"Cadillac Nation: The Persistence of Drought in the 21st Century" lecture Apr. 17

Date: Apr. 17, 2008
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Location: Jepson Hall, Room 120

Mark Murphy, the manager of the Canadian River Basin Program for the Office of the State Engineer of New Mexico, gives a lecture entitled "Cadillac Nation: The Persistence of Drought in the 21st Century" on Thursday, April 17 at 4:00 p.m. in Jepson Hall.

Murphy writes that, “For more than 20 years, Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert has stood as the basic text of water mismanagement in the settling and growth of the American West. Over that time and despite its prescience, the situation has only become worse.  And most recently, drought has moved all over the country, as water managers in the Southeast grapple with many of the same problems and incomplete solutions. What do we see as a future for water in our culture? Will the James and Potomac someday be like the Colorado, with insufficient supply under any scenario to support the demand? Will the specter of climate change and $10.00 a gallon gas conspire to make drought a national problem? In this lecture, we will attempt to alleviate fear and heighten concern. Solutions are there - - but will and leadership is required.”

Mark Murphy received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and has been a research hydrologist with Battelle/Pacific Northwest, Los Alamos and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories. Murphy has taught hydrology and geology at Arizona State and at Heritage College on the Yakama Indian Nation.  His research focuses on aquatic and terrestrial habitat in the arid Southwest.

The talk is sponsored by the Department of Religion and the Lewis T. Booker Chair in Religion and Ethics. 

Posted April 10, 2008