IGN 13-2
Save room for the fish

Thursday, August 8, 2013
101C, Minneapolis Convention Center
Evan H. Campbell Grant, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, US Geological Survey
Satisfying an increasingly thirsty world while protecting biodiversity is a daunting task. In many parts of the world, we are or will be facing a crisis in the basic human right of access to fresh water. Naturally, this creates a conflict with other species sharing our ecosystem, and like many problems, humans have engineered a solution – interbasin water transfers (IBWTs).  In planning and implementing such a solution, economic considerations often take precedence, while ecological consequences receive little attention. Is there a way to balance the needs of both human and non-human members of fresh water ecosystems?