GSIPM

On the weekend of February 15-17, Professor Nik Strong-Cvetich will lead a fascinating 1-credit workshop titled, “The Agriculture-Water Nexus: Lessons from the Central Coast.”

The central coast of California is one of the most unique regions in the world. It is a biodiversity hotspot, hosting the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary, and it also makes up a $5 billion dollar agricultural industry. Similar to other Mediterranean climates across the world, water is a finite resource. Water is both a public good (drinking water, habitat) and private good necessary as a production input in agriculture. As agriculture continues as the dominant economic driver, water resources face challenges in both quantity and quality, in turn affecting the unique marine environment of the Monterey Bay.

The central coast is a perfect laboratory to explore the tradeoffs between economic vitality and environmental quality, with lessons learned applicable to larger global stage. This course will explore the links and tradeoffs faced by coastal agricultural communities, when contending with water quality and water supply issues. These tradeoffs often times create conflict between community stakeholder groups. The course will approach these by examining the root causes of each of these issues, and then exploring logic model approaches to finding sustainable solutions.

For more information, check out the syllabus on Moodle and register via Bannerweb!