From Domination of the Environment to Stewardship: A Historical Look at Denver Water's Public Communication 1933–2018

Sean D. Williams

doi:10.1177/00472816211037937

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jul 2022

From Domination of the Environment to Stewardship: A Historical Look at Denver Water's Public Communication 1933–2018

Sean D. Williams

Abstract

When most people think about the water coming from their kitchen faucets, they seldom consider where the water originates and how transporting it to their homes has environmental impacts. Utilities that supply water know the complexity of their systems, but from their position as a “utility,” they view their job as supplying safe water to their customers, not necessarily stewarding the environment. Consequently, when building large projects like dams, canals, and tunnels, utilities regard environmental disruption as a necessary byproduct of serving growing cities with water. Representations of these projects often replicate the “man conquering nature” frame, praising these engineering marvels for their defiance of nature. Denver Water, the utility that serves almost 1.5 million people on the arid eastern slope of the Colorado Rockies, has produced films describing its complex system since the early 20th century, and these films reveal an evolution of values from dominating nature to actively stewarding the environment. This paper reports on a grounded theory analysis of films produced by Denver Water between 1933 and 2018 examining how the films frame human relationships to the natural environment. The results reveal that the films increasingly express stewardship ideals over those of domination, with recent public communication actively advocating for environmental causes. The paper concludes by suggesting that we can learn important lessons from Denver Water about ethical organizational action for environmental stewardship.

Journal: Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published: 2022-07-01
DOI: 10.1177/00472816211037937
CompPile: Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access: Closed
Topics: qualitative research
Export: BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (33) · 1 in this index

10.1016/j.aos.2008.02.005

↗
American Society of Civil Engineers. (n.d.). Moffat tunnel . http…
Charmaz K. (2006)

Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative research
10.1007/s41463-017-0022-x

↗
Gilligan C. (1982)

In a different voice

Show all 33 →

Glaser B. G. (1978)

Theoretical sensitivity: Advances in the methodology of grounded theory
10.3167/reco.2015.050201

↗
Ellul J. (1965)

Propaganda: The formation of men's Attitudes
Fisk C. C. (2005). Metro Denver Water story: a memoir, The [Docto…
10.1177/1087724X15606738

↗
10.1016/j.pubrev.2018.06.003

↗
10.1002/awwa.1112

↗
10.1080/17524030903529749

↗
Lawrence A. T. (2014)

Business and society: Stakeholders, ethics, public policy
Leonard K. (2020). Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans. https://www.ted.com/talks/kels…
10.1080/17524032.2017.1288648

↗
10.1016/j.enpol.2014.05.019

↗
10.1353/tech.2010.0009

↗
McKee T. B. (2000)

A history of drought in Colorado: Lessons learned and what lies ahead
10.1002/mar.21429

↗
10.1080/02650487.2014.996116

↗
10.1038/s41893-019-0325-z

↗
10.1080/17524032.2012.720270

↗
Simmons W. M. (2008)

Participation and power: Civic discourse in environmental policy decisions
10.1017/CBO9780511557842

↗
10.1007/s10551-020-04461-0

↗
10.1002/bse.2373

↗
United Nations. (2009). UN Water Development Report , 2009: …
United States Bureau of Reclamation (2012). Colorado River Basin Water Demand and Suppl…
United States Department of Agriculture (2012). Future of America's Forests and Rangela…
United States Drought Monitor (2020). Colorado . https://droughtm…
10.3197/096327100129342173

↗
Walwema (2021)

Rhetoric and Cape Town’s Campaign to Defeat Day Zero

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network → Build reading path →

From Domination of the Environment to Stewardship: A Historical Look at Denver Water's Public Communication 1933–2018

Abstract

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

References (33) · 1 in this index

Related Articles