Coming to the table: collaborative governance and groundwater decision-making in coastal California

Collaborative governance is on the rise in the United States. This management approach brings together state and non-state actors for environmental decision-making, and it is frequently used in California for decisions regarding local groundwater management. This study examines groundwater decision-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of environmental planning and management 2016-12, Vol.59 (12), p.2163-2178
Main Authors: Brown, Abigail, Langridge, Ruth, Rudestam, Kirsten
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
California
Coastal environments
Collaboration
collaborative governance
Communities
Criteria
Decision making
Environment management
Environmental management
Farmers
General public
Governance
Groundwater
Groundwater management
Incentives
Inclusions
participatory governance
Public administration
Resource management
Tables (data)
United States
Water resources management
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Summary:Collaborative governance is on the rise in the United States. This management approach brings together state and non-state actors for environmental decision-making, and it is frequently used in California for decisions regarding local groundwater management. This study examines groundwater decision-making groups and practices in a central California coastal community to understand whether groups meet specific collaborative governance criteria and whether and why certain subsets of the population are excluded from groundwater decision-making practices. It also identifies actions for better group inclusion. We find that small farmers, the Hispanic/Latino community, and the general public are often excluded from groundwater decision-making groups and practices due to unawareness, mistrust, and insufficient resources. Education and awareness as well as incentives could help increase inclusion. This study provides insights into more equitable groundwater decision-making groups and practices, and also calls for more critical examination of the current stakeholder approach to decision-making.
ISSN:0964-0568
1360-0559
DOI:10.1080/09640568.2015.1130690