Paper Reading #4: Cross Currents: Water Scarcity and Sustainable CHI (20)

Title: Cross Currents: Water Scarcity and Sustainable CHI
Comments: Vince Kocks, Aaron Kirkes.
Reference Information:
Cross Currents: Water Scarcity and Sustainable
Tad Hirsch, Ken Anderson
CHI 2010 April 10-15, 2010 Atlanta, Georgia, USA CHI

Summary: In Tad Hirsch's article Cross Currents: Water Scarcity and Sustainable CHI, he spends the majority of the paper discussing the current water situation in New Mexico. The region offers up a very unique climate, with private citizens, agricultural, and industrial groups all attempting to get their fair share of access to the local water supplies.

There are several different forces at work when it comes to water conservation. The traditional school of thought says that people will be environmentally friendly if you give them a financial incentive, such as the cap and trade system. However, for individuals, legitimate enthusiasm for protecting the environment can be much more effective than a solely financially based incentive.

Toward the end of the article, Hirsch touches briefly on various technologies that could be used to create an incentive for people to conserve water. One approach is a simple cost-savings meter, which shows the user how much money they've saved by conserving water. However, in his research, Hirsch found that public shame or guilt can be a strong motivator when it comes to protecting the involvement, so a meter which shows you how you're doing compared to your neighbors was proven to be an effective incentive.

Discussion: Much like the Rwanda article, I found that this one did not talk about the actual computer aspect of the issue. He went on at length about the various social issues at play, such as the current system where you're budgeted water based on how much you currently use, so no one wants to use less in case they need more in the future. However, beyond the household meters, he did not mention any particular technological solutions.

I do feel that he presented the issue fairly and completely however. Water conservation is a complex issue, and it's not going to be solved overnight. One interesting aspect of the article was the fact that none of the various parties could actually agree on what the term "sustainable" means, and what time period it should entail.