Working with values and ethics can seem like an impossible challenge. We have been trained since childhoods to "stick to your values" and "walk your talk". Values and ethics have an inherent resistence to change, but not to worry, we don't have to attack values head-on. In fact, many of the ethical values already in place within individuals and their societies can provide the basis for sustainable water behaviors. The problem is not necessarily that the existing values are so bad, but rather that existing water behavior is not consistent with the those values. In these situations, where we are not "walking our talk," the challenge is to help people get in touch with their existing values so they can discover the inconsistencies for themselves.
But what if the existing values and ethics are themselves the problem? What if the cultural values about water are clearly in conflict with sustainable water resources? In many parts of the world, including my home region in the Southwest United States, there is general consensus that the current way water is being handled is not sustainable. There is no consensus, however, that values are to blame, and there is also no consensus about what should be done to turn the situation around.
A crisis is too valuable to waste. The clear facts that water supplies are being depleted and polluted have convinced both the public and political leaders that there is a global water crisis. While the water situation is alarming, the conditions for proposing new approaches have never been better. Everyone agrees that something new has to happen, and urgently. It's a good time to examine our old assumptions about water and our responsibilities to Nature.
The Water and Culture Institute is committed to the application of values and ethics to supporting sustainable water behavior. We are engaged in developing methodologies for "applied water ethics" to bring the nebulous concepts of values and ethics into the practical arena of water decision-making. Our current (and forthcoming) projects are the following:
1. Water Ethics Assessment: Pilot Study
2. Integrating Ethics into Water Management
3. Santa Fe River Advocacy and Ethics (local)