Race, Ethnicity, and Water in Urban California

Is water a human right or an entitlement? Who controls the water, and who should control the water, in California? Private companies? Nonprofits? Local residents? Federal, state, or local governments? This course will explore these questions in the context of urban California more generally, the players and the politics to make sense of a complex problem with deep historical roots; one that defines the new century in California urban life. The required readings and discussions cover cities from Oakland to Los Angeles, providing a platform for students to explore important environmental issues, past and present, affecting California municipalities undergoing rapid population change. In addition, our research focus will be on the cities located on the Central Coast of California: agricultural Salinas, Watsonville, and Castroville and towns along the Salinas Valley; tourist based Monterey, Pebble Beach, Carmel, Pacific Grove; the bedroom community of Prunedale to the north, and former military towns, Marina and Seaside, as all of these ethnically, socioeconomically diverse communities engage in political struggles over precious, and ever scarcer water resources, contend with catastrophic events such as droughts and floods, and fight battles over rights to clean water, entitlement, environmental racism, and equity. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center.