Mixing Water and Whiskey, Again

Water is complex. It defies physics in its ability to form and reform, it defies humans in their efforts to corral it into narrow channels, and it defies economics when it is viewed as a commodity rather than a scarce resource. Join Santa Fe Complex practitioners Paul Paryski and Kim Sorvig as they discuss their proposed project to examine the social and physical dynamics of water in the arid Southwest.

To a degree we are facing the question of whether we are here to “skin” the Southwest and then get out, or whether we are here to found a permanent civilized community with room to grow and improve.
– Aldo Leopold, Pioneers and Gullies (1922)

sfComplex practitioners Kim Sorvig and Paul Paryski are joined by RiverSource’s Rich Schrader for the second blender on water issues. Sorvig and Paryski will present a broad analytic perspective of New Mexico’s limited water resources and how they are managed–or, perhaps, mismanaged–that encompasses history, traditions, treaties, laws, multilevel regulations, varied ecosystems, geology, competing stakeholders, landscapes, climate change and, of course, politics. Schrader will explore online portfolios for citizen-stewards to tell stories of place, health, and restoration of ecological function and form. Using the newly released WatershedWiser.org and other web portals, participants will have a brief tour of current “data-to-information” tools for watershed residents, scientists, and restoration practitioners.