Managing water resources involves ensuring reliable quantities of water of acceptable quality, while simultaneously maintaining or restoring the ecological functioning of water bodies that supply these amenities (along with other socially important values – aesthetic, recreational, and biological). Beyond its direct importance as a resource, water is a pervasive issue in many environmental problems. These environmental problems require new levels of understanding to be developed through non-traditional approaches involving professionals knowledgeable about the atmosphere, surface and ground water, rivers, and the processes that generate, transport, store and/or transform chemicals and aquatics that society is concerned about.  Bren School graduates with a specialization in Water Resources Management (WRM) will be able to participate in grand water-related issues of the type referred to above either by providing the critical new scientific knowledge and analysis, or by guiding policy development or management decisions concerning the problems that society finds very difficult to solve.

This specialization is directed towards students who plan to address issues related to water quantity and quality. Water resources issues span many scales, from local drinking water or surf zone quality, to large-scale watershed management for water supply, flood and erosion control, protection of aquatic systems for wildlife and other intended uses. In addition to a strong background in hydrologic processes, a professional needs to understand the biogeochemical processes in the watershed and receiving water bodies, the economics of natural resources, as well as the myriad policies, laws and regulations that pertain to water resources and their stewardship. Given the spatial nature of these processes, a WRM professional needs to be familiar with GIS tools, remote sensing, spatial data analysis and modeling. We provide examples of water resources management programs of study, although you are welcome to create your own based on our recommendations.

Students pursuing the WRM specialization should take at least two introductions to the basic processes or issues in:

Water Supply

Water Quality

Fate & Transport of Pollutants

Mgmt. of Soil & Groundwater Quality

Climate Impacts on Hydrology & Ecology

Sustainable Watershed Quality Mgmt.

Watershed Analysis

WRM students should take at least one course in resource economics or policy.

Water Policy

Environmental Risk Management

To broaden technical skills in water management, WRM students should take at least

one of the following classes:

To broaden perspectives in water management, WRM students should consider taking some of the following Bren classes:

WRM students should explore and consider potentially valuable offerings in Geography (Geog), Earth Science (GEOL), and Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology (EEMB). The following courses in those departments are most often included in WRM students’ programs of study: