Global Ethnohydrology Study

Description:
Concern over not only water quantity but water quality is understood as a major global issue, affecting almost all people in some way or other. The Global Ethnohydrology Study is a multi-year, multi-site study that examines local ecological knowledge of water issues, also known as “ethnohydrology.” Key research domains include knowledge of water sources, water quality, water management and climate change effects on water resources. Currently, the study is being conducted in four quite ecologically, culturally and politically different international settings: Fiji, Bolivia, New Zealand and Arizona. Using the same research protocol in each site, we study perceptions of water issues in the context of increasing urbanization, water scarcity and climate change. In coming years, we plan to replicate the study in at least six additional settings in different parts of the world (e.g., England, Australia, Paraguay).

The initial project began in Phoenix, Arizona, as a study funded under NSF’s Central-Arizona Phoenix Long-term Ecological Research Project (CAP LTER) and NSF’s Decision Center for a Desert City (DCDC). The Phoenix Ethnohydrology Study was a follow-up study to the CAP LTER/DCDC-funded 2006 Phoenix Area Social Survey II, a 40-neighborhood survey conducted under the direction of ASU sociologist Sharon Harlan. In Year 1 of the Phoenix Ethnohydrology Study (2007-2008), we assessed local ecological knowledge of water quality and management in Phoenix. In Year 2 (2008-2009), we expanded the knowledge domains to include water scarcity and climate change in Phoenix. In 2008, we initiated the Global Ethnohydrology Study when the research was expanded to Fiji, Bolivia and New Zealand. Undergraduate and graduate ASU students are collaborating on the project at many of these international sites.