Examining the Value of Socioeconomic Data for Understanding Water Dynamics in the Bear River Watershed
Location
Space Dynamics Laboratory
Event Website
http://water.usu.edu/
Start Date
3-26-2004 3:15 PM
End Date
3-26-2004 3:30 PM
Description
Rural land use changes have important implications for both water quality and use. The diverse biophysical, social, and economic landscapes within the Bear River Watershed represent a unique opportunity to study the relationship between human activities and ecosystem structure and function. Research on human-ecosystem dynamics in watersheds requires detailed and accurate spatial information about changes in rural land use cover. While traditional remote-sensing technology can document changes in land cover associated with human activity, they are an imperfect mechanism for decomposing the underlying socioeconomic forces at work. This paper presents results of preliminary efforts to gather spatial data at various scales on patterns of social and economic change in the Bear River watershed. Types of data include census data, local and state government records, land tenure information, information about farm locations and agricultural infrastructure, etc. The presentation will summarize the state of our knowledge in this area and link the results to important water use and water quality problems facing the region.
Examining the Value of Socioeconomic Data for Understanding Water Dynamics in the Bear River Watershed
Space Dynamics Laboratory
Rural land use changes have important implications for both water quality and use. The diverse biophysical, social, and economic landscapes within the Bear River Watershed represent a unique opportunity to study the relationship between human activities and ecosystem structure and function. Research on human-ecosystem dynamics in watersheds requires detailed and accurate spatial information about changes in rural land use cover. While traditional remote-sensing technology can document changes in land cover associated with human activity, they are an imperfect mechanism for decomposing the underlying socioeconomic forces at work. This paper presents results of preliminary efforts to gather spatial data at various scales on patterns of social and economic change in the Bear River watershed. Types of data include census data, local and state government records, land tenure information, information about farm locations and agricultural infrastructure, etc. The presentation will summarize the state of our knowledge in this area and link the results to important water use and water quality problems facing the region.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/runoff/2004/AllAbstracts/11