MICHAEL MANGA

EPS 3

The Water Planet

Catalog description: ``An overview of the processes that control water supply to natural ecosystems and human civilization. Hydrologic cycle, floods, droughts, groundwater. Patterns of water use, threats to water quality, effects of global climate change on future water supplies. Water issues facing California.''

Class meeting times:

Formal lectures are held Monday - Thursday from 11 am - noon in McCone 265 (note the room change!) (campus map)

Prerequisites: none

Text and notes: A reader is available from Copy Central, 2560 Bancroft Way. Please bring this reader to class. Download supplemental reader.

Instructor:

Michael Manga (3-8532), McCone 173, office hours Monday-Thursday noon - 1 pm
manga@seismo

Grading

Homework: each of the four homework exercises is 10% of the course grade (total for homework is 40%)
Midterm on July 22: 30% of grade
Final exam on August 14: 30% of grade

Some additional important notes

Exam questions will be chosen from a list of questions distributed in class several days before the exam. Students in the class are encouraged to submit questions they think are appropriate.
Homework is due at the beginning of class on the due date. Late homework will be penalized 25%. Late homework can only be accepted until the date it is returned.
You may collaborate with others on the homework, but you may not copy someone else's work. Doing so violates the Code of Student Conduct. All your work must be in your own words and in your own writing.
You are responsible for knowing the policies on this page and any other policies announced in class. ``I was not there when that was announced'' is not a valid excuse.
Any requests for exceptions to these policies must be made in advance to manga@seismo.berkeley.edu. Include your email address and phone number. Do not assume your request has been granted until (and unless) you are notified by email.

Outline

Week 1 (June 23, 24, 25, 26)

June 23: Introduction to the water planet, reader pages 5-13
June 24: Water and life, reader pages 13-30, extra handout distributed in class; Homework assignment number 1 handed out
June 25: The global water cycle (where does water come from?), reader pages 31-47
June 26: Does cloud seeding work? reader pages 324-331, Demonstration number 1

Week 2 (June 30, July 1, 2, 3):

June 30: Introduction to the oceans
July 1: Management (and mismanagement) of the world's fisheries, reader pages 48-60; also two articles from the May 15, 2003 issue of Nature, one by Myers and Worm and a second by Schiermeier
July 2: Salmon and water scarcity, and The coral reef crisis, reader pages 103-109, 287-302
July 3: Fires, floods, grass and goats: managing erosion and landslide hazards in California, reader pages 61-74, 79; Homework assignment number 1 due back

Week 3 (July 7, 8, 9, 10):

July 7: Rainfall, runoff, and landslide hazards in the Bay Area, reader pages 332-337; Homework assignment number 2 handed out
July 8: Does deforestation in the Himalaya cause flooding in Bangladesh?
July 9: Introduction to rivers. reader pages 338-346
July 10: The secret life of rivers, reader pages 71-73

Week 4 (July 14, 15, 16, 17): Groundwater

July 14: Introduction to groundwater, Demonstration number 2
July 15: Deeper wells and saltier water: groundwater depletion in California, reader pages 96-100
July 16: The invisible menace: Groundwater contamination, reader pages 96, 100-102 punishment for polluters
July 17: The incredible shrinking California wetlands, reader pages 110-129 Homework assignment number 2 due back

Week 5 (July 21, 22, 23, 24): Dams

July 21: Groundwater and geological processes; geothermal resources Homework assignment number 3 handed out
July 22: MIDTERM
July 23: Damming (damning?) the rivers of developing countries, reader pages 144-156; Additional reading (distributed in class) from the July 19-25 issue of the Economist
July 24: Dam removal in the west, reader pages 303-319. Guest lecture by Christian Brauderick from Stillwater Science

Week 6 (July 28, 29, 30, 31): Drinking water

July 28: Where does your drinking water come from? reader pages 80-87 ;Homework assignment number 4 handed out
July 29: NO CLASS
July 30: What is in the water you drink? reader pages 92-95
July 31: Mineral water: health food, fad, or fraud? reader pages 88-91; demonstration 3; Homework assignment number 3 due back UC Berkeley press release

Week 7 (August 4, 5, 6, 7):

August 4: Acid rain, reader pages 157-166
August 5: High and dry in the global greenhouse: climate change and drought, reader pages 203-213
August 6: Mercury contamination (Dyan Whyte from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board); reading distributed in class
August 7: California droughts: a prehistoric perspective, reader pages 233-234

Homework assignment number 4 due back

Week 8 (August 11, 12, 13, 14):

August 11: Water as a limit to growth, reader pages 167-177, 187-193, 130-137
August 12: Who gets what: allocating scarce water resources, reader pages 178-187, 194-202.
August 13: Open discussion on California's water crisis (is there one?), national and international conflicts over water, reader pages 214-232
August 14: FINAL EXAM

This course is adapted from one developed by Jim Kirchner and Bill Dietrich

Useful links (provided by Douglas Allen; please let Michael Manga know of other good links)