A new textbook by a faculty member in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment provides a practical introduction to the study of water resources for students from a wide range of disciplines.
Water is a finite resource essential to all life on earth. The study of water resources and how best to manage them requires a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating principles of physics, chemistry, biology and math as well as social sciences such as economics and law.
Professor John Clausen has written Introduction to Water Resources, in which he introduces and explains fundamental concepts related to water quantity and water quality that form the basis for understanding the hydrologic cycle and the physical, chemical and biological principles that determine water quality. Part I of the book addresses water quantity, Part II addresses water quality and Part III, Water and Society, discusses issues related to law, policy and economics.
Increasingly, students come to the study of water from diverse backgrounds and points of view as they prepare for careers in engineering, agriculture, marine science, environmental conservation, law, regulation, public policy and a host of other fields.
Clausen wrote his book because most water resources texts focused on either water quantity or water quality, giving only scant treatment to the other, and, as he writes in the book’s introduction, “greater integration of water quantity and water quality is required to solve many of the real-world water resources problems.” Problems at the end of most chapters provide students the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned in real-world scenarios, and online resources offer additional in-depth exercises.
