Public Health, Wicked Water Problems, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

摘要

AT MY FORMER POSITION AT THE UNIVERSITY OFNebraska Medical Center, I had the opportunity to lectureto College of Public Health students about the interactionbetween water and public health. One of the graphics Ipresented was a map of the United States that illustratedeach major river basin in a different color. The watershedswere composed of a latticework of tiny headwaterstreams that comingled to form a great river basin. Theillustration was impressive and could be easily mistakenfor a capillary bed perfusing a living tissue with blood. Iwas fond of saying to the students that more than oil orany other liquid, water is the lifeblood of our nation as itdrives our economy—one of our greatest natural assets,but also one of our biggest threats to public health.