Navigating the drought: A policymaker's perspective on Montecito's drought response.

摘要

This hermeneutic dissertation brings an ecopsychological perspective to the arena of water management. The intention of this study is to gain a new understanding of our relationship with water by examining the community of Montecito's reaction to an exceptional drought. Focusing on this community's journey provides a template to examine the complexity of our psychic and symbolic relationship with water and the impact of technical, environmental, legal, and financial factors in this relationship. Historically, water was viewed as an unlimited resource appearing at the turn of a tap. Faced with depletion of its water supply due to drought, the community's water district rationed water. Suddenly, long held beliefs about the community's relationship to water precipitously shifted. Public meeting records, agency reports, editorials, and news coverage are examined and classified thematically to provide insight into the reactions of the various stakeholders and their evolving views over time. Both individual and institutional responses are analyzed and discussed. Some members of the public responded to the crisis by realigning their perceptions of the unlimited availability of water with a more realistic and integrated appraisal of water as a limited resource. Others defended against views of water as a limited resource by undertaking various actions. A drought of this magnitude provides an opportunity to become more conscious about how we are in relationship with water and how that relationship needs to change in order to be sustainable in the context of our current socio-economic culture and times.