Purpose: Serve as a forum to share information and perspectives that will promote better decision making in the U.S. regarding the sustainable development of our nation's water resources. |
The Future Imperative
We now face progressively stronger and more imperative interrelationships among both familiar water disciplines and with economic and cultural elements. At the same time our institutional arrangements among hundreds of organizations are designed for past conditions and focus on physical, chemical, engineering, and other traditional water concerns. Although our institutions have served us well, they are pressed to cope with a future in which water quality and availability, freshwater and coastal waters, surface and ground water, water and land use, and physical, chemical, and ecological characteristics must be considered simultaneously in geographical settings of wetlands, watersheds and habitats. This great variety of water-resources topics also must be related not only to other environmental and natural resource subjects, but also to all the aspects of our national economy and culture.
The Roundtable
The Roundtable was created under the Advisory Committee on Water Information to promote exchange of information among representatives of government, industry, and environmental, professional, public interest, and academic groups. The Roundtable is intended to provide a venue open to those who wish to examine some aspect of the many interrelationships noted above, and the future implications for the nation. History shows us that the long-term survival of a civilization depends greatly on its ability to manage its land and water resources in conjunction with its economy and culture. An excellent perspective on this challenge is provided by the report "Conquest of the Land Through Seven Thousand Years," reprinted in 1994 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
How to Get Involved in the Roundtable
Other Roundtables
Network of Four Natural Resources Roundtables
http://RoundtableNetwork.cnr.colostate.edu/
Roundtable on Sustainable Forests
http://www.sustainableforests.net/
National Report on
Sustainable Forests
http://www.fs.fed.us/research/sustain/index.html
Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable
http://sustainablerangelands.cnr.colostate.edu/
Sustainable Minerals Roundtable
http://www.unr.edu/mines/smr
Conditions and Trends Statistics
Tim Smith | 703-860-1038 phone | etsmithusa@netscape.net |