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Resolving Problems: Essential Study Elements
Pages 74-93

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From page 74...
... is a clear example of science in this role. Whether in the San Joaquin Valley or elsewhere, science performs key functions in a process that involves collecting and analyzing data, proposing alternative solutions, and articulating trade-offs.
From page 75...
... Certain key study elements are critical when decisionmakers attempt to seek balanced solutions to significant environmental problems. In general, problem-solving endeavors such as the SJVDP and the National Irrigation Water Quality (NIWQP)
From page 76...
... Table 4.1 also lists categories of available responses. These are the generic tools available to address irrigation-induced water quality problems anywhere, whether in the San Joaquin Valley or elsewhere in the United States or the world.
From page 77...
... ESSENTIAL STUDY ELEMENTS TABLE 4.1 General Process for Developing Strategies to Respond to Irrigation-Induced Water Quality Problems Sequence of Steps Essential Components Recognizing the problem Defining the problem, assessing and collecting data Identifying alternatives Evaluating alternatives Detection of anomalies o Chemical parameters o Physical parameters 0 Biota o Social impacts o Economic impacts Antecedent conditions 0 Hydrological o Biological o Geological o Ecological Social and Cultural Context o Historical setting o Competing and conflicting demands o Inherent complexity o Widespread support for irrigated agriculture o Subsidization of water and crops 0 Expectation of continued support o Institutional constraints Possible responses 0 Source control o Drainage water treatment o Transport and disposal 0 Price adjustments 0 Legal changes 0 Institutional changes o Economic changes o Social changes Criteria for evaluating responses 0 Technical soundness 0 Economic viability 0 Legal appropriateness 0 Social acceptability 0 Political feasibility o Ecological appropriateness 77
From page 78...
... Given the dynamic nature of any problem-solving process, one crosscutting issue critical to the search for appropriate responses is public participation. Public participation is important throughout the various stages of any problem-solving endeavor, but it is particularly necessary during the definition of the problem and the assessment of alternative responses (Ingram and Ullery, 1977~.
From page 79...
... Again, the San Joaquin Valley offers a vivid example of how problem recognition can occur: because the selenium contamination at Kesterson NWR was unexpected, the mass media played an unprecedented role in the problem-recognition process. Given the experience gained at Kesterson NWR, monitoring for trace elements at other sites may be better able to detect emerging problems when the changes are more subtle and before drastic problems have arisen.
From page 80...
... A farmer may see the problem as one of diminishing agricultural productivity, and the causes as increased salinity, rising water tables, diminished irrigation supplies, or contaminated irrigation water. A water resources management agency may see the problem as the excessive accumulation of harmful pollutants in the hydrological system.
From page 81...
... This committee cannot stress enough the importance of clearly defining exactly what problem is being addressed and of making early problem definition a crucial element in all attempts to study and solve irrigationinduced water quality problems in the future. Each level of a problem contains its own set of intertwined subproblems.
From page 82...
... This involves separating objective information from expert opinions, educated guesses, speculations, and other questionable data. But this step inevitably includes some value judgments, and these opinions need not be discouraged: they simolv need to be noted for what they are.
From page 83...
... Establishing QA program guidelines for data precision, accuracy, completeness, representativeness, and comparability requires a whole-project perspective that individual participating laboratories and data-gathering task groups cannot provide. Decisions about the utility of data for answering particular questions depend on the objective of the study, the sampling design, and protocol.
From page 84...
... provide to assurance of safety and effectiveness generally is not evident during the initial years. Monitoring is, however, quite important during all phases of a water resources investigation, and its importance will increase as water quality problems become more frequent and the sources of contamination more abundant and diverse.
From page 85...
... The National Irrigation Water Quality Program (NIWQP) the creation of which was inspired by the San Joaquin Valley experience provides an example of the kind of basic data collection and monitoring that is necessary to identify irrigation-related contamination problems.
From page 86...
... Irrigation-induced water quality problems are indeed complex. But one central role for natural science is "to show that complexity, correctly viewed, is only a mask for simplicity" and "to find pattern in apparent chaos" (Simon, 1981~.
From page 87...
... Thus the San Joaquin Valley case is also a "complexity of values," generally expressed as special interests. Nowhere was the potential for conflicting perspectives more apparent than in the seemingly simple task of exactly defining the problem in the San Joaquin Valley.
From page 88...
... A hierarchy of problem levels is clearly present. The discharge of drainage water into the ponds at Kesterson NWR has left a serious toxic cleanup problem; this is commonly referred to as the "Kesterson problem." Second, the plugging of the contributing drains has aggravated drainage problems for much of the irrigated land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, and this is referred to as the "San Joaquin Valley drainage problem." Third, the documentation of toxic concentrations of selenium in the drainage water raises the spectre of similar problems elsewhere in the West, and this broad issue is called the "irrigation-induced water quality problem." It is easy to see how these differences in perspective add to complexity.
From page 89...
... Failure to adequately address interactional complexity during problem definition leads to short-term solutions that can be long-term disasters. In addition to variable interactions within a domain of study, interactions between domains also introduce complexity that must be addressed in a study design.
From page 90...
... In any case, quantitative information regarding the measurement process and continuous performance surveillance are essential parts of problem solving. The crucial role of a quality assurance and quality control program will be described in more detail below.
From page 91...
... An alternative or supplementary uncertainty management strategr is to build feedback controls into the study design and solution implementation plan so that plans can be altered as data improve or as more is learned about the system. The three elements outlined here recognizing a problem, defining the problem, and assessing the data base and collecting additional data are essential steps in any problem-solving endeavor.
From page 92...
... In structuring any study, explicit attention must be paid to quality assurance and quality control, data and information management, monitoring, risk assessment and uncertainty, public participation, and conflict management. One aspect of complexity is that no environmental problem is solely technical or solely institutional in nature.
From page 93...
... 1987. River and Dam Management: A Review of the Bureau of Reclamation's Glen Canyon Environmental Studies.


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