Evan Vlachos

Assessing Long-Range Cumulative Impacts

This particular paper is written as a combination of two different topics, i.e., “cumulative impacts” and “sociological dimensions of EIA, TA, and RA.” While the emphasis is on the first, a number of pertinent remarks are made with regard to EIA, TA, and RA in order to exemplify an underlying thrust as to “assessment” efforts. At the same time, heavy emphasis is placed on assessment associated with natural resources management, public projects, and environmental hazards.

Environmental Refugees: The Growing Challenge

In a world of rapid change and political confrontation, what are the implications of ‘forced’ migrations and the flight from degraded ecosystems? Environmental and, in many cases, population pressures combine to make many regions of the planet both unproductive and uninhabitable, and the total number of conventional and environmental refugees is becoming a global problem. This chapter discusses the challenge of environmental refugees in the context of a typology that differentiates between 1) eco-metabolism or ecosystemic changes, including land degradation, soil exhaustion, desertification, and sea-level rise; 2) human-induced disasters, including industrial disasters, deforestation, deterioration of major watersheds, and effects of public projects; 3) eco-political upheavals, including revolutions, collapse of regimes, ‘Balkanization’, and shifting or fading frontiers; and 4) socio-economic dislocations, including collapse of expectations, shifts in the international economy, and inappropriate development strategies. Responses to this challenge involve integrated, proactive approaches, the promotion of sustainable development, guaranteeing security, and stabilizing the ecosystem to avoid further environmental deterioration.

Social aspects of solid wastes development and management: Refuse, recovery, and reuse

The paper examines the ‘throwaway’ cultural heritage, expressed not only in the vast amounts of solid waste generated, but also in the public attitudes towards unwanted residues. An attempt is made to contrast cultural perceptions of solid waste management (juxtaposing the U.S. with other cultures) and the extent to which a network of values has been created with heavy dependence in the generation of waste. In examining larger social trends and emerging life styles a distinction is made between corrective solutions (disposal) and preventive approaches, i.e., materials flow and residuals management. This implies a new ethos where rather than continually trying to ‘bury’ waste, the culture and economy is re-directed towards a non-generation of waste and towards a transformation of individuals from ‘consumers’ to ‘users’ in some form of a closed system.The emphasis throughout the discussion remains that of viewing solid waste as part of a larger effort of comprehensive natural resources management. The last is examined in the context of a cultural system that recognizes not only interdependencies but also a pervasive life style and shared attitudes which relate social goals, technological capabilities, and environmental conservation.

Socio-Cultural Aspects of Urban Hydrology

In presenting some general issues in the socio-cultural dimensions of urban hydrology, the key theme is that of a multi-dimensional, multi-objective, futures-oriented, flexible framework of planning and assessment. This entails a more systematic description of critical variables of a socio-cultural system; the centrality of a systems approach: and the usefulness of technology assessment and social forecasting in providing additional methodologies which would combine descriptive capabilities with imaginative thrusts of alternative futures. A series of key urban problems and of institutional responses attempt to indicate the need for a broader perspective of socio-cultural dimensions in present and future urban water management schemes.

Society and Future Climate Change

The paper outlines the increasing concern with climatic instability and the potential major dislocations of human societies. An initial presentation of the interaction of climate and society is followed by a range of impacts and alternative responses. The catastrophic preoccupation allows for a concluding speculative section utilizing alternative images of the future and broad strategies for prudent responses to a transforming environment.

CUMULATIVE IMPACT ANALYSIS

Purpose This section describes the general State requirements for cumulative impact analysis and discusses the methodology for analyzing potential impacts to Okanogan County shorelines. The draft Shoreline Master Program (SMP) proposes changes to the development regulations that encourage shoreline protection and avoidance, minimization and mitigation activities that would cause adverse impacts to shoreline functions and processes. The cumulative impact analysis for the Okanogan County SMP will incorporate the effects of past, present, and future actions within the County’s watersheds.

Hydrodiplomacy and Dispute Resolution in Private Water Resources Conflicts

The last 20 to 30 years are characterized by significant changes in the planning, design, and management of water resources all over the planet. Mounting concerns about the environmental impacts of human activities, potential climatic shifts, expanding populations and demands as well as new knowledge are all expressions of the pressing need to develop alternative institutional schemes for managing in an integrated manner scarce natural resources. Many nations and regions have increasingly been turning attention to both streamlining existing administrative mechanisms and to introducing innovative institutional arrangements with regard to quantitative and qualitative aspects of their water resources. At the same time, the political significance of water becomes most important not only because of its scarcity in densely populated regions, but also because of its sharing across national boundaries.