Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 30
Water
Karen Bakker
Introduction
Water is an archetypal subject for environmental geographers. Essential for life and
imbued with rich symbolism, water both shapes and is shaped by our cultures,
economies, and landscapes.
In the contemporary period, hydrology is, of course, a well-established specialty
within geography. Physical geographers also engage in the study of the role of water
in shaping landscapes (geomorphology). This research is articulated with other
water-related disciplines such as meteorology, climatology, ecology and hydrogeol-
ogy. Yet the study of water by geographers is not limited to its purely biophysical
aspects. Human geographers have also studied water's role in economic develop-
ment, religious life, environmental politics, hazards and vulnerability, and urbanisa-
tion, to mention just a few topics.
This chapter explores themes in environmental geography pertaining to water,
an area in which both human and physical geographers have made substantive
contributions. It will focus on four research themes highlighted in the fi rst volume
of this series: landscapes; risk and hazards; sustainability; and scale. Much of this
research is necessarily interdisciplinary, requiring an appreciation of the complex
physical and social systems within which the hydrological (or, as some geographers
prefer to term it, the 'hydrosocial') cycle is embedded. This interdisciplinarity is
the central theme of this chapter: for each topic, the contributions of physical and
human geographers will be explored together. The 'physical/human' split so often
imposed on the discipline (mirroring the nature/society binary which underpins
much of Western thought) is diffi cult to sustain when studying water; the
study of topics like water scarcity, confl ict over water resources or fl ood hazards
invariably remind us of the mutual constitution of the 'social' and 'natural' aspects
of water, which research by both human and physical geographers serves to
elucidate.
