Soft water path
Encyclopedia
The concept of the soft path was first used for energy resource management and was developed by Amory Lovins
shortly after the shock of the 1973 energy crisis in the United States. this concept has now been refined and applied to water, most notably by water expert Peter Gleick
and David Brooks. The soft path is often framed as a more integrated and effective alternative to supply-side water resource management. Supply-side water management focuses on meeting demands for water through centralized, large-scale physical infrastructure, and centralized water management systems. In the 20th century, this approach focused on constructing bigger dams and drilling deeper wells to access more water to meet projected demands of consumers. More recently, a focus on demand-side management has emerged in regions where water supply is increasingly constrained (see, for example, Peak water
), and it focuses on managing demand and making current practices more efficient. The soft path integrates both supply and demand concepts but in a broader context by recognizing that water is a means to satisfy demands for goods and services and asking how much water, of what qualities, is actually required to satisfy those demands efficiently and sustainably. Soft path water planning also requires broader institutional approaches to water management including the application of smart economics, the potential for distributed rather than centralized water systems, and more democratic participation in water policy decisions. Others have described the soft path as "unleashing the full potential of demand-side management.",
Amory Lovins
Amory Bloch Lovins is an American environmental scientist and writer, Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute. He has worked in the field of energy policy and related areas for four decades...
shortly after the shock of the 1973 energy crisis in the United States. this concept has now been refined and applied to water, most notably by water expert Peter Gleick
Peter Gleick
Dr. Peter H. Gleick is a scientist working on issues related to the environment, economic development, and international security, with a focus on global freshwater challenges. He works at the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California, which he co-founded in 1987. In 2003 he was awarded a MacArthur...
and David Brooks. The soft path is often framed as a more integrated and effective alternative to supply-side water resource management. Supply-side water management focuses on meeting demands for water through centralized, large-scale physical infrastructure, and centralized water management systems. In the 20th century, this approach focused on constructing bigger dams and drilling deeper wells to access more water to meet projected demands of consumers. More recently, a focus on demand-side management has emerged in regions where water supply is increasingly constrained (see, for example, Peak water
Peak water
The term Peak Water has been put forward as a concept to help understand growing constraints on the availability, quality, and use of freshwater resources...
), and it focuses on managing demand and making current practices more efficient. The soft path integrates both supply and demand concepts but in a broader context by recognizing that water is a means to satisfy demands for goods and services and asking how much water, of what qualities, is actually required to satisfy those demands efficiently and sustainably. Soft path water planning also requires broader institutional approaches to water management including the application of smart economics, the potential for distributed rather than centralized water systems, and more democratic participation in water policy decisions. Others have described the soft path as "unleashing the full potential of demand-side management.",
Publications
- Soft Path for Water in a Nutshell. 2005. Oliver M Brandes and David B Brooks. Friends of the Earth and POLIS Project on Ecological Governance. University of Victoria, Victoria, BC.
- G. Wolff and P.H. Gleick, "The Soft Path for Water" in The World's Water 2002-2003 (Island Press, Washington D.C., pp. 1-32.
- P.H. Gleick, 2003. Science, Volume 302, November 28, 2003, pp. 1524-1528.
- P.H. Gleick, 2002. Nature, Volume 418, pg. 373, July 25, 2002.
- Manitoba Water Soft Path 2006.
- The Energy Controversy: Soft Path Questions and Answers (1979) ISBN 978-0913890226
- A New Path to Water Sustainability for the Town of Oliver, BC - Soft Path Case Study by Oliver M Brandes Tony Maas Adam Mjolsness Ellen Reynolds. Uvic Printers. Feb 2008.
See also
- Soft energy pathSoft energy pathIn 1976 energy policy analyst Amory Lovins coined the term soft energy path to describe an alternative future where energy efficiency and appropriate renewable energy sources steadily replace a centralized energy system based on fossil and nuclear fuels....
- POLIS Water Sustainability Project
- BackcastingBackcastingBackcasting starts with defining a desirable future and then works backwards to identify policies and programs that will connect the future to the present. The fundamental question of backcasting asks: "if we want to attain a certain goal, what actions must be taken to get there?"Forecasting is the...
- POLIS Project on Ecological GovernancePOLIS Project on Ecological GovernanceThe POLIS Project on Ecological Governance is a centre for trans-disciplinary research that investigates and promotes sustainability. POLIS was established in 2000 by the Eco-Research Chair of Environmental Law and Policy at the University of Victoria in Canada and fills a unique niche on campus as...
- Ecological governance
- Pacific InstitutePacific InstituteThe Pacific Institute is a non-profit research institute created in 1987 to provide independent research and policy analysis on issues at the intersection of development, environment, and security, with a particular focus on global and regional freshwater issues...