Publications, Papers, and Reports

Please see CV for complete listing.

  • Agricultural Resilience: The Many Roles of Lawyers
    This chapter, with co-author Dr. Gretchen Sassenrath of Kansas State University, concerns the roles lawyers can play in increasing resilience of small agriculture. But, it ALSO includes a set of recommendations on what the goals may be, including less competition and reduced expenses in order to increase returns and sustainability. In the short and medium term, it is critical to increase capacity to cope with variability in economic as well as environmental conditions. The book is The Community Resilience Handbook, from the State and Local Government Law section of the American Bar Association (available from the American Bar Association, $80). It is a comprehensive overview of a wide range of issues.
  • Indigenous and Native Perspectives on Cross-cultural Relationships: Mentoring as Normal
    This short paper was written for a conference on mentoring and coaching at University of New Mexico. It was not very close to their usual materials, but I wanted to raise these issues even in a fairly simple form. It was accepted but I could not attend the meeting. It may be of interest to people concerned with improving teaching only to a test and interested in improving vocational education, including renovation of obsolete plumbing, wiring, and inadequate insulation. There is a huge need for that, and a very strong desire, in my opinion, for work with hands and head, rather than pretending millions of "STEM" jobs are going to magically appear. This may be especially relevant to Indigenous Peoples who are far too much on their own.
  • Right Answers to Wrong Questions?
    Notes on developments in 2018 and 2019 (Sept. 2019)
    Two Handouts: One more general and one focused on flooding realities. There is a lot of overlap, but the flooding hand-out is more recent, and includes some very important materials, including Edelman’s testimony to the Senate Banking Committee. He is nationally known and served many years on the FEMA Technical Mapping Advisory Committee. The video is hair-raising, and shows the enormous misunderstanding of what the FEMA maps do and do not do. A confirmation with grim implications: the Wing et al. study – NOT using climate models, but using serious GIS applied to FEMA definitions. The future part is just applications of current observations of increasing property at risk, and increasing population at risk. The punchline: Real GIS showed 41 million people at risk, rather than the FEMA insurance-rate mapping, which shows 13 million at risk. Finally, if you have not seen Mitigation Saves 2.0, please do! For riverine flooding, true fiscal conservatism as well decreases in losses and misery is to get $7 in benefits for every $1 spent on mitigation. Endlessly rebuilding into danger is not beneficial!
  • A Round-up of Recent Waters of the United States Information
    This collection of recent resources and comments on the Waters of the United States issues was done for the Universities Council on Water Resources, in honor of a special session which we cancelled because of the surprisingly fast rule-making effort several months before the meeting. Perhaps this collection will be useful for others.
  • Notes on developments in 2018 and 2019 - More to Worry About and Prepare for (June 2019)
    This one-sheet hand-out was for the June 2019 meeting of the Universities Council on Water Resources. It has a collection of updates and relatively recent citations and resources on Waters of the US, flooding costs, and increasing problems, de-regulation trackers, and related topics.
  • Notes on developments in 2018 and 2019 - More to Worry About and Prepare for (April 2019)
    This is posting of a meeting handout (National Adaptation Forum April 2019) with attempt to make high quality information easily found and at least abstract and citation usually free access but too often very high charges for a download and slightly lower charge for short duration on-line "rental." Ugly because of trying maximize information on a single sheet of paper (small but real conservation measure). I hope this is useful. For reading ease, you can download download and use word processor program to increase font size and expand spacings (will increase paper if printed, but advantage of using on screen includes sometimes (I am told) better link connections; could be helpful. Thanks for reading this! Hope the posting is helpful.
  • Getting ATMs Right - We Can and Should - Will We? John D. Wiener, January, 2017
    This is a two-page summary of my argument for water-sharing, and a set of almost all very recent references on the economics of climate change, since this is very rapidly changing, and soils and agriculture issues. Those topics are also very rapidly changing. The lists are not exhaustive, but are mostly from a sampling of some relevant journals. Any additions will be welcome and credited when this is updated (when time permits).
  • DARCA Ditch Company Planning; John McKenzie, DARCA and John Wiener ~ DARCA2015AtmsWorskhopsSurveyThemes16Jan16Rev.doc
    In 2014, the Ditch and Reservoir Company Alliance held 4 workshops on Ditch and Reservoir Company Planning, around Colorado. In 2015 there were two workshops Alternative Water Transfers Mechanisms - ways to share water without "buy-and-dry" transfers ending irrigation -- on the East Slope and then an extended workshop at the Colorado Water Congress January 2016 annual meeting, with superb presenters. The slide sets will be accessible on the website www.darca.org. These are the reports to funders and the public on our findings from surveys and discussion with participants. We are making them available because of the range of issues identified in the Planning report, and the forward-thinking concerns with issues not well-researched, in the Alternative Water Transfers Mechanisms (ATMs) report. The open-ended surveys used questions developed by Wiener, McKenzie, and for the ATMs, we had insightful assistance from Brett Bovee, P.E., who is Intermountain Director for WestWater Research. Context for this activity is provided in Colorado's Water Plan, 2015.
  • GETTING ATMs RIGHT - WE CAN DO THIS! John D. Wiener, August, 2016
    This is a short hand-out to outline some of the concerns faced by small and medium agriculture in Colorado and the West, which interact with water competition problems. The extended essay on "Getting ATMs Right" is in power-point ™ form under the "presentations…" tab.
  • DeLong, C., R. Cruse, and J. Wiener, 2015, The Soil Degradation Paradox: Compromising Our Resources When We Need Them the Most. Sustainability 2015, Vol. 7: 866-879. (doi: 10 3390/su7010866.) (Open Access).
    John Wiener contributed to this excellent review by Catherine DeLong and Dr. Richard Cruse, Iowa State, of the world soil crisis. It is published as open access in Sustainability, 2015.
  • AWRA 2012 SUMMER SPECIALTY CONFERENCE, Riparian Ecosystems IV: Advancing Science, Economics and Policy, Denver, Colorado
    This reviewed proceedings paper would normally be copyrighted by the American Water Resources Association, but is not in this case because Dr. Sassenrath is a Federal employee. The Association has made available on its website the rest of the proceedings from the conference, for a limited time, and they are recommended. The Association puts on very high-quality conferences.
  • Re-Vision of a Western U.S. Irrigation Area: Review of the U.S. Agricultural Context and Relevant Factors
  • Note on Property Rights in the U.S. and Mountains
    Essay written for a project on the state of development in U.S. mountains, November 2011.
  • Drought, Climate Change, and Colorado's Policy Discussion: Participation or Procrastination?
    Universities Council On Water Resources 2007 Annual Meeting Presentation - Extended Abstract. Posted with permission and minor editing and footnote updates, December 2008.
  • Next Steps for the Water Bank (2005)
    This is a short summary of what went wrong with the Arkansas Basin Water Bank Pilot Project, and suggestions for what might work in the next effort. Colorado is considering a West Slope water bank for water rights that pre-date the Colorado River Compact, so this topic has come up again in 2012-2013. Recommendations now would be more forceful about the need to provide "permanence" for municipal partners, and long-term financing for more flexible and sustainable agriculture. Recent presentations on this website cover those arguments.

Progress Reports: