Assessing Principles of Good Governance: The Case of Lake Wausau, Wisconsin

This paper describes how in‐depth interviews and content analysis of water‐related policies and plans were used to assess good governance principles (transparency, effectiveness, equity, accountability, and appropriate scale) for Lake Wausau in central Wisconsin. The purpose of the research was to s...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of contemporary water research & education 2019-08, Vol.167 (1), p.97-109
Main Authors: Floress, Kristin, Thompson, Aaron, Fisher, Cherie LeBlanc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Content analysis
Environmental management
Governance
Lake management
Lakes
nonpoint source pollution
planning
policy analysis
Principles
Water analysis
Water depth
Water governance
Water resources
Water resources management
Watershed management
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper describes how in‐depth interviews and content analysis of water‐related policies and plans were used to assess good governance principles (transparency, effectiveness, equity, accountability, and appropriate scale) for Lake Wausau in central Wisconsin. The purpose of the research was to support and inform development of a lake management plan. One of the key findings was that the existing system of water governance lacked transparency. In addition, responsibility for and benefits from potential improved lake conditions were distributed unevenly and inequitably among stakeholders. Local and county plans were vague and lacked strong language (e.g., “should” vs. “must” comply) to indicate which actions were required. Both barriers to and opportunities for creating a more effective system were identified. This paper offers suggestions for improving the governance system, discusses the limits of local watershed planning for overcoming watershed management issues, and provides suggestions for anyone wishing to undertake governance analyses to support water resources management.
ISSN:1936-7031
1936-704X
DOI:10.1111/j.1936-704X.2019.03314.x