Avoiding Implementation Failure in Catchment Landscapes: A Case Study in Governance of the Great Barrier Reef

• Published in: Environmental management (New York) 2018-07, Vol.62 (1), p.70-81
• Main Authors: Dale, Allan P., Vella, Karen, Gooch, Margaret, Potts, Ruth, Pressey, Robert L., Brodie, Jon, Eberhard, Rachel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agriculture - organization & administration; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Case studies; Catchment scale; Catchments; Conservation of Natural Resources - legislation & jurisprudence; Conservation of Natural Resources - methods; Conservation of Natural Resources - trends; Coral Reefs; Decision Making; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Environment; Environmental Management; Environmental Policy - legislation & jurisprudence; Environmental Policy - trends; Forestry Management; Forests; Governance; Government Regulation; Implementation; Landscape; Local government; Nature Conservation; Policies; Public policy; Queensland; Rivers - chemistry; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water quality; Water Quality - standards
• ISSN: 0364-152X; 1432-1009
• DOI: 10.1007/s00267-017-0932-2

Water quality outcomes affecting Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) are governed by multi-level and multi-party decision-making that influences forested and agricultural landscapes. With international concern about the GBR’s declining ecological health, this paper identifies and focuses on implementation failure (primarily at catchment scale) as a systemic risk within the overall GBR governance system. There has been limited integrated analysis of the full suite of governance subdomains that often envelop defined policies, programs and delivery activities that influence water quality in the GBR. We consider how the implementation of separate purpose-specific policies and programs at catchment scale operate against well-known, robust design concepts for integrated catchment governance. We find design concerns within ten important governance subdomains that operate within GBR catchments. At a whole-of-GBR scale, we find a weak policy focus on strengthening these delivery-oriented subdomains and on effort integration across these subdomains within catchments. These governance problems when combined may contribute to failure in the implementation of major national, state and local government policies focused on improving water quality in the GBR, a lesson relevant to landscapes globally.