By Fax • (540) 687-8395By E-Mail • [email protected] Out Our Home Page

At www.awra.org

SUBSCRIPTION RATESWATER RESOURCES IMPACT

DOMESTIC ..................................................$80.00FOREIGN ....................................................$95.00FOREIGN AIRMAIL OPTION..............................$50.00

CONTACT THE AWRA HQ OFFICE FORADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR TO SUBSCRIBE

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

P A I DTwin Cities MN

Permit No. 932454 West Federal St., P.O. Box 1626Middleburg, VA 20118-1626 USATelephone: (540) 687-8390

ISSN 1522-3175

AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION

DATED MATERIAL ENCLOSED

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Documents

RELIGION, CULTURE, AND WATER · For Christians the primary relationship with water is expressed in the initiation ceremony of baptism. Jesus, as a devout Jew, was baptized in the